Free or Not? That is the Question

I write books.
Writing is my work.
I want to get paid for my work, just like everyone else.
​I have a family to feed, just like everyone else.

Today I came across this blog post:
​Read the full post HERE
According to the post, a reader sent this email to an author. I quote:
"I really like your books. I think they are well-written and I enjoyed reading them. However, I have returned them all because you priced them at $0.99 to $2.99, and that is too much to pay for them. I can’t afford to pay that much for a book, even though I liked it. In the future, can you make sure you make all your books free so I don’t have to return them?"

Those who want to cheat find the way
Dishonest people read books from cover to cover and then return it for refund.
It is possible to bypass the return policy rules on eBook publishing sites. The "do not copy" protection only gives false security to authors and make them think that their copyrighted books could not be copied or converted. The truth is that any Epub or Mobi file can be converted and copied very easily with a converter program.
Dishonest people then read the book on their computer and not on their Kindle. The Kindle page indicator shows that the book was not read, so Amazon lets the reader return the book and pays the refund.
Is it the honest way to read? Not in my book! 

Recently I gave out complimentary copies of my books for honest reviews.
Why?
Because the publishing sites don't show my books to potential readers until every book has a certain amount of reviews posted (I hear it from authors that it's about 50 reviews) and because very few readers bother to write reviews, I thought that readers who like to read and also like to write would post a few honest reviews.

Well, most of them didn't. They tanked me for the free books and I never heard from them again.

If you are one of the few honest, decent people who bought my books or received complimentary copies and cared enough to rate and review it, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To those who think books should be free and that writing a book is not work:
People don't go to the bakery and ask for free cake or go to a farm to pick up free chicken and vegetables.

Why?
Because cakes don't bake themselves from nothing, chickens and vegetables don't grow from nothing. The baker and farmer puts a lot of money and elbow grease into baking a cake, growing chicken and vegetables. Right?

Books don't write, edit, format and published themselves for free either.
It takes time (months and even years) and effort to write a book (long hours sitting by the computer), and to edit and revise several times, get the book professionally edited, illustrated, a cover designed, and the e-book formatted properly require a lot of money. Hundreds of dollars are invested very fast and the book is not even published yet. Then comes a whole lot more money out of the authors' pocket to market the book.

FYI to this person who wants books to be free:
I work hard, just like everybody else. I provide hours of entertainment to my readers with my stories. No, I don't write for freeloaders who enjoy the book and then return it for refund. I write for honest, decent people who respect my work and pay for the books they read and enjoy. And, just like everybody else, I deserve to be paid for my work.

​Pirate sites are stealing books, dishonest people are reading the books for free and authors don't get paid for their work. That is not right. It is not the American way. Proud people don't steal from others.

Before you decide to download free books from pirate sites:
Do you think they will give you a free book for nothing in return?
Think again! They’re not good Samaritans; they’re thieves who want to make a quick buck! Yes, they let you download an authors’ hard work that they stole, but you will pay a lot more later. They’re clever, I must give them that.

The pirate sites will either:
Bombard your mailbox with advertisements
Sell your email address to marketers
Infect your computer with a spy cookie or worse that they hide in the FREE book that you download
Moreover, you might unknowingly give the site permission to add a spy program to your computer
Do you think your passwords or credit card information are safe? Think again before you download a FREE book from pirate sites! You will pay a greater price that the price of an eBook you'd pay on legitimate selling sites that protect your personal information!

My Books

My Children's Books

My Fantasy Novels

MY BOOKS ON AMAZON

If you decide to pay for my books,
​I salute you and thank you for your support.
​You work and get paid for your work, therefore you respect the work of others.

If you can't afford the eBook or print prices and would like to read my books, please ask your local library to purchase them. My eBooks are available on Amazon and libraries can purchase the paperbacks from Ingram.

Magical realism/fantasy novel series

A reader said about the story:
"​This is the first time I read a book of this genre. It is particularly interesting the fact that many aspects of this story are based on facts, history and the magical essence of the Hun tradition. The beauty of the flower language, telepathically communication, chants and their rituals from Eastern Europe around 1500 years ago, bring the story to the present with the diary entries of the main character an educated doctor, Ilona.
The flower of the Lotus represents the transitions of reaching maturity and the beginning for Ilona, to discover her power healing and in particular, the way she can slow time around her. The story contains also the romance scenes when the main character has a love interest, for Zoltan, who can time-travel, but with the limitations of the ancient law.
The author maintains the rhyme of the story between past, present and future with a delicate style. I particularly enjoyed the chants and poetic expression at the beginning of some chapters."

