While I profoundly appreciate people buying my books - it's literally why I'm alive - I am happy that my work is very likely available on pirating websites. Individuals accessing my work for free is not what hurts me as an artist. Capitalism does that just fine all by itself.

I know this is a statement that's likely to alienate me from a number of you, which hurts, but it's become too difficult to remain silent on this issue in order to keep up appearances, and I'm honestly ashamed of myself for doing so for so long.

In the same way that I do not believe pharmaceutical companies should hold hostage life-saving medications nor landowners food, I do not believe my creative output should be withheld from general access.

Either my work as an artist is important, good, valuable, and meaningful -- and therefore should be available freely to all who wish to access it-- or it's nothing.

I know very well that most authors live precarious lives, but what will save us is not greater embargoes on our work. I'd rather direct my energy toward fighting for changes that target the systems and institutions that hurt all of us who must sell our labour to survive.

Even the most basic of liberal reforms -- affordable educatoin & housing, universal basic income, universal healthcare -- would provide greater improvement to artist's lives than targeting piraters.

I'd like to clear up one thing. Readers don't pay authors. Publishers do. While they may use sales-figures to justify decisions, consider that in the Big 5 it's not unusual for a small number of writers to receive million-dollar+ advances for...debuts.

In an equation that centres pirates as the determiner of how much artists get compensated, we forget to critically examine, you know, those who actually own the means of production.

We live in a world where our livelihoods depend on the trade of goods & services. Many of us feel exploited by said system (we are). Policing others offers us a sense of security, control, & justice -- novel sensations considering capitalism robs us of all those things. Resist.