Michael Martinez writes: Today I was advised that PARMA ENDORION: ESSAYS ON MIDDLE-EARTH, 3RD EDITION, has been put up for auction at eBay.com. As I announced in January, this special edition of PARMA ENDORION was published as an eBook in Adobe PDF format and has been made available for free download at http://www.free-ebooks.net/fan_fiction.html for anyone who wants a copy.

Here is an example of a concluded sale of the eBook:

eBay Listing

I am told that these listings only stay available for up to 30 days.

Since I have asked that the most current auction be removed, I think this link may last longer than the current auction. Several auctions have already been removed under the seller’s feedback list, perhaps for reported abuse. There were a few other concluded PARMA ENDORION auctions in the list.

Since PARMA ENDORION was published in January, more than 80,000 downloads have been recorded by free-ebooks.net. I was advised earlier this summer that the eBook has also been distributed (without authorization) on the Kazaa network. Since Kazaa is a peer-to-peer distribution service, and since it was apparent to me no one was altering the work or trying to make money, I let the Kazaa situation pass without challenge.

I just think these auctions are so unfair to the people buying the books. Of course, they are unfair to me and the artists, Rich Sullivan and Anke Eismann, because we are not being compensated for our work. But no one should have to pay for PARMA ENDORION. That was not what we intended.

Please help spread the word to your visitors. I will do what I can to inform the public through other venues, as well as through Xenite.org’s network. But there are a lot of people out there. And it may not be too late for the buyers to report the fraud to PayPal (the service the auctioneer used) or eBay. Perhaps they can get refunds.

Your help in getting the word out will be greatly appreciated.