As horrifying as last week was with the plagiarism that was followed by cyberbullying against the victim, this week has been so heartening to see people rally behind Rachel Nunes (you can read her story here).
NY Times bestselling author David Farland, who has met Rachel at a few writing conferences, suggested to her that she start up a litigation fundraiser so she could go after this person. He talked about it Monday on his Kick in the Pants post (click here to read it), and he put his money where his mouth was by donating $500. Click here for the direct link to donate.
Litigation of any kind is expensive. Plagiarism litigation can be especially so. If you can help share the word, it would help a lot. Even donations of $5 can help--if there are a lot of them.
This isn't just Rachel's battle. It's a fight for all authors.
Here's a sample of Rachel's book and the plagiarized ARC.
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| Rachel's original work. |
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| Sam Taylor Mullen's Plagiarized ARC. |
And here's a screen capture of the attacks against Rachel's other books on Amazon (some are under Rachel's pen name. These were all done by one person the day the plagiarism came to light.
In response to these attacks, author Candace C. Bowen created a Facebook group, Author Against Plagiarism and Cyberbullying. She's been keeping followers up to date and posting some interesting articles about the issue.
That was nice of him to donate that much to start off the campaign. Sad people are taking the side of the plagiariser and attacking her.
ReplyDeleteWe're not sure if those "people" are real people or just Sam's straw puppets. Who knows. Maybe "Sam" is actually more than one person.
DeleteIt's great to see people rallying around Rachel.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised by any plagiarism any more. In my country, the president and half of the ministers in the government have fake PHDs and degrees, and 90% of their PHD works have been proved as plagiarism and they still rule the country....
ReplyDeleteThat's just crazy, Dezmond. How can anything matter. I sure don't want a surgeon cutting on me who's got a fake medical diploma.
DeleteWhat I find interesting is that in the "reviews" she trashes Rachel work...yet she found it good enough to plagiarize??
ReplyDeleteGreat Post!
I know, right, Sherry? Crazy!
DeleteThat's so crazy! It could happen to any of us, which is the most frightening thing. I really hope she's able to take this person down!
ReplyDeleteI hope so too. Or people down, as it's been suggested it might actually be a group working together.
DeleteAll this wouldn't be happening if Amazon wasn't complicit in it. They (Amazon) are making a ton of dirty money in this scheme. If anyone could stomach doing the legwork, I bet they'd track down a great many "clean romances" plagiarized into "porn". The advent of e-books made this quick and easy, and Amazon is king of e-books. Why would they want to rein in the plagiarists when it would mean cutting into their bottom line? As I see it, Rachel, and as well as every author, has to worry about finding Mullins (the plagiarist) and the Amazon machine who pimps for her.
ReplyDeleteActually, Amazon did take action: they removed the infringing works, and a search for Sam Taylor Mullens now redirects to Rachel's books. Amazon takes plagiarism and infringement seriously, so let's give a little credit where it's due!
DeleteGood for them!
DeleteThat totally looks like all they do was take her book, put it in a article spinner and poof, claim it as their own. and 99.99% guarantee those reviews are all from the same person. I know a few people that have 40,000 amazon accounts(no joke) and some who will give bad reviews with their few hundred goodreads accounts. Amazon makes a ***t ton off of the scheme, all they need to do is require a credit card before buying anything, but they don't. Authors use the guys with 40,000 accounts to buy their books steadily, upping the stats, hire them to post fake reviews on competitors and positive reviews on their own. Hire them to like certain reviews and not like other ones, disgusting really. I have no problem with people giving their book away or paying a legit reviewer for a review of their own work, I've given plenty away or sent out gift cards what have you in exchange for an honest review, but the rest of that crap is down right pathetic.
ReplyDeleteAnd surprisingly vicious when caught.
DeleteLooks like Amazon has taken down all of Avid Reader's reviews. Good for them.
ReplyDeleteOh wow. This is insane! I feel so bad for Rachel! I seriously can't believe this!
ReplyDeleteI know, Leigh. I can only imagine what she must be going through.
DeleteThis a sad, sad story, but unfortunately it seems to be the way the world is going. Kudo's to Rachel and the people behind her who are willing to fight back. It is time someone takes these people or person to task for the wrong they have committed. Sadly, they may stop this one, but I'm pretty sure this type of 'hack job' will only continue. Ultimately, we all know who's in charge of this world and particularly this type of thing (turning good into evil).
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how rampant it seems to be.
DeleteI'm so glad this got a lot of attention after the victim was both plagiarized and bullied.
ReplyDeleteThat has been one saving grace.
DeleteIt is important to stand up for what is right.
ReplyDeleteAnna from Shout with Emaginette
Dangerous sometimes, but important.
DeleteVery
ReplyDeleteIt's so brazenly blatant too. I'm glad to say I don't know anyone who would do this. If I did, I'd have to force myself not to leave steaming bags of poo on their doorstep. I'd even make a special trip to contemplate not doing it...;o) No really, I'm glad she doesn't realize that everything you do on the computer is time-stamped. That time stamp is about as good as mailing it to yourself.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, it's easy to see how closely related our industry is to the entertainment business. *sigh* I'm glad to see support for Rachel, though!
ReplyDelete