This is my 144th posting to this blog. You can read it for free.

On Saturday, August 21, 9:00 p.m. Central Time, I’ll be on the Pagans Tonight webcast. You can listen for free.

On Thursday, September 2, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, I’ll be on the combined webcast of Black Cat Lounge & Stirring the Cauldron. You can listen for free.

On Sunday, September 11, I’ll be at the San Diego Pagan Pride event, and will give a workshop. You can attend for free and hear my workshop for free (although please consider bringing a non-perishable food item as a donation).

On Sunday, September 26, I’ll be at the Los Angeles and Orange Country Pagan Pride event, and will give a workshop. You can attend for free and hear my workshop for free (although again, please consider bringing a non-perishable food item as a donation).

Virtually all of the writers I know do the same sort of thing. They are willing to share their ideas with you for free. In this way, they support the community. Most of the writers I know make relatively little from their published works. I have a friend who, upon having her first occult book published, told me that with her first royalty check she was going to buy a new computer, a new car, and fix up her house. I advised her to wait until the check came in before she spent any money. Thankfully, she did. The amount she received was far below what she had hoped for. She, however, also gives free workshops to support the community.

In exchange, she and I and all writers on the occult hope you will consider buying one or more of the books we’ve written. I think I can safely say that we all have one humble request:

Please Don’t Buy From Crooks!

Buy a copy directly from the writer or publisher. If you can’t do that, buy a copy from a local independent bookstore. If you can’t do that, buy from a local chain store. Buy a copy from an on-line bookstore. If you can’t afford a book, buy one through a used book store or ask your local library to get a copy. Please, however, don’t buy from a crook.

When you buy a book you’re supporting the writer so he or she can write more. You’re also supporting the publisher so they can publish more books you like, as well as help pay the salaries of all the people who work for the publisher. When you buy from a crook or a bootlegger, you’re only supporting that one person.

With computer technology it’s surprisingly easy to scan a book, make a pdf copy of it and illegally and unethically sell it on a disk. Today, I received a DVD with “800” (that’s the claim, I haven’t checked it) occult books on it. Many of them are old books in the Public Domain and I was willing to pay for it so I could have them all in one place. I purchased it through eBay. The seller is in England. To my surprise, on the disk was a folder with my name on it. Inside was a pdf copy of Modern Magick. They also had a recording of a tape I had made. The copyright for both items is in my name and is held by Llewellyn. I assume that several of the other titles on this disk are illegal, too. They have been reported to the appropriate authorities.

I know that in the present economy it can be difficult to afford a desired book. It’s tempting to patronize a crook or download an illegal copy.

Please don’t.