Pirates

If you spent time making a cake then an unknown person took it and shared it with other people, without asking your permission, how would you feel? Disappointed, sad, angry?

Something similar has happened to me, several times over the last couple of years. Not with cakes but with books. Stories that I’ve spent time writing and my publishers have spent money turning into books have been taken from us and made available on the Internet for free. This kind of thing isn’t new. It’s been happening to music and films for ages. It’s called pirating.

Now the pirates have turned their attention to books.

Writing is my livelihood. I get paid for my work which in turn I use to feed and cloth my family, run my car, heat my house and…I’m sure you get the picture.

It makes me angry, sad and VERY disappointed that some people think that it’s okay to take my work for free without asking my permission. It also scares me. If too many people download books illegally then publishers won’t be able to afford to pay their staff and authors. Books will only exist if people have the time and money to write them for free.

Has anyone ever taken something from you without asking? How did it make you feel?