Publicist of the Year Leads Awareness Campaign to "Check Your Books"

Press Release • Mar 30, 2016

The online piracy of books in a little-known topic that is having a very big impact on unsuspecting authors and publishers. PR expert, author, and advocate Rhonda Rees has been working tirelessly to help bring this issue into greater public awareness.

Agoura Hills, CA, March 30, 2016 (Newswire.com) - Publicist of the Year, author and advocate Rhonda Rees is orchestrating a campaign to alert authors and publishers to “check their books” to correspond with World Book and Copyright Day, on April 23, 2016.

She is asking that during the month of April they run Google, Bing, or other searches to see whether or not their work is compromised by being offered for “free” without their knowledge or permission. She would like authors and publishers to plug in the title of their book, or books, the author’s name, and the words ‘free downloads’ to spot what comes up.

"It's not just the famous recording artists or celebrities that are being ripped-off anymore. Instead, online book piracy is having an impact on the average author in a very big way."

Rhonda Rees, President

This is a subject that Rees knows about first-hand. Her US copyrighted, trademarked, registered and award-winning book, Profit and Prosper with Public Relations®: Insider Secrets to Make You a Success was being offered as a free download on several sites without her consent. http://www.amazon.com/Profit-Prosper-Public-Relations-Rhonda/dp/0982223501

Rees isn’t the only one that this situation is happening to. Thousands of other unsuspecting authors across the globe are also left vulnerable to unscrupulous Internet thieves.

According to Rees, “It’s not just the famous recording artists or celebrities that are being ripped-off anymore. Instead, online book piracy is having an impact on the average author in a very big way.”

According to the Association of American Publishers, the publishing industry as a whole has lost $80 to $100 million dollars to online piracy annually. From 2009 to 2013, the number of e-book Internet piracy alerts that the Authors Guild of America received from their membership had increased by 300%. During 2014, that number doubled. In 2016, these numbers are expected to go much higher.

For the past couple of years Rees has been working tirelessly to help bring this little-known topic to public attention. The Bulldog Reporter publication honored her with their Publicist of the Year Gold Award in their Stars of PR competition for her efforts. https://www.bulldogreporter.com/creative-persistent-campaign-to-gain-attention-for-widespread-online-book-piracy-crisis-earns-rhonda-rees-publicist-of-the-year-and-a-stars-of-pr-gold-award/ In addition, she was also named Publicist of the Year by the Book Publicists of Southern California, winning their IRWIN Award (Industry Recognition of Writers in the News.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPrATPtRwoQ

As an author, publicist and publisher, Rees has lent her voice by appearing in the media and online, and by contributing feature articles, such as in IP Watchdog.com: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2016/03/10/crusade-against-online-piracy/id=66902/. Her aim is to educate the public, and to open up a dialogue between authors and publishers, organizations, policy makers and law enforcement.

She is now asking for authors and publishers to run searches to see whether or not their work is being pirated. Rees offers important suggestions and tips, and outlines what they can do should they find themselves in this tough situation. Listen to her Author U podcast: https://player.fm/series/author-u-your-guide-to-book-publishing-podcasts/book-piracy-how-to-discover-and-how-to-fix-show-02-25-2016

After World Book and Copyright Day this April 23, 2016, she will continue her fight against the online piracy of books. Rees has made contact with the Global Intellectual Property (IP) Center, a division of the US Chamber of Commerce, the Authors Guild of America, the Counterfeit Report Company, the Piracy Trace Business, and numerous organizations such as IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association), SPAWN (Small Publishers Artists and Writers Network), and BPSC (Book Publicists of Southern California.)

World Book and Copyright Day is an annual event sponsored by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to help promote reading, publishing and copyright issues. It is observed in over 100 countries, from private businesses, schools and voluntary organizations that come together to pay tribute to authors and books. The April 23, date is the anniversary of the birth and death of William Shakespeare, and the birth or death date of other well-known authors such as Miguel de Cervantes, Maurice Druon, and Halldór Laxness.

Rhonda Rees is available for interview. For further information, contact Rhonda Rees via her website: www.rhondareespr.com. You can also follow her on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter @ReesRhonda.