You have your book completed, edited, and ready to go.  To promote it and get reviews, you want to save it in PDF format, so you can send it to beta readers, book reviewers, and your friends who can’t wait until it’s published to read it (or are too cheap to buy a copy themselves….sorry to say, but they’re out there!).  So you Google free PDF convert sites…and BAM!  There are plenty….

For PDF, mobi and epub formats

This warning applies to all convert sites.  Many don’t just convert Word documents to PDF, but to Mobi (so it can be read on a Kindle reader or app) and various other formats.  In my case, I wanted to convert a few of my books to epub, mobi, and pdf, so readers had a choice when downloading my book.  At the time, I was offering a free book as a thank you for signing up to my newsletter (a great idea, by the way, it works!).

Beware of free PDF convert sites

Months later, I Google one of my books, just to see if it still being offered on ibooks, Kobo, and various other distributors, since I want to place some of my work in KDP Select for a time, and low and behold….

Pirated!

Not only have my books been pirated, but the slimy websites are using them in a phishing scheme.  Unbelievable!

Protect Yourself

DO NOT USE any of the free PDF convert sites, plain and simple.  If you need to convert to pdf, most updated Microsoft Office software offers pdf conversion.  Simply select from the drop-down menu when you’re in the ‘Save As’ screen.  To convert to all other formats, I recommend uploading your book to Smashwords.  It’s free and simple and takes ten minutes to do.  This platform enables you to publish your book and download it in all formats for free (for authors; readers must pay, of course), as many times as you want.  If you don’t want to publish your book on Smashwords, simply click on ‘unpublish’.  You can still download your book in all formats even if it is unpublished.

Please SHARE this message with all your author friends.  We need to stick together!