Sunday, November 08, 2009

Gone fishing

This morning the rest of the family has gone fishing and I was the one left behind. Which I am fine with--honest. Baby was napping and I didn't want to wake her up. I also don't find it fun to chase after her on the shoreline while everyone else is having fun relaxing on the beach with their poles in the water.

So, I stayed home, caught up on laundry, did some dishes, watched some tv, swept the kitchen floor and began the tacos for lunch.

I still have to do some shopping, and this will be a no writing day for me. I can't get it done with the family home and reading over my shoulder. It just doesn't work for me. I think everyone has their systems.

Does anyone else google themsleves? I started setting an alert so I can know when things happen, or my name gets mentioned on the web. 90% of the time, I know it's there already, but today my books came up on a certain pirate site. Agh. The blight of any author's career and paycheck is stolen books.

I'd like to say it doesn't bother me, that those people would never have read my books anyway, but the fact is that it's not true. I have freebie books I have written to introduce people to my writing, I don't mind people reading what I wrote, with the hope that they will read more of my books, but I can't afford to lose too much. With my husband losing his job twice over the past year, paying off thousands of dollars in medical bills (between the miscarriage, the birth, and my hubby going blind we should be bankrupt), and the usual running of the house, I have come to rely on my income from my books, and my graphic design business to eat.

I don't make that much. I am a small name author just beginning to get some reader interest and this is a fight I am not excited to have to fight.

2 comments:

Annie Solomon said...

Those pirate sites are terrible, Missy. Most of us don't make much on our writing so every penny counts. The google alerts are great for finding them, though. And I've always asked my publisher to handle it. Any kind of cease and desist letter should work. I think people assume if your book is published you're super rich and can afford to have it stolen. I once came on a pirate site where the guy asked for donations!!! Curses be upon them.

said...

Yeah curses--and don't forget scurvy. lol. Thanks for the advice. :)