Someone (here) has been leaking all of my posts (Patreon)

It was recently brought to my attention that there is a website hosting, quite literally, every Patreon post I've ever made. I won't link to the site here. But it's quite sad to think that many (maybe around 100 books?) have been put out for free, including books that were supposed to be Patreon-exclusive. 

Obviously, these things happen, and maybe I should take it as a compliment. Whoever is stealing the content apparently thinks that there is demand for my work... but it's nevertheless disheartening. 

I've talked a few times in the past about the constantly changing Amazon algorithm, and changes they're always making to ensure erotic content doesn't come up on best-seller lists or in search results. More recently, they've changed the way books are ranked in their system. Eighteen months ago, if I sold 20 copies of a book in a day, that book would have been ranked in the top 5000 in the Kindle store. Now, with the same number of sales, it doesn't even crack the top 20,000--but only with erotic content! If I get the same number of sales with my sci-fi/fantasy work, the ranking is exponentially higher. 

This change was a huge blow to me and many other authors. A few authors have stopped publishing because of it. One author, who used to be a prominent TG author, and a good friend of mine, had to quite publishing altogether. Now, she works as a bartender. Another author friend of mine had to sell her house and car and move to a cheaper area just to stay afloat. 

And then there's that pesky inflation. The cost of everything, from gas to groceries, has nearly doubled in the past year. In that time, Kindle has gone from paying $0.01 per page read to $0.008. And a book sale has stayed the same at $2.99. 

This isn't me complaining though. I've been super lucky--and I was very, very lucky to start Magnus Reid with Ava Hayes when I did. Without the money I've made from Magnus, I quite possibly would have been forced to make writing/publishing a pastime while going out to find an actual job (oh God, what would I put on my resume after doing this for almost seven years!??). And, of course, with the bump I get from Patreon, I've managed to be one of the lucky ones, still able to write full-time. I'm lucky to have the support of all of you. I'm lucky that I'm able to write a very large amount in a short amount of time compared to the average person (it's a very curious skill, seeing as I don't think I'm a very smart person). 

Long story short--it's frustrating to see ~100 books posted for free on a website that gets tons of traffic. I've noticed a trend of Patrons unsubscribing over the past couple of months (which is fine, you're more than welcome to come and go as you please!) though I can't help but think that users are discovering that they can get the content for free elsewhere. I've sent the website a takedown notice but have little faith it will amount to anything. But I do, thankfully, have a couple of lawyer friends who would help me deal with this if need be.

In other news, World of Will Craft 3 will drop next week. It's the end of the series, and it was fun to write, but it's also a bit relieving to be done. Keeping track of all the 'stats' was a lot for me--and not something I've ever really done before (not on that scale, at least). I'm going to spend a couple of months writing only trans romance tales, and then I will start a new series. I need ideas and I'm open if you've got any!