When Internet
Writing Workshop [IWW] members discovered their books were pirated
by General
eBooks, and being illegally downloaded by General eBooks visitors
using a provided DOWNLOAD NOW option without the author's permission or any remuneration, some authors took action to have
their books removed.
In addition, IWW discussions about anything related to writing and marketing always produce a variety of interesting considerations. This situation included the following:
In addition, IWW discussions about anything related to writing and marketing always produce a variety of interesting considerations. This situation included the following:
- Ignore it.
- Better to spend time on writing than
chasing pirates.
- Having your books pirated can be used as a marketing tool -- find imaginative ways to spin book piracy into publicity. (you can do better) ie:
"This book is so good, book pirates
must have it. Get your legit copy at:[......]"
If, instead of protesting and asking for
removal of their ebook(s) from the listing, an author decides to use General
eBooks to maximize publicity -- below the DOWNLOAD NOW option is another option -- a venue for
optimizing publicity:
Dear user, you can suggest a
new link to this book. Help us to make General-Ebooks better!
There are other ways to find it when
that offer doesn't appear -- it seems to only appeared AFTER an author
protested -- the invitation is here, http://www.general-ebooks.com/submit.
OR Login first. Then go to, http://tinyurl.com/olvjtf9
OR Login first. Then go to, http://tinyurl.com/olvjtf9
Will it do any good?
For authors wanting broader exposure, and
sales [via links to markets which handle their ebook], yes,
The instructions say, "You can submit direct links to fb2 and epub files, and Open Publication Distribution System [OPDS feeds] of libraries and book stores," which includes free read sites in addition to paying markets such as Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.
Authors who do not protest the listing can get exposure to new readers who, rather than downloading from General eBooks, MIGHT choose to click the additional links.
The instructions say, "You can submit direct links to fb2 and epub files, and Open Publication Distribution System [OPDS feeds] of libraries and book stores," which includes free read sites in addition to paying markets such as Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.
Authors who do not protest the listing can get exposure to new readers who, rather than downloading from General eBooks, MIGHT choose to click the additional links.
- Links to where potential customers read
about the author.
- Links to legitimate Epub markets.
- Links to where customers get to
"Look Inside".
- Links which give a decided advantage to the indie author.
Certainly readers intent on not paying
for illegally obtained ebooks are not
going to click links to legitimate markets. Nevertheless, not every visitor to
General eBooks will realize YOUR ebook(s) are pirated.
Curious people do click links and HONEST people do not download pirated ebooks.
Curious people do click links and HONEST people do not download pirated ebooks.
What happens when an author uses the Report
Copyright Violation option?
Number 1: Potentially being listed in totally
inappropriate genre highly objectionable to the author!
Number 2: He or she will receive the following terse email:
Sorry for the inconvenience, the links will be removed.
Sorry, but some links to this book were
deleted according to copyright claims, or because the book was removed from
hosting.
This page was removed due to copyright claims :(
BEWARE: You may rue the day you chose to object, as I
do, since requesting that my ebook be removed.
After viewing the results of my polite request -- in a last ditch attempt, I have emailed General World, advising them that I find it insulting to find they have subsequently listed my ebook in the following inappropriate genre: http://tinyurl.com/omww6dj
However, since that listing appeared, close
to a thousand downloads have resulted! I wonder how satisfied those General
eBook customers are? My ebook undoubtedly isn't what they expected from
that genre! LOL!
My ebook, Behind These Mountains, Vol. I: People of the Shining Mountains Where The Clark's Fork River Churns, belongs in History and Genealogy genres!
General World's latest response said in part,
My ebook, Behind These Mountains, Vol. I: People of the Shining Mountains Where The Clark's Fork River Churns, belongs in History and Genealogy genres!
General World's latest response said in part,
"Consider that none of the GW websites host any kind of copyright infringing media content. Our Service provides only a possibility to search through different file sharing services (Mediafire.com, Uploading.com and so on)...."
Whatever option you decide is best for you and your eBook(s), Good Luck!