Theft is a big issue for authors. I'm referring to so-called "pirate" sites that offer free downloads of ebooks, PDFs, etc. Sometimes, they download a virus, too. Please don't download a free book from any site you aren't familiar with.

I pay for a service called Blasty to take these down from search engines (such as Chrome and Bing). In just a few months, they have taken down nearly 800 pages. One of them bragged about having downloaded 4,000 copies of one of my books. While not all of those readers would have bought the book, some of them might.

It's frustrating, costly and infuriating. I appreciate that many readers are on a tight budget, and may not be aware that these books are stolen. That's why I'm sharing this info.

Occasionally, I do offer a book for free, and I have a free novelette (What the Doctor Didn't Tell Her) posted on Amazon, B&N, Kobo and Smashwords. Next month, March 15-19, I've scheduled a giveaway of my romance mystery His Secret Son on Amazon. I hope my readers enjoy it!