Did a random search of my name in google and saw that my self-published book ‘Deseo’ was loaded on a torrent with 2,556 downloads. And that’s certainly not showing up in my bank account for the fact that I haven’t sold enough copies to even remotely pay off the original expenses (over $1,000 worth).
This is especially insulting when you consider that I have made the pdf version available for only $5 via lulu.com as well as made public about 2/3rds of the novel so people can decide if they wanted to pay for the rest.
In fact, if I had received just $1 per download as payment, I would have made a very, very nice profit that would have incented me to write and publish even more books.
I admittedly did the project as a self-publishing experiment and I knew the risk of someone taking advantage of that would happen, however the experience of publishing meant more to me. But to see the free posting actually happen is quite another thing.
Needless to say, I’m not pleased — and I’m more disappointed and saddened than anything. And this is making me rethink how I want to make my “Active Voice” book series available, or any other original fiction work for that matter, which will still be self-published with money out of my own pocket (I work for a living!)
If you became a “fan” of mine because of reading that free copy, well I hope you learned your lesson of what free downloadings do to independent self-publishers like me. And yes, I wrote “fan” in quotes because true fans support their artists by rewarding them for the work they’ve done and encouraging them to continue to do it.
After all, I will always write stories, whether I decide to make them available to the public is another matter.