I was Attacked by Pirates

It was bound to happen. I've been expecting it. Well, sort of. I told myself in a way it would be a form of flattery--that someone would actually go to those lengths to get a hold of a book I'd written. I also thought I'd simply shrug it off as part of the changing industry we're in at the moment. I thought I was prepared for it, but I wasn't.

My new book, PAY UP is on at least 2 download sites for FREE. It's only been out a week! Of course, we're going through the steps to get these taken down, but I can't help the way I feel. I used the word 'attack' in the title and that's what it feels like. An author at the recent RomantiCon conference said she detemined there had been over 8,000 downloads of one of her books on these sites. That's absolutley astounding. I'm sure there are people out there that don't think their actions through fully, think they're not really hurting anyone, may not even know this is illegal. It's stealing though, plain and simple. It's hard work to create a book and have it published through a reputable publisher. It's an investment, both financial and personal. It's often the result of great sacrifice. It takes guts and sweat and a discipline you have to pull from the very depths of you and it feels like someone is trying to take that away from me.

I've been e-pirated and I don't like it. I don't like it at all.