DD Prince, romance author

Six Ways to Get Ebooks for FREE (without being a book pirate scumbag)

Subject: Book Pirates and Six Ways to Get Ebooks for FREE!

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Some people may just not realize that searching for a mobi file, a pdf, or an epub online hurts the authors they love. Piracy is real. It steals from us. It also puts us in jeopardy with exclusivity contracts.

Today I again got contacted from someone supporting piracy of my books, innocently asking where they could get a free copy of book 1 in my Nectar Trilogy because they could only find book 2 on a specific app. They also showered me with compliments about another of my books they’d already read on that same app. It’s frustrating as an author to fight piracy. It’s also mind-boggling when people act innocent about it.

Sometimes they act utterly shocked when I tell them that they’re hurting me by reading pirated copies of my work.

How do you read books when you can’t afford them?

Here are some ideas. I’m saving this and will be sharing it with “innocent” pirates who contact me in the future.

1. Search FREE categories on your favourite ebook retailer. Authors regularly offer freebies.

2. Sign up for sites like #BookBub and #Freebooksy to get notified when books that fit your favourite genre are free or discounted.

3. The library. Some authors make their work available via e-library, too. Your local library may have an e-book borrowing program.

4. Street teams/ ARC reading programs Some authors (myself included) offer free ARC copies to their street teams in exchange for some promo activities or help during the story development process (beta readers). (Note: If you then take an ARC and upload it to a book piracy site, you are a scumbag and I hope you get caught as well as grow some difficult-to-treat crotch fungus).

5. There are a lot of ways to support authors when you can’t afford to buy every book you’d like to read. Kindle Unlimited is another great way to access an all-you-can-read buffet. Not all authors use it, but for $10 a month (depending on where you live), you can read lots and significantly lower your book budget.

6. Author parties on Facebook. These parties happen constantly and regularly offer book money prizes (Amazon, iTunes gift cards, etc.). Occasional participation could result in winning of ebooks, paperbacks, and book store gift cards that mean you support an author you like, save book money for books you really want to read and can’t afford, as well as get legal copies of books.

Happy Reading.

Please don’t be a scumbag book pirate.

If you’re reading this because you were directed to this link and you really are innocent and didn’t know you were doing something unethical, well… now you know.

Peace out.

(Image credit : Image by pixabay.com/vectors/album-america-black-bones-1296177/)