Alright, kids. Take a seat. Let’s have this very important conversation—one that is long overdue. I thought things would turn out differently. I had hoped it would. It didn’t. Not today.

When I saw fellow author Julia Abe’s Instagram post about learning all of her books were in a popular digital pirated book library, I had to take that jump and look for mine. To preface, I’m not a popular author, nor did I give birth to a bestseller. If anyone wanted to read a book, surely, it must be something so groundbreaking and popular, or at least from a really famous writer.

But my book was there. Marikit and the Ocean of Stars was there.

One thing: I love you. I write books for you. I want my books to be accessible to you, and if you want to read them for free, there are libraries. Actual, real-life libraries. Libraries are cool! Librarians, more so! There are digital libraries that require minimal subscription. But, my dear, feeding our work to a digital monster aggregator feels like a betrayal.

No, I don’t want a mindless algorithm to steal my words and the *very* annoying way I write. I don’t think AI is a global necessity. We could live without it. We should live without it. Because otherwise, it will thrive without us. It will occupy the seats meant for you and me.

And that’s what we creators fear. That someday, our words, our stories, our art, all these things that take years to make, our very own blood and sweat and tears, would be stolen from us.

I know that if someone truly wants to pirate books, they will do it, no matter what. But here’s how you, our readers, could help us.

One. If you have an e-ARC of any of our books, a file shared with you in full trust, please secure them. If you bought the e-book, thank you. I’m glad you read our work. Maybe you liked it. Maybe to the point that you’d want to share it with your friends. I’m so grateful for your recommendation, but please be responsible in handling these files. These were paid for with your own money! There are better ways to lead others to our books: word of mouth, purchase links, and if buying it isn’t an option, libraries.

I tell you, libraries are cool. I had always hoped we had more of them here.

Two. Help us report pirated links. If you see Marikit and the Ocean of Stars or The Boy, the Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon uploaded in similar aggregators, please reach out and let me know. This, I beg you to do with other authors, too. Don’t let AI profit from the hard work of human creators. These mindless, heartless pre-dystopian digital creatures don’t have cats to tend to and bellies to feed. We do. Kalawang won’t be happy.

Three. Did I ever mention libraries? Libraries are cool. Yep, I said that, alright. But they are. Really. Full of free books (limited, and to be returned at a certain time) and brilliant, awkward humans eager to start book-related conversations with you. They know their stuff. They make puns, and they’d giggle, unlike ChatGPT, who’d only respond monotonously to you. Make use of them. Go to them. They need you, too.

Once again, with all my heart, please help save us. Save the industry of real, human writers with many stories to share. We have souls and tears. We listen to bird-songs and tap our feet when our favorite tune is on. I, for one, may not be as good when it comes to math and science and perfect grammar. But it’s our imperfections that make us us: soft, raw, hurting, hoping, afraid, bold, and so, so real. No machine could ever replicate that.

At least not for now.

Don’t let them.