Blast It

Hello SErs. Harmony here! I hope this finds you all well.

I recently started to Beta test a new software programme that discovers illegal download sites for your book(s). This has been an eye-opener for me, and I wanted to share some of that with you today.

When you feel lucky to sell 1 or 2 books a month, how would you feel if you discovered that on just ONE illegal download site alone more than 5,000 illegal copies of just ONE of your books had been done? And then you see that tens of sites for EACH of your books show the same sorry tale? What, if anything, can you do about it?

At first, I felt heartbroken. What’s the point in ever publishing another word? The irony is that all of my books are available to borrow FREE via Amazon Kindle Unlimited. With this, you can read an UNLIMITED number of books for just 7.99 a month. I mean, why steal????

I came so close to deleting all my books and website/blog, etc. It felt like they hadn’t just stolen my books but my heart and soul. Worse still, I haven’t even garnered reviews from this theft.

I’m still at an impasse with continuing to write and publish, and I hope that I will get through this hump soon. In the meantime, thanks to this new software, I have a way to fight back.

It isn’t open to the public yet, and I don’t know what it will cost when it is released, but for certain, the Beta testing stage looks promising.

The programme is called Blasty, and it is open to requests to become a Beta tester. Before I tell you how it works, I’d like to make you aware, though, that it does have some issues at this stage …

  • It can take a while to get your illegal content removed from the offending sites (perhaps up to a week).
  • The scanning stage doesn’t always work or can take a looooooong time.
  • You have to enter some sites to review them manually, and this can open you up to viruses.

The Pros:

  • You can auto add all your books from your Amazon author page … how cool is that?
  • You can whitelist URL’s when you set up your account.
  • You can set an ‘auto blast’ that will automatically ‘blast’ (remove the illegal content from) obviously offending websites without you having to review them manually.
  • You can create a blacklist of sites that are repeat offenders.

When it goes live, I plan to share a post with you on how it works, etc. So, watch this space!

At the moment, I am trying to do a blast run once a week. Who knows, maybe this will keep on top of this huge problem.

Now, I need to say that I am in no way an affiliate for Blasty, and receive no benefit from posting about it here. I simply want to share something that I feel may be helpful to my fellow writers.

For those interested, here is the sign up URL for the Beta: https://blasty.co/

And if they do ask you how you heard of them, feel free to name drop for me! lols. Who knows, that might go somewhere too! wink wink

Harmony Kent

@harmony_kent / Harmony Kent Author Pages: Facebook / Amazon

 

45 thoughts on “Blast It

  1. Hi, Harmony, thought I had responded earlier but ‘Twilight’ can do that to you at times. LOL This is great news…I’ve been putting up with piracy for about two years, so I joined ‘Blasty’ this AM. Thanks so much for sharing this. My best wishes. ♥

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Pingback: Curated Writing Content | Story Empire

  3. I wrote a few articles about Blasty. I’ve been using it for almost a year now and love it. Yes, it was appalling to find so many of my books available for illegal download, it happens to so many of us. But Blasty gets Google to remove those sites permanently which will be a big help to us in the long run and saves us time from having to locate the owners and bother with cease and desist letters.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I’ve had to do a few cease and desist letters because Google in their wisdom rejected the blasts when the sites are clearly in violation, but at least Blasty takes care of most of it, and as you say, permanently. It’s good to hear from someone who’s used it for such a long time. Thanks for stopping by, DG 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  4. I’ve never heard of Blasty but I do have Google alerts set for my books that let me know when there is an illegal download.. Some are bogus and some are legitimate (one of my early books had a ton of freeee downloads before I discovered it). Now, my publisher has an arm devoted solely to handling these downloads, so if I find a site, I report it to them and they take care of it. Even so, it’s so discouraging that people won’t willing pay a paltry sum for an ebook but have no qualms about pirating a book. It makes me appreciate the battle music artists and the movie industry have been battling for years. I look forward to hearing more about Blasty as it’s developed.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I never received one Google alert, so am so glad for Blasty. I remained in ignorance until this programme. I’ll be sure to feedback more about Blasty later 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Thanks for letting us know about this…very discouraging. I think educating each other and sticking together is the best way to deal with it–along with this new program, Blasty! I think I will go check it out.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. It’s an uphill battle, I’m afraid. I try to look at it as free promotion, hopefully they’ll like the book they ‘borrowed’ well enough to leave a review or BUY (heaven forbid) one of my other titles.
    I applied to Blasty some time ago, but never heard back. Maybe I’ll try again.
    Great post, and don’t give up! If you do, they win.

    Liked by 2 people

  7. I use Blasty. It’s mind-boggling how many illegal download sites there are out there. Then again, I’m not sure all those sites really have my books or if they just want you to click download to introduce malware into your system. I never dare click them to find out. It’s definitely disheartening as an author and impossible to keep up with them all, so hopefully Blasty will prove to be efficient in ‘blasting’ them.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Wow, Harmony, this is unbelievable. Yes, it is discouraging when we struggle to sell a book or two here and there and yet someone else is profiting off our hard work. It’s just wrong on every level. I hope this software is released soon and that authors will take advantage of the tool it provides. Thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. I get a Google alert at least once a week about a book of mine somewhere offered as a free download. (And those are the ones Google tells me about.) The first time, I went nuts. I tried to get it taken down, argued with different people online about their level of responsibility, and eventually gave up after the runaround. I don’t even look at the alerts I get now.

    Blasty seems like a good way to circumvent these frustrations and actually get some action. Thanks for sharing.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Blasty is the first time I’ve seen anything of its kind, and it does seem like just what’s needed. Although, Google have rejected some blasts that are clearly in violation, and I have submitted a DCMA complaint to the hosts, but to no avail. Still, the majority, so far, are getting removed via Blasty. It’s taking a long time, though, but at least it stops us being completely helpless 🙂

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