Letters of Opinion

Dara Joy Has Some Chutzpah; Says New Books Forthcoming

According to her mailing list and a posting on her website, Dara Joy is ready to put the publishing fiasco with Dorchester behind her. The question is whether her career can survive the black mark that was put on it by the fact that she took money from fans for a self published book and [...]

You Have No Right!  Or Do You?  I Don’t Know Anymore

You Have No Right! Or Do You? I Don’t Know Anymore

moar funny pictures After weeks of thinking, whining, ranting, and being generally disoriented in the aftermath of Savage Gate (phrase courtesy of Seressia Glass), it finally dawned on me that all of the brouhaha, both with the plagiarism thing and the mean girl thing, is all about boundaries (yes, I know I’m slow). Where does [...]

Is the “E” Hurting E Publishing?

Is the “E” Hurting E Publishing?

Last week, we posted a super positive guest review for Bettie Sharpe’s Like a Thief in the Night, a novella from Samhain. Sharpe had the benefit of a solid audience from the serial that ran on Dionne Galace’s blog. I watched the My Bookstore and More top ten ratings and never once saw Like a [...]

Defining the Meaning of Plagiarism for the Fiction Community

Defining the Meaning of Plagiarism for the Fiction Community

It’s clear from emails, message boards, forums, and blogs that there is no common language that we speak, either readers or authors or both, as to what plagiarism is and is not within the fiction writing community. There is a fear amongst authors that some readers are trying to set the bar too high. Conversely, [...]

What It Means to Be a Fan

What It Means to Be a Fan

There’s been a backlash of sorts on some authors’ blogs around the internet due to the exposing of Cassie Edwards’ borrowing. I’ll be posting on Tuesday about some thoughts about the definition of plagiarism as it could be defined in the romance writing and read community, but today, in lieu of a ebook post, I [...]

Save a Ferret; Save an Author

Want to give a show of support outside making a comment? If you’ve read the Newsweek report by Paul Tolme, the ferrets whose “closest relations are European ferrets and Siberian polecats” are an endangered species.   Nora Roberts and the Smart Bitches have put together a wonderful sort of “pay it forward” campaign.   If you give [...]

The Many Faces of Plagiarism

The Many Faces of Plagiarism

I read more than a few posts, emails, bulletin board messages that no one was hurt by the a plagiarist but the plagiarist herself. In reading about the authors of the works that were copied, I couldn’t help but to be moved by their individual stories and how important their contribution was to society, even [...]

The New P&P (Professionalism and Plagiarism):  A Not So Classic Tale of Romance

The New P&P (Professionalism and Plagiarism): A Not So Classic Tale of Romance

A lot of questions have been asked over the past week about what is and isn’t plagiarism, and what kinds of standards of attribution we should expect in fiction. While I don’t think readers are necessarily in a position to initiate this discussion, since it was readers who found the similarities between Cassie Edwards’s books [...]

Possible Cassie Edwards Response to Plagiarism Charges

Commenter at Smart Bitches, provided a copy of the following which is alleged to be the response of Cassie Edwards which she sent to a fan. Dear Author has contacted both the fan and Cassie Edwards for a response but has received neither a denial nor a confirmation. Updated to add: DA contacted, via telephone, [...]

Cassie Edwards Copies Words from Pulitzer Prize Winning Novelist

edited to add: Cassie Edwards website is now taken down. It redirects to the myspace page. You might be suffering from Cassie Edwards plagiarism fatigue but because of what I have read on the internet in various places, from both authors and readers, I think I need to post this example. One of the Smart [...]

The Perfect E Reader Device

The Perfect E Reader Device

From Apple Insider and Artist AudioPollution. The annual Consumer Electronics Show just wrapped up this weekend. There were plenty of televisions, cameras, and mp3 players. There were no new ebook readers. The only possible ebook news that came out of CES was the firm, but virtually meaningless statement by Sony that it was showing “reflowable” [...]

The Fallacy of Neutrality and The Matter of Romance

Over the past few days, some have lamented the fact that it was the Smart Bitches who broke the Cassie Edwards story, because they are not "neutral" enough where Edwards is concerned. I don’t think anyone could argue seriously that the Smart Bitches are neutral about Cassie Edwards (although if you take a look at [...]

More Evidence of Cassie Edwards “Lifting”

Given the statement by Ms. Edwards that she took materials but didn’t realize that you need to footnote it; the original Signet response that her use was fair use and the fact that the original sources were mostly public domain, it’s illuminating and disturbing to see the following by commenter Em at the SBTB site [...]

To Boycott or Not To Boycott: Why I don't think that's the question

I have been tempted so many times to boycott an author or publisher, especially when I come across 200 page $22 hardcovers or a serial lack of copyediting. But in this case, in the aftermath of Signet’s response to the revelations regarding Cassie Edwards, I do not think boycotting is the best choice. It seems [...]

My Open Letter to Penguin

Dear Mr. Shanks, CEO of Penguin, and Susan Peterson Kennedy, President of Penguin: I am writing to share with you my disilllusionment with your publishing house after the response you gave to the allegations of plagiarism against Signet author, Cassie Edwards. As a reader, when I buy a book, I assume that my money is [...]