I Will Not Bow

Good afternoon, my Lovelies! First and foremost, I hope this past week has been kind to you. Second, please know that I didn't forget to write my blog this week. No, on Thursday I began writing it, was most of the way through with it, and then deleted the whole damn thing. You see, when I went back and read it, I realized I was not in the right headspace to be writing that day. Not. At. All.

Am I today? I guess we'll see. Last week was a highly emotional week for me, and while I'm not in the correct frame of mind to discuss some of the lows, I will definitely share some of my highs as well as some of my frustrations.

Let's start with the best part of the week for me. Well, that one is easy. The last book in the Cassidy Brothers series was released last week, and while there were some unexpected technical issues, they were extremely minor and the release went well. I can't begin to tell you the relief of having that series not only finished but fully available to my readers.

Writing and publishing my first book was exciting and a little scary all at the same time. Writing and publishing an entire series within the span of a two-year time frame? That pushes those excited and scary feelings to a whole new level. I'm incredibly humbled by the outpouring of love and support my writing and each book in this series have received. 

My faithful readers mean so much to me and I hope that the ending to the series was all that they'd imagined it would be and more. With all that done, I feel I can concentrate a little better on the Mountain Trilogy, as well as the Camp Quartet (it's a working title - just go with it). You guys are going to LOVE Blaze and Lexi from the Mountain series! And the women of the Camp series, while I'm still developing their characters, are turning out to be some badass bitches! Are you excited yet?

So let me turn my direction a little here. I told you that I had some frustrations this week (well, other than my normal frustrations). It has come to my attention over the past week that there are some people out there doing sneaky and unethical things in the book world. So, in case you didn't already know my stance on this, here we go...

It is NOT okay to purchase, download, fully read, and then return an eBook for a refund. There are only a few instances where I would even begin to think it was acceptable to return an eBook - 1. There was a defect in the download. 2. You began reading and were only a few pages into it and you realized that the author's writing style didn't mesh with your reading style. 3. The blurb for the book failed to mention trigger warnings and/or the sexual abuse of a minor (again this is something you would probably see quickly and would not continue reading before asking for a refund.)

You see, it has come out as a "hack" on various platforms to purchase eBooks, read them fully and then return them to Amazon. (I'm sure other retailers have their own issues, but Amazon is where I'm aware this is happening the most.) Then what are these lovely, upstanding people doing? They are reading the next in a series and doing the same thing. When they are done with one author's books, they move on to the next and continue stealing from us. For some reason, they feel entitled to these books and don't feel they need to pay for them.

This hurts authors. It is Intellectual Property theft and the authors are the ones paying for the abuse. If it continues, there are going to be many authors that will be closing up shop. Book publication is expensive and what we make back on these books is minuscule.

I'm unbelievably frustrated by this. There are so many options out there that wouldn't hurt an author's income. 

1. Libraries (physical books, ebooks, and audiobooks, Oh MY!)

2. Hit up thrift stores and yard sales! (I bought an entire YA series for one of my kids - 5 books for $1)

3. Sign up for Kindle Unlimited. $10/month gets you unlimited access to a book library that is loaded with thousands upon thousands of books - old and new - and a large majority of the most popular authors use this program! You can "borrow" books from KU and read and return them at no cost to yourself other than your monthly membership AND the authors still get compensated.

I want to say that is all, but I've now seen where people are taking published works, changing the words that are written so they are "less offensive" then selling THEIR edited versions on their Etsy accounts. Oh, and I've seen where people are creating their own book covers so that what they're reading appears more discreet.

I know that the people doing this are in the minority, but it still blows my mind. What the actual fuck, right?

Ok, I've ranted long enough. 

Until next time, and as always,

Much love and affection, from me to you!

Shelly (a/k/a Dawn Love)

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