Double Publicist of the Year Award Winner Continues Her Fight Against the Online Piracy of Books

AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Feb. 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Rhonda Rees, veteran public relations expert and author has recently won the Publicist of the Year Award from Bulldog Reporter, the PR industry's most recognized trade journal, as part of their Stars of PR competition.  Her entry focused on the little-known subject of online book piracy, as it impacts numerous unsuspecting authors.  Rees' global public relations awareness campaign has helped to bring more attention to the issue, and has also shed light on this very costly and growing problem.  Please click here to view the article from Bulldog Reporter.

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What makes this special honor unique is that she had previously been crowned Publicist of the Year by the Book Publicists of Southern California organization.  Rees had won their IRWIN Award (Industry Recognition of Writers in the News), and used her title as a platform to bring more awareness to this same issue of online book piracy.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPrATPtRwoQ

The reason for her involvement was a very personal one.  She had written an award-winning book, Profit and Prosper with Public Relations®:  Insider Secrets to Make You a Success, and was in the midst of promoting it when she discovered that her copyrighted, trademarked and registered work was being given away for free online – without her knowledge or permission.  Rees also realized that countless authors are also left unaware, and are facing this very same situation as well, so she decided to do something about it.

"The online piracy of books, especially little-known self-published works can happen to anyone.  It's not just the famous recording artists anymore, or celebrities that are being ripped off.  It is now impacting the average person in a very big way.  Unfortunately, this is the type of crime that doesn't leave any fingerprints," states Rees.

According to the Association of American Publishers, the publishing industry as a whole has lost $80-100 million dollars to online piracy annually.  From 2009 to 2013, the number of e-book Internet piracy alerts that the Authors Guild of America received from their membership had increased by over 300%.  During 2014, that number doubled. Yet the matter still receives very little media attention.

Rees is hoping that with her latest win as Bulldog Reporter's Publicist of the Year, her cause will not be soon forgotten.  She plans to continue the fight, and has made contacts with the Global IP Center, a division of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington D.C., The Authors Guild of America, the Counterfeit Report Company, the Piracy Trace business, and also with IPWatchdog. 

The Bulldog Reporter awards are considered the industry's highest honor and the pinnacle of achievement in the public relations and communications industries.  The judging process was quite rigorous.  Scoring criteria included leadership, integrity, breakthrough approaches, contributions to the profession, improvement to society and results achieved.  It is the only program judged exclusively by working journalists, including a Pulitzer Prize winner. The judges come from such respected media outlets as The Washington Post, The Oregonian, and USA Today.  

For further information contact Rhonda Rees Public Relations Company: Website: http://www.rhondareespr.com
E-mail: info(at)rhondareespr(dot)com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProfitandProsperwithPR/
Twitter: @ReesRhonda
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhonda-rees-8a803162
Google Plus:https://plus.google.com/u/0/108309577888253846390/about

Note to Media: Rhonda Rees is available for interview. Contact Jean Hadlow at: jeanhadlow(at)aseitypress.com, to make the arrangements. Author email: rhondarees(at)aseitypress.com.

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SOURCE Rhonda Rees

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