The current count for books and authors copied by Cristiane Serruyo is 67/35. That’s thirty-five authors who’ve been impacted by her thievery, and sixty-seven of our books she treated like an all-you-can steal buffet.

There will be more. There are many people doing the laborious, tedious work of searching for infringing material, doing comparisons, documenting. I can’t express how grateful I am to every one of them.

As I outlined before in my blog, I’ve been plagiarized before. Janet Dailey was the most egregious, but not the only time. It’s horrible, always horrible. It’s gut-punching, time consuming–and all too often financially draining to deal with. It interferes with creativity, with the simple ability to sit down and put–and keep–your mind in the story you’re trying to write.

And it just hurts. Your head, your heart, your spirit. Every single time.

To The Pain, a la The Princess Bride’s Westley.

One woman stole from (so-far) thirty-five authors, picking and choosing, I suppose, what sounded good to her, then–apparently–tossed that to ghostwriters she hired from Fiverr. So she could put her name on books, pose for photos, do interviews, engage with readers and brag.

And lie as she talked about having to ice her hand down from the pain of hours at the keyboard.

I doubt her copy and pasting gave her any freaking wrist pain.

Quotes like that? I sincerely believe she did it as much for ego as money. Look how dedicated I am! I work through the pain! Admire me.

At this point I wouldn’t mind challenging her To The Pain, a la The Princess Bride’s Westley.

As far as I can tell, she’s still claiming it’s all some terrible mistake, and not altogether her fault. But that’s almost always what plagiarists say.

The scope of her theft is so huge, so stunningly wide, she really has nowhere to go, no excuses or reasons that can possibly hold even a drop of water.

But then, she never did.

We’re not done with her, and what’s coming will not be pleasant for her. We’re not done with the others–because there are undoubtedly others–who’ve followed this pattern of theft.

Nora

Edited May 23, 2019

There are things I can’t talk about at this point that are going on behind the scenes. Legal stuff is legal stuff.

But there’s a lot of chatter out there about my blogs, my information, my opinions. Those I can talk about.

PLAGIARISM/COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

It’s theft of intellectual property. Full stop. It cannot be excused or justified. Another writer recently (and has done so before) claimed that I dragged Dailey through the muck, that copying happens ALL THE TIME, especially to best-sellers, and most writers affected by it handle it privately and professionally. Mean Girl Nora only went public (despite the fact Daily went public first) to destroy poor Janet.

Bullshit. Every word of that is bullshit. Plus shameful.

I apologize to no one for standing up for my work, or for standing up for any writer whose work is stolen. Any writer who thinks plagiarism is no big deal earns my disgust.

GHOST WRITING

Since this has generated a whole bunch of chatter, let me try to be really clear.

My opinion–which I’m entitled to hold, entitled to state:

The profession of ghostwriting is absolutely legitimate. Talented and professional ghosts are paid good money to write memoirs, auto-bios and so forth. They work with the client, interview the client and others. They put in the time, do the job, and are very often credited.

Other avenues are work-for-hire, where GW assume a single pen name (I use Caroline Keene’s Nancy Drew simply because it’s so well known) to write books in a series.

There are GW who act, basically to my mind, as editors or book doctors, helping smooth out or bring together a book–someone else has written–where the client needs some help. I personally think they should be credited, but that’s up to the client/GW and their particular partnership.

OTOH, there are ghosts–and this appears to be more common in the self-pubbed area, but may, in fact, be more common in traditional pub than I know–who take a fee–often just a couple hundred bucks–to write a book for someone who just wants to put their name on it. The client’s not actually a writer. The client wants to be published, or much worse, just wants to create a business where money is generated.

In far too many cases these clients hire many ghosts cheaply to create a lot of content so they can publish them quickly on-line, generate that income.

I think this is deplorable. So I’m told, but these GW are just trying to make a living. So is pretty much everyone in the world. This practice is a cheat for everyone but the client who punches up his/her numbers and makes a killing.

It’s absolutely true the GW may, in fact, be unaware. My take is if the GW wants to be a professional, do you due diligence.

But what, I hear, about the person who has this great idea, but doesn’t know how to write it and wants to get published? What’s wrong with that?

What’s wrong with that? Learning to articulate an idea into a story IS writing. It takes time and effort to learn how, to learn to write well. The name on that book is a lie because the client isn’t a writer, but pretends to be. And this practice dilutes the craft, the art, the science, the WORK of writing a story.

I’m routinely contacted by someone with–they say–a great idea who hopes I’ll write it for them. Many offer to split the bonanza of royalties it’ll earn. I believe the vast majority who ask me this ask with a pure heart because they honestly don’t know how it works.

