A Foreign Company Published My Book Without Permission!

Hi Angela,

I periodically search my name through Google and check out any new hits on my name. I found a copy of my book, new cover and all, in what appears to be Hungarian. The only English words on the cover are my name and Fiesta at the top.

I have NOT sold any foreign language rights. It’s officially out of print by my publisher, so it’s my problem.

I don’t know where to begin!

Sharon

It appears you’ve been pirated. It is probably a scam company that steals overseas books and publishes them in other languages. Other than hiring an attorney and suing that publisher, your choices are limited.

You can find the company by looking up their website at dns411.com. Write to them and demand information about their publication of your book. They may have purchased the rights from someone who doesn’t own the rights. So, assume nothing in the begin….but expect the worst.

If they don’t respond, send them an invoice for unauthorized publication of your book, and start spreading the word to the writing community about what they did. They probably have published other American writers without consent as well.

The good news is…their sales aren’t likely cutting into your English sales. I know that’s no consolation, but this is one of the drawbacks of the Internet. Anybody can steal anything and put it up for sale outside of our borders. And, unless you want to hire an attorney and sue someone overseas, you have little recourse other than letting others know about this company’s illegal practices.