Pledge Against Book Piracy


UNDER CONSTRUCTION - TO SIGN THE PLEDGE AGAINST BOOK PIRACY PLEASE GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE

I'm sure we all know what piracy is. Not the kind you find in historical romance with captains sweeping ladies off their feet, but rather, illegally downloading something for free, whether it be a song or a movie or in this case, a book. I'm sure some of you have downloaded a book for free, not in least concerned. I'll admit that I did once, and then realized that it was wrong and deleted it, buying the book on my Kindle the very next day.

I've been doing some reading on book piracy, and I am appalled at how many people are okay with it. I've heard arguments that it's the same thing as borrowing a book from a library (see John Green's response to that by clicking here), another is that people have already bought the hard copy book, why should they have to pay again for the digital copy?


If you don't want to pay for a book, then simply don't read it, or go to your local library, don't steal someone's hard work. You wouldn't want someone taking something you had put a lot of time and effort into, so why would you steal someone else's hard work? 

Yes, books are expensive. Paperbacks are typically around $10-$15 and hard cover books can be up around $30. You want to know why I got an e-reader? One, because eBooks are cheaper than hard copies (and with the amount of books I go through, I need to save every penny I can), and two, because I travel a lot. People get incredibly annoyed with me when I bring back a suitcase filled with books.

I have books in print, and I have digital books. I prefer print, but they are more expensive. I only buy a book in both print and digital if it's one of my favorites. Saying "I already bought it, I don't want to pay for it again!" is being selfish and greedy. If you really don't want to spend the extra money to have a book in both print and digital, then don't. 

You don't need to have every single book you own in both print and digital. You may want it, but then like any other wants, you have to pay for it. Piracy is not an excuse. Why must you own every book you read? I've never understood that. If I can read a book at a library, I will, and if I love that book to pieces then I will buy myself a copy, but I don't need to or want to own every book I read.
  
If you would like to read more about piracy I do have some links that are very informative. Joanne Harris has an FAQ page for book piracy and why it is wrong, you can take a look at that here. Jennifer Armentrout has several posts about piracy and what is wrong with it: here is one of the posts, which drives home the point.

Though if you want a look into a pirate's mind, you can click here.

And here are 25 thoughts on book piracy.

I think we should all raise awareness of why it's a bad thing to pirate books. The only time I ever pirated a book, I didn't think it was a bad thing because I didn't know the problems it caused for authors, publishers, editors, agents, and readers. I was ignorant to all of that and I think a lot of people pirating books are misguided in their beliefs. If we bring to light the problems piracy causes, maybe it will help reduce piracy.

How many people have taken the pledge to not text and drive?  I have. This is sort of like that. No, it may not have a real impact on piracy, but you can hope. For some people pledges, promises, etc. have a meaning. Hopefully they will stick to it. 

Here's how this is going to work. There's a guestbook at the bottom of the page for you to sign your pledge again piracy. Here are some other steps you can take:

1. Do a post on your blog, on Facebook, or Twitter, or Tumblr, etc.
2. Start your own pledge page against book piracy (or something better, as I'm sure loads of you have very creative ideas)
3. Create images to promote anti-piracy on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog 
4. Add the anti-piracy badge from the sidebar to your blog
5. Name your own idea :)

And don't forget to like the Pledge Against Book Piracy Facebook page! Leave your thoughts or comments there, and share!

Happy reading and thank you!


Image from iwofa.net

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I love comments! So don't hesitate to share your thoughts. Leave your blog/website name and link so I can get back to you. And if you're a new follower, tell me. Note that this is an award-free zone. I loved getting awards and I was pleased you guys thought I was special, but I was nominated so many times and it took a lot of time to do the award posts, time that I don't have. So thanks, but no thanks.

Happy reading!

Kacii