Why is Book Piracy on the Up and Up?

One of the things that I've noticed in the book world recently is the amount of authors talking about their books being up on piracy websites. Now, this is alarming, and not just because both authors and publishers lose money, but because people actually download the book from piracy websites for free. It's illegal and people know that it makes authors lose money, but yet they still do it. A lot of authors use their money from their books to put bread on the table, especially self-published authors who get paid very little, so piracy websites have a big impact. This can also frighten a new author or someone wanting to release a book.

It's also not just ebooks that are at risk. Book bloggers/readers that receive ARCs (Advanced reader copies) of books are also putting them up on sites like Ebay. Now, these people receive the book for free to review it either from the author or publisher, but they then sell them for a price when it states that they're not for resale. This not only breaks trust between the reader and publisher and author, but is also illegal. It also incites readers to buy the ARC illegally because it means they get to read the book before its release. It affects other book bloggers too, as publishers could stop sending ARCs out to all bloggers when only a small majority sell them illegally.

What are authors doing to combat piracy websites?

A lot of authors offer an introductory price on their book which is cheaper than the normal price. This encourages people to buy the book whilst it's cheaper. They also offer deals throughout the year at a reduced price and hold giveaways for either paperbacks/ebooks of their book. Authors also use apps and websites such as Google Alert that alerts them if their book is on a piracy website. This means that authors can act fast and report the piracy website to get it shut down, hopefully before lots of people download their book. If you find your book on a piracy website, don't panic. There's things you can do to protect it and get it taken down.

The majority of books also cost less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks and Costa, so there really is no need to illegally download ebooks and help fuel this on-going situation.