It's been brought to my attention recently, that my book, "V.I.P", was found on a few 3rd party websites where they were offering it as a free download. All you have to do is enter your personal information to access the free downloads. I was contacted via email, and basically "told off" because someone did this and was immediately alerted by their virus protection software that malware had been installed to their computer. An hour later, their inbox was FULL of all kinds of soliciting emails. (Everything from credit card application forms, to mail order bride websites, to, of course, porn.
I, as politely as I could, told this person that I had nothing to do with what happened. My book is ONLY available through the Amazon.
Please remember, indie authors (and established authors for that matter) put a lot of hard work into what they do. Please give them the credit they deserve and only get their books from authorized websites. Even when they offer their work for FREE, go to their personal website, or their Amazon sales page to download it, so they can get the credit they deserve.
3rd party sites tend to use the cover of a book to lure people into submitting their personal information. That information is then used for nefarious purposes. You WILL get viruses, and/or malware, and your personal information WILL be used for reason you didn't give them permission to use it for. If you do this, I am not going to pay to have the viruses removed from your computer, and it does not mean that you are "owed" a copy of my book... that you tried to steal... by downloading it for free... from an unauthorized website.
My book is ONLY available on Amazon. If you see my book on any website that isn't Amazon, please know that I did not give them my permission to post it there, or offer it as a free download. I would also appreciate it if you could shoot me an email so I can have it taken down since it's the definition of copyright infringement.
If you see it up somewhere, email me at tpanipinto@yahoo.com and send me a link to the site. I'll take care of the rest.
A few of the sites I've already contacted have removed the pages, but some still refuse. It's a time consuming process, but we do what we have to do.
I'm posting this just as much for myself as I am for my indie author friends, whose books I found up there along with my own. Again, please, buy the book from an authorized site so the author gets the credit they deserve. In some cases, if the .99 cents, or the $2.99 price tag is too much for you, email the author- some of them would rather send you a copy, or let you barrow a free copy, than have their book shared and illegally downloaded from a foreign 3rd party site.
As always, thanks for reading.
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