A reader said about the story:
Ilona's journey begins exactly where Protected by the Falcon ended with no gaps or wondering what happened in between. I enjoyed the story line and diary entries by different characters to add perspective to things that were happening to all of them. Chosen by the Sword brought even more havoc to Ilona's life and those around her. She has many choices or decisions to make to keep the world from falling into chaos and the time between past and present brings a lot of change. More than half of Book 2 took place in the past where she had to find her legacy and accept or deny blessings bestowed upon her. When Ilona and her companions return to the present, things are not the same as when they left. I will not spoil the epic ending with hints, just say that everything happened the way it should have. A perfect story except for the few bad words which in my opinion were not needed and not suitable for younger readers even though they may hear it all the time!

My children's books

A reader said about the book:
"Pico the Pesky Parrot is an adorable story that teaches a strong message of compassion, community, and communication. Molly adopts her neighbor's parrot after Mrs. Santos must move a nursing home. All day long, Pico, shrieks, but Molly doesn't understand him. Then Molly is invited to go on vacation and she must make arrangements for Pico. A new family to the neighborhood agrees to take care of Pico, putting their daughter, Emma in charge of the bird. One day Emma and her friends discover Pico speaks Spanish and decide to surprise Molly by teaching him English. When Molly returns from her trip, she's overjoyed to hear Pico speaking English. I love that this book conveys so many positive messages for children and their families. The illustrations are beautiful and it is printed in English and Spanish on alternate pages giving the reader the option to read in either language. As a bilingual teacher, I am excited about sharing this book with my students and think it would make a wonderful addition to all school libraries. 5 stars for Pico the Bilingual Parrot!"

A reader said about the book:
"​When Sandra’s much loved Grandma Rose starts to lose her hearing, whilst her parents become increasingly frustrated, and sad, little Sandra has a brilliant idea. You see grandma has problems hearing the right sounds, so she gets the words muddled, and so Sandra shows her grandma a picture of the thing she is talking about on her IPad. Grandma Rose and Sandra make the problem into a game by having fun and using a rhyming game. Then one day Sandra discovers a signing website…
Soon grandma and granddaughter are learning how to sign together, and when they notice what fun their daughter is having, her parents even join in.
Then one sunny day Sandra meets a little boy called Thomas who is deaf, he is sad and lonely because of his disability. Befriending him, he tells her he can lip read and soon he is no longer lonely, he is joining in with her friends, and teaching the other children how to sign.
This is a lovely story which delivers important lessons in a wonderful way. Through Sandra’s acceptance of her grandma’s problem and positive attitude to overcoming the difficulties, the reader is taught valuable lessons about friendship, support and helping people with a disability fit into the community.
I downloaded this with my Kindle Unlimited subscription as my grandchildren are hear and their granddad is hard of hearing. They loved listening to it, and we had fun together practicing the signing which is in the book. A real gem of a book!"

​Sandra enseña a su familia y amigos a comunicarse con personas con discapacidad auditiva.
Este divertido libro ilustrado  lleva un importante mensaje para los niños, como aprender a no juzgar o burlarse de alguien sólo porque es diferente.  La vida de algunas personas con discapacidad no es divertida y vivir con una discapacidad conlleva muchos retos, pero nosotros podemos hacer sus vidas más fáciles en vez de más difíciles.
Cuando la abuela Rosa perdió la audición, Los padres de Sandra se sintieron frustrados y tristes. No sabían qué hacer  y cómo aprender a comunicarse mejor con ella. Ellos intentaban gritar, cambiar el tono de voz o acercarse a su oído cuando se dirigían a ella, pero no servía de nada. Rosa podía oír algunos sonidos claramente, pero otros no podía escucharlos bien. Para ellos se convirtió en una lucha diaria poder comunicarse y empezaron a echar de menos las reconfortantes conversaciones de sobremesa.
—Mira, abuela —le dijo  entusiasmada—, puedo mostrarte las letras con mis dedos cuando no puedas escuchar lo que te digo.
   —¿Qué quieres decir con “mostrar las letras con tus
dedos”? —la abuela Rosa preguntó.
   —He encontrado una página web para personas con discapacidad auditiva y explica cómo pueden comunicarse  entre ellos sin hablar. Hay un signo para cada letra y cada número, que ellos pueden hacer con sus manos. Podemos aprender los signos juntas, y cuando no puedas escuchar el sonido, yo puedo mostrártelo  —Sandra sonrió feliz.
   —Oh, creo que es una idea maravillosa, Sandra. —Los ojos de la abuela Rosa brillaron con entusiasmo— Pero parece un poco difícil, ¿tú crees que yo podría aprender los signos?
   —Por supuesto que puedes, abuela; y podemos aprender juntas.
Y lo hicieron. Ellas demostraron que con amor, compasión y trabajando duro se pueden superar los obstáculos que conlleva la discapacidad auditiva.