There are those who want to publish, and fast, so send what they’ve cobbled together to a ghost who in many cases has to rewrite the mess. The person in a hurry here learns nothing by not taking the time, making the effort to hone her craft.

A lot of people seem to think I was birthed a best-seller right out of the writing womb. Contrary to that, I had a drawer full of rejections. I kept at it because I wanted it. I learned, I improved. And when I finally sold, I also had a drawer full (my agent called it my Magic Drawer) of rejected manuscripts I could take out, fix, edit, improve. So I sold a lot of books very quickly in the first couple years.

Someone accused me of having ‘several’ pen names, which they said was the same as all this. No, I write as Roberts, and as Robb for the In Death series. But when I sold Born In Fire (I think) to England for the first time, the publisher insisted my readership would be confused, insisted I take a pen name. I argued, but had no clout. For this single book, in GB, I took the name Sarah Hardesty. And when I was proved right, the Brit publisher killed the pen name, and published all future editions of the book under mine.

In, I think it was, 1981 (maybe ’82) my agent got an offer from a kind of tabloid (in structure, not content) publication for my first (and justifiably unsold ms.). I had a great fondness for that story because it was the first I’d ever written. I took the name Jill March for that sale. Once, then killed.

And in both cases, my name was on the copyright, not the a/k/a.

CHEAP AND FREE

I absolutely understand the idea of using a book, often the first in a series, or as a special, as a loss leader. Something to get exposure, to generate future sales. My publisher routinely puts one of my books on special for a day on-line.

My problems here are with, first, the scammers that buy books or book stuff, or whatever they do to put out a 99 cent book every week, or more under different names. They flood the marketplace so the legitimate indie reader can’t really compete.

I have a problem with the claims by some they they can absolutely write a book a week. Boy, do I call bullshit. First, I’d have to ask for a word count. Back in my Silhouette days when I wrote 55k Romance, I could write them fairly quickly, but a book a week? Nope.

A book a week, week after week? Did you write it, polish it, send it to a professional editor, and is it over 100 pages?

With this proliferation, many indie writers have to devalue their work, work they did take the time to write, polish, have edited to have any chance of visibility.

I object to that, for them, and for the reader.

On the reader–I thought I made it clear, but I’ll try again. Everybody likes a bargain. Everybody should be able to snag a free or cheap book. But. When that’s all you buy, and particularly when you demand it, it’s gets to be a problem. When you contact a writer pushing for more, cheap, cheaper, free. It’s a problem.

I read a comment from one indie writer who said she’d just published her new book, and a reader contacted her–like that day!–wanting to know when she was going to make it free.

This is a problem.

The reader’s on a budget, she’s voracious, this is all she can afford. Not her fault, don’t attack the reader from your big-ass imaginary mansion while you sit on your mountains of money.

Again, one-time single mother of two on a budget here. Voracious reader. And she–and I–say first: Library. I’m a big lover of the library. And I used it a lot back in the day, even though it was a thirty minute drive away. The writer gets paid for the book you check out. Libraries offer all kinds of services, and you can borrow an e-book on line without leaving your home. They have inter-library loans, or will often buy a book (paper or e) you request.

I’d take my boys with me, and all of us would go home with a stack of books.

I did learn that in many other countries, this isn’t nearly as easy. I think that’s a serious shame–I mean it. I don’t know what can be done to fix or improve that. But knowing that now, I hereby remove the reader–anywhere–who has no access to these services from this group.

I have a charitable foundation that supports literacy (and libraries). We might be able to look into it. Access to books, in any form, is a human right. Or damn well should be.

Used book stores, flea markets, yard sales, on-line trading, library sales. I’m sure I’ve left some avenues out. Someone bought this book, at some point, so the writer got paid. I also haunted used book stores back in the day, though yeah, a half hour away. I also before the internet, haunted those used book stores and the library for research books. They were a godsend. (And I always paid the library fine because I always brought them back late.)

I want to stress–again–I’m talking about the reader who demands, feels entitled to free or dirt cheap. Who hounds the writer for his/her wants. I’m not talking about the reader who sees a bargain, likes the cover, the blurb, has read that author before happily, or thinks hey, I’m going to give this new-to-me writer a try, and clicks Buy.

SELLING PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED BOOKS TO A BIDDER,
PUBLISHING UNDER A NEW NAME AS NEW WORK.

This is such a horrendous practice. Closed sites where books that have dried up their income stream sold–sometimes books in bundles, like 5 Historical Romances, 75k words, $1,000. Most usually I’d guess, these books were written by a ghost (who may be totally blameless), generated income through other nefarious practices like clickfarms, then sold to the next person. That person tosses them up, new cover, new name, as new work. It can and is done over and over again.

