I came home today to a Facebook notice from a fellow author warning our writing community about a hella huge site in Canada that had thousands of books for free. Apparently, the man that runs the thing is passionate about having access to every book imaginable.

So go to your local library, twatwaffle.

Image from Queen of All She Reads Blog

Here’s the thing. Art isn’t free. Painters purchase supplies. Musicians buy and maintain instruments (not to mention investing years of lessons and schooling).  And writers spend thousands of hours crafting the story while their publishers shuck over thousands of dollars in edits, cover design, and marketing. Add it all up, and there’s a lot of sweat equity and money on the line.

Publishing is a business. And just like any business, return on investment drives decisions regarding which series to continue and which dies on the vine.  Just check out Maggie Stiefvater’s post on how destructive the practice can be.   

Bottom line, people don’t pay for books, publishers don’t invest in an author’s next work, which means fewer quality books and more garbage to sift through on Amazon.

Please don’t download books for free unless it’s from the author, publisher, or a reputable distributor like Amazon or an established mailer like Bookbub. And if you run across a piracy site, you can report it here.