The Continuing Crisis – Fake e-Books

Here is evidence, once again, that everything on the Internet needs to be taken with a grain of salt, and examined with a critical eye. In another case of let the buyer beware, CNN Money and Forbes magazine allege that knock-off e-books are being published and sold by the online retailer Amazon.

The report details how a few writers can self-publish fake e-books using CreateSpace, a site owned by Amazon.  The books are sold online, with titles and authors’ names that emulate best selling titles.  For instance, the imitation book Steve Jobs is written by Isaac Worthington instead of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.  According to the article, this fake book even appears to have lifted some, if not most, of the text from the Steve Jobs Wikipedia entry.  These fake authors earn 50% royalties from the knock-offs, but at the expense of tarnishing the the whole e-book industry, according to the major publishers.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com