A WORD ON DRM

Our company 7174 is literally just Ash and myself. We started out many moons ago as independent creators and we’ve stayed that way because that’s where we feel most comfortable.

In order to be truly independent, it requires us to create works from out of thin air and of our own accord. The discipline, work ethic and grit that it takes to function like we do should not be underestimated. The books that we produce are the product of hundreds and thousands of hours of work, we are not paid in advance for this work, we make things because we are compelled to and because we love it.

Over the course of our careers we have built up a loyal following, ninety-nine point nine, nine percent of whom are thoroughly excellent people. Ash and I don’t make work for faceless readers, we meet them at every show, every convention, every exhibition. We get to know people’s names and their stories, we form friendships and associations this way too. We appreciate everyone and they in turn appreciate the work that we produce.

In this day and age, the group that we cater to is rare and therefore it is because of this that we make our downloadable content DRM free. We do this as a sign of trust. You trust us to entertain you, we trust you not to copy or duplicate the work that we provide.

As fiercely independent creators, Ash and I do not have a Patreon account. We do not accept donations, or start Go Fund Me pages for our books. We prefer to run our publishing very simply. We produce the work, you buy it and enjoy it and the cycle continues, new books follow old ones because we are able to make a living.

And so I ask everyone who makes use of our site, do not duplicate your purchases, do not torrent them or violate our copyright. There is a clear cut sense of right and wrong in this issue and no matter what anyone says, when it comes to the continued livelihoods of independent creators, there is no grey area.

I thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

T.P. Louise