Although this is a fictional letter, it represents the plight of many writers around the world.

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Dear Book Pirate,

You don’t know me, yet you thought it acceptable to rob me. You crept up through a piracy site. Seconds later you stole a “free” copy of my book.

Did you know I spent three years writing it? I worked through a bout of pneumonia. I saved every extra nickel during those years so I could pay for a cover designer and advertising.

I still haven’t made a profit.

But you think it’s okay to stick a cyber blade in my back.

Theft is illegal, and you are a thief.

Book piracy is NOT a victimless crime.

You’re hurting me. You’re hurting my family. You’re dishonoring the authors whose books you download for free.

Future generations are deprived when authors quit writing because they can’t pay their bills. Creativity is dying an excruciating death. That makes you a murderer.

How would you feel if someone mugged you on the street or hacked into your bank account and stole your wages? That’s what you’ve done to me.

I make less than the price of a cup of coffee for every book I sell.

That coffee might last you thirty minutes. A book can last for hours. Its impact can last a lifetime — like some prison sentences.

Did you know that the median income of authors is less than minimum wage? Would you steal from a food server, department store clerk, or maintenance person? Given what you’ve already done, you probably would. Why did I bother to ask?

Few writers become successful like J. K. Rowling, Anne Rice, or George R. R. Martin. For most of us, every sale counts. Even though the profit is small, each book sold pushes it up in the ranks.

Your theft doesn’t count toward that ranking.

One author I know has cancer. He requires expensive medical treatment not covered by his insurance. Those dollars you rob from him push him closer to the grave.

Another writer is a single mom. She works two jobs and tries to supplement that income with writing. Those dollars you steal from her take food out of her child’s mouth.

What kind of person are you? Does your mother know she raised a liar and a thief who thinks nothing of robbing people over the internet? How will she feel when she discovers your heinous acts? She will, you know. Mothers always do.

And don’t think you can dodge her if she’s dead. She already knows.

By the way, do you even comprehend what heinous means? Or comprehend? Look them up. Or do you need to steal a dictionary first?

If you don’t care about the people you hurt, think about yourself.

You could download a virus. The people who administer the piracy site you belong to have already proved their poor moral fiber. What’s to stop them from infecting your computer or smart phone and stealing your financial information? Or installing camera spyware that watches every move you make? Or concealing an app that sends out spam e-mails?

Are you sure the site is a download repository? It could be a sting set up by the authorities. They might be recording and watching the cyber identity of all members.

Is it worth the risk? Worth a jail sentence and the loss of your job? The social media shame? The shame of your family and friends when your crime, along with your face and name, are broadcast across the entire world?

Before you press that FREE DOWNLOAD button, consider reporting and boycotting the site instead.

And if you run one of these places, shame on you! You’re making money from someone else’s hard work, dedication, and talent. That makes you a parasite, a foul creature that sucks its host to death. Are you proud of yourself?

If you think stealing my work makes you so smart, why don’t you try to write a novel and see if you have what it takes to create what you just stole?

Yours truly,
A Struggling Writer

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