Since I wrote about that in detail on another blog, I won’t repeat myself. Except to say, it’s in every way wrong. Like plagiarism, I believe there is no excuse, no justification. It cheats everyone.

CLICK FARMS, BOOK STUFFING, BUYING REVIEWS

All of it wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

So is posting a nasty review on a competitor’s site to try to tank their sales. So is treating books like products, which is what the scammers do. It’s just business.

Writing is, most definitely a business–and every writer should treat it professionally. It’s a job–and I’ve treated it like a job throughout my career. The best job in the universe of jobs, imo. But it’s not just a job, just a business.

The practices I’ve come out, strongly against, have no respect for the craft, the art, the creator or the reader. It’s all just a way to make a bunch of money fast.

To any who claim I can’t and don’t understand what the new or newish writer goes through in today’s market? You’re wrong. If I didn’t understand, didn’t care, I wouldn’t take this on.

I can and will, and am, handling the plagiarism that targeted me and some 30 other writers. This is more, and I’m spending this time, making this effort because it matters.

To the absolute jerks who claim if the indie market goes down I’d benefit. Kiss My Ass.

All of the above is my opinion. YMMV. But I’ve a right to hold and speak that opinion.

I value and respect every writer who labors over their stories. I feel for every writer who finds themselves crushed and demoralized by the scams in the marketplace. I value and respect every reader who buys, who borrows, trades, lends books. I am, and always will be, grateful for the work libraries and librarians do, for all of us.

And I hold in contempt those who use and abuse what I value and respect.

I’m Nora Roberts, and I write my own books.

I’m going to put all this aside after this blog, and step back in my cage and write. But I feel, really strongly, this single issue deserves attention before I do.

When I checked the latest comments on yesterday’s blog, Blowback, I found this.

Frost
In reply to Nora Roberts.
The link you posted above is suggesting that authors cannot sell their intellectual property (their books) to other authors and publishers. It’s literally calling someone a “scammer” for selling the rights to some books they wrote.
How on Earth is that a scam?
By that measure, every single traditional publisher that has ever bought rights to a book (and subsequently published that title with their own cover and marketing spin) would be a “scammer”.
That’s silly.
Do you genuinely think it’s a scam for someone to sell the publishing rights/copyright for their original work to another person? If that person then packages and sells that book to the masses, is that a scam?
I’m genuinely open to talk if you want to have a quick dialogue about this stuff. That link you posted is just an honest author trying to sell the books THEY wrote, and some random silliness besides.

This is, first, just stunning to me. After the stun, the anger and the outrage for every real writer, every single reader in the whole freaking world–in the whole damn multi-verse–rose up like the red, fiery tongues of ten thousand suns.

This commenter feels it’s just perfectly peachy for someone (because I’m not going to dignify that someone by calling him/her a writer) to publish a book, rack up, one assumes, some sales, some income. Then when that person decides that income stream has run its course, to offer that book for sale to another person (new income stream!). That person can do a search and replace on names, maybe a few tweaks (or maybe not) then slap a new cover and name on it, publish it all over again.

I suppose that could be done multiple times. I suppose it is. Income stream dries up, sell, someone else opens a new stream.

This commenter equates this with a traditionally published author who gets the rights back to their book, then republishes it. Under THEIR OWN NAME.

That is such utter bullshit.

First, I know many, many writers who have done just this. When rights revert, those writers take their book, do the work–or hire a pro to do the work–of formatting for e-form. They find a fresh cover–but in every case I know use the original title, or explain the title change. And they market it as classic or vintage or whatever term suits. They’re not deceiving the reader. It remains their book, their name, their work.

They put the publication on their website, their social media, letting readers know their book, previously published in paper, is now available in e-format. Full freaking disclosure.

They’re not selling it to somebody who’ll now pretend he/she wrote it to recharge that income stream.

That’s a cheat. A lie. And it infuriates every pulsing cell in my writer’s being.

It undermines and disrespects the very art, the essential craft of writing. Hey, why spend time actually writing (which I will bet a whole buncha money they can’t do anyway) if I can just buy a manuscript and put my name on it?

I will also bet a whole buncha money that many of the original somebodys paid to have a ghost write the book in the first place.

It smirks at the reader while it does so, showing him/her no respect. The reader isn’t valued, they’re just dupes to this scammer–and yes, by all the gods, they are scammers.

These people aren’t writers. They have no pride in their work. If it was ever their work. They couldn’t possibly have put any real heart in the work as they obviously have no emotional attachment to the story, the characters, the words.

