Posted on Oct 10, 2008

Important Notice I would first like to thank all those who have purchased my work over the years. I’m so grateful you’ve found the books I’ve written to be of value. Your ongoing support and encouragement means a lot to me. As you probably know, I reduced the cost of my textbooks dramatically a couple months ago. This has allowed access to my materials to a great many more people as it’s easier to afford the current cost. Unfortunately, with the reduction in cost came a problem I could not foresee. I’ve received a great many letters over the past few months that start with “I love your textbook, I received a copy from (insert name here). I have a question….” Obviously many people have chosen to share their textbooks with others who haven’t paid for the download. I’ve chosen not to contact those who have shared my materials because, to be honest, I don’t know what to say. I thought, perhaps, writing a note here would let everyone know of the serious impact sharing the textbooks has on my ability to offer textbooks in the future. To be honest, it could put me out of business. I rely heavily on the textbook sales to keep ATI afloat. With every textbook that is shared, my ability to continue providing services becomes more precarious. I understand that some people are strapped for cash. If you know of someone who would benefit from my work but can’t afford it, please write me and give me their name. I may be able to help out. The choice to help out should, after all, be mine. The materials are copyrighted and sharing them with others is violating that copyright. If you work in a training facility and wish to share the material with students, please consider purchasing a copy for each student. This provides them with the materials they needs and allows me to continue updating and providing fresh material that you can use to teach students. If you have multiple trainers who need a copy of the text, please purchase a copy for each trainer rather than burning multiple copies and distributing them. I do my very best to provide the best training materials available in the blind community. I believe I have held myself to a high level of professionalism and have respected those who come to me with issues or problems. I work to resolve them as quickly as possible. Many may have received free products from me because I felt the problems weren’t resolved quickly enough to satisfy the high standards I set for myself. I hope you all also know I wouldn’t write this note if the situation weren’t serious enough to warrant my reaching out to my customer base for assistance. My request is simple. Please don’t share my training materials. If your students, friends, parents, colleagues need a copy of a book, share the link to my website but don’t share the contents of my textbooks. It’s only through your cooperation and support that I can continue to provide the blind community with these services that I know are appreciated and respected. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this note. Please pass it on to anyone you feel might benefit from understanding the situation. I think I speak for all of us who work to provide training materials in this note. Sharing our materials causes real economic hardship and could just put some of us out of business. It really is that serious. CathyAnne