“All we are is data in the wind.”
These are the words David Fear uses in his Rolling Stone review of the Netflix documentary, The Great Hack. Companies use the data they retrieve from our Internet searches, games, and, yes, free downloads to gain valuable information they use for a variety of purposes. We have become the commodity. In other words, anytime you think you are getting something for free on the Internet, you’re not. And we’re not even talking here about the dangers to your personal computer and accounts. So what does this have to do with the Pixeladies?
Our Story
In 2012 we published our book, Furoshiki Fabric Wraps: Simple, Reusable, Beautiful. It was an amazing feeling when we got our first copy in the mail.
We had a good run with it. We bought several cases wholesale because we were able to sell copies of the book to Japanese American museums and bookstores. That was a fun side business.
Where to Buy
Sadly, the book went out of print, but you can still purchase it as an eBook through C&T Publishing. As the years have gone by, we would occasionally see websites hawking our eBook. We’d notify C&T, and they would send a cease and desist letter to the owners of the website, and all would be well with the world again. Recently, things have changed. The websites aren’t selling our eBook (for which we would not get any royalties anyway), they’re giving it away for free. Gee, who wouldn’t want a free download? In conversation with the editor of C&T, Amy Marsden, we learned that many of these “free” downloads are coming from abroad, the last one from Russia, and have all the earmarks of clickbait. Merriam-Webster defines clickbait as “something (such as a headline) designed to make readers want to click on a hyperlink especially when the link leads to content of dubious value or interest.”
How to Help
You will help us and yourselves by not downloading the eBook for free. It costs $14.99 at C&T (and, yes, we receive royalties on these eBooks). Click here to go to C&T’s order page. And please be careful out there on the Information Superhighway. There are a lot of road hazards.
By the way: there are five legitimate hyperlinks on this page: one goes to the Rolling Stone review, another goes to the Merriam-Webster website (Kris is a former academic and still feels the need to document her claims), two links go to the order page for the eBook at C&T publishing, and one goes to our own website’s furoshiki page. We talk there a bit more about the book and its contents.
6 responses to “Our e-Book And the Dangers of Free Downloads”
Horrible! I am sorry this is happening to you both, as well as others. Will watch that documentary.
Yes, please watch the documentary. It was sobering.
I love the book and it’s a good reminder to start edging some fabric for future gift giving! Sorry there are jerks out there who can’t do anything but copy and cause trouble. You two deserve a lot better.
Thanks, Jeanne. As for edging, I love the look of the torn edge, especially on rayon.
Theives! I am so sorry to read about this. Your book was one of the first to educate us about furoshiki and the Japanese sensibility and with such a beautiful variety of patterns! It seems like these hackers always have a leg up getting the stolen property online before something can be done about it. I am really glad you have written about it here and on Facebook. We all have to watch out for each other when we see anything suspicious so hopefully, at least some of these hackers can be caught and charged.
P.S. Here in NC your Quilting Arts episodes aired in July and I think it was around the first of August when I saw another one (time flies, it might have been June & July). I loved the quilts and all of the information you shared was great!
Thanks, Becky. So glad you like the Quilting Arts episodes!