It’s just an income stream.

Anyone who does this deserves to be outed, deserves to be banned from the site on which they ‘publish’.

Nora

Edited May 23, 2019

Current totals on #copypastecris as of this morning: 51 books, 34 authors.

Blowback’s inevitable when you go public–especially on social media–about any issue.

With this one, I’m finding (unsurprisingly) people who object, complain, or smack at me and others tend to be protecting their own interests.

It’s all, yes! Fix this, fight this, go after the crooks and scammers, make the system fair. But don’t talk about or criticize or upset my personal apple cart.

Ghostwriters aren’t to blame, stop being mean to us!

The profession itself is certainly not to blame. But that profession is being used and abused by scammers, and by those willing to ghostwrite ebooks fast and cheap, often for the same ‘author’ who then tosses up multiple books a month.

They couldn’t generate those books, crushing the honest self-published writers without the ghosts who provide the service. So stop providing the service if you’re an honest person.

I’m not, and was very careful not to toss the entire profession or honest ghosts or work-for-hire authors in that same muck. But the practice of hiring ghosts, the practice of ghostfarms to generate scam books has to be exposed.

This is a cheat to the honest writer and to the reader.

I want to take a stand for my fellow authors, and to take a stand for readers. Because I value all of them.

Free or cheap books. I explained my thoughts on this as best I could. The reason so many self-pubbed must give away or sell their honest work so cheap is BECAUSE the scammers exploit a weak, flawed system. A readership now accustomed to fast and cheap demand it. And many of those readers don’t understand an actual writer can’t produce a book a week.

The writers going off about me being rich, privileged, not understanding their situation couldn’t be more wrong. I do understand it. I had to work my way up through a very crowded field in the early 80s. I know what it’s like. I’m not condemning anyone struggling to get their work noticed, I’m saying the prevalence of free and dirt cheap are devaluing the very writers who struggle. And the system and the scammers have forced them into this.

Do you want the scams exposed, do you want a level playing field in a stronger system? Do you want a chance to build a career, make an actual living doing what you love? Or do you just want me to shut up about it when it affects you?

The readers who slap back because: I can’t afford to pay more. You’re a millionaire in a mansion, (note, I don’t live in a mansion), I want to read lots and lots and lots of books every week, so lay off me.

Readers don’t have as much skin in the game as writers, but they do have some. For every cheap fake book you buy for a buck–because you didn’t take a couple minutes to check that author’s credentials, you’ve tossed money away.

You shouldn’t have to check. It’s outrageous any reader should have to take even two seconds of their time for anything like this. It enrages me.

To the readers who demand–and I mean those who demand the fast and cheap or free–why do you think the writer should work their butts off for nothing? You want to call me entitled because I’ve spent over three decades working MY butt off? Excuse me, I really think that shoe fits the other foot.

Let me quickly speak about used books. I have never–even when it was an unpopular stand with a lot of other writers–had any issue with used books. The stores, the trading books, the yard sales, whatever. In fact, I’ve often suggested a reader new to me try one of my books from that source. Someone bought the book, and therefore, the author was paid.

There are lots and lots of ways to access books inexpensively, and this is one of them. Libraries are amazing–and the writer gets paid.

You have a budget? So does Writer Jane Smith who’s doing everything she can to write her book, maybe in addition to her day job, raising a family.

But you’re a voracious reader, you have to read.

Jane has to eat. Jane has to pay the mortgage.

I sympathize with the voracious reader on a budget. I’m a reader, voracious, and when I was a single mom raising two kids, I had to find a way to work a book buy into my grocery budget.

The problem is, this is an ugly, cheating, greedy beast with many, many tentacles. You can’t kill the beast by ignoring any of those tentacles. because it’s going to take another swipe, and the other tentacles will regenerate.

What I’m hearing from those who object to my statements on specific areas is: We want change, we want fair, we want some asses kicked, oh yeah, but . . . Only our way, only the asses we want kicked, only if it doesn’t touch me.

Not going to happen. I do this my way, or I don’t do it at all.

Guess what? I can deal with my specific issue–Serruya’s infringement of my work. And walk away from the rest. It’d be a lot easier to do just that.

I should be working on my book, right now. As I should have been since this all started. I want to take a stand for my fellow authors, and to take a stand for readers. Because I value all of them.

Because it’s the goddamn principle.

For those trying to tell me how to do that, understand. With me, this is all or nothing.

Now I have to go let my dogs out in my imaginary mansion, because it seems it’s my staff’s lifetime off.

Nora

Back to add a link to Shiloh Walker’s excellent post : How to Spot scammers…and raise hell