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
I can’t think of anything to say because I cannot think of a punishment severe enough short of death for what she did.
You are amazing Nora. Thank you for all your hard work on our behalf. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve thrown up my hands and said I quit only to wake up the next day and get right back on my laptop because I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea. It has never been about money for me anyway it’s about getting the idea gremlins onto paper lol before the eat my brain ha ha ha so thank you
♥️♥️
Seriously? I hope you take her down!!! I was appalled when a young woman, getting a degree in education, plagiarized almost all her final paper. It was 75% of the grade…. and they still passed her…. let her become an elementary teacher…. because she was a cute blonde who said she was sorry. She was just stressed. She didn’t realize she hadn’t paraphrased the 3 out of 5 pages she turned in. This, stealing from authors and claiming their work as yours…. is worse!!! I thought of you while reading a book last night because the name of the B&B was Roarke and Daughters
Long, long ago, when I was in my first college English Comp class, the professor, who was an editor at Time magazine, spent the first half hour of the class defining, describing and discussing plagiarism. I wondered why he devoted so much class time into making sure we students knew not just the definition of plagiarism but all the nuances of the act itself. At the end of the discussion he said any student who copies any portion of another student’s work, or copies anyone’s work and passes it off as their own will fail the class for the semester. No excuses, no second chances. Immediate failure for the semester. He was both right and righteous – plagiarism is failure of a person to complete a task without stealing the success of someone else. I wish Nora complete success in identifying and punishing these failures who steal from writers.
I am happy to say that she is currently not selling ‘her’ books in The Netherlands. Not in english nor translated in dutch.
Go get her, sister! I am not a writer, but I know a mama bear when I see one and we protect our cubs, whether it’s our children or our creative efforts. Fight to protect what’s yours – you are amazing.
It pains me to think of all that you and the other authors are dealing with. And I am cheering you on.
My heart aches for you and other writers Nora. A gift you have, share and one I truly enjoy only to have it stolen. You sum it up best with: “It HURTS…