If the deal seems to be good to be true, it probably is.
Recently a writer’s newsletter I subscribe to mentioned
that they discovered that some of their books were available for free digital download
on some questionable websites. They did not authorize the books to be offered
for free. Seriously, what author wants to give their book away for free? Both
the publisher and author want to make money on the book, why would they give it
away for free? Now occasionally authors do offer a free digital book, but it’s
almost always as an incentive to buy another book from them or take a course or
seminar they are offering.
Naturally, I was curious to see if my latest book, Backroads
and Byways of Upstate New York was available on any of these nefarious
websites. I discovered at least a half dozen sites offering a “free” download
of the book. Concerned, I contacted my publisher and here’s what my contact had
to say:
The book isn’t
truly available there; these sites are designed to fool people and install
malicious software on their computers. These site creators are merely
pretending to have to book files.
So there you have it people, don’t be fooled, you can’t
get a digital copy of my book, or any book for that matter, for free,
especially if it’s not being offered directly from the author or publisher. Only
buy digital downloads from reputable booksellers, for example amazon.com or Barnes
and Noble.
