So our book is out, which is cool.  You can even “buy” it now.   However, one look at the the “download” sites shows me how fruitless it is to write anything these days.   Here is an image from one of those “download” aggregation sites:

This was not any “secret” site either.  A simple Google search was all that was required.  I realize that only a small fraction of these downloads were from people who will ever read a single word we have written, but it still feels terrible.

If anything helps me believe that making “free to play” games is a good idea, this is it.  How can you monetize downloadable content when it’s so freely made available?

The book was uploaded yesterday (by the one person who got their hands on it), and it’s already been pirated 25,000 times.   We’ve had people request the source code from us, but it’s very difficult to tell if they are one of the “25,000” or not.

Oh well, that’s the reality these days.   20 man-months months of work nullified by the simple click and download from a pirate site. 

Honestly, I wonder why we even bother.

(Update: This was fake site.  See comments below.  My relief is only matched by my embarrassment.   At least you know I don’t pirate stuff myself!)