Every so often, for one reason or another, the issue of piracy comes up.

This is particularly true of book piracy, both print (ARC versions of books are scanned and posted in ‘filesharing’ sites even before they are available in book stores) and, even more so, electronic.

There are many discussions and points of view on this–both Karen and I have talked about it, Shiloh Walker has spoken frequently and eloquently on the topic, and via RRRJessica’s Monday Stepback post I was able to read a differing point of view from Bibliophile Stalker, a Philipino author.

However, in the end, is this post by Robin D. Owens (author of the Heart series, a favorite of mine), which strikes closer to the heart of the matter, as far as I’m concerned (bolding  mine):

Folks, I need every cent I get from my writing. I am the sole provider of my household. Please don’t download my books for free. I truly don’t understand why people think I should not get paid for my work.

Aren’t you paid for yours?

This post is in response to the daily notices I get of torrents for my work. I honestly don’t have the time to try and take down torrents on European Servers. And, really, if the piracy gets too large, I’ll simply be dropped by my publishers. I’m not joking.

Thank you.

Enough said.

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Update: After writing and scheduling this post, I discovered that–in one of those strange fits of synchronicity with which the universe occasionally amuses itself–Dear Author is also talking about the piracy issue in its Tuesday Midday Links (last topic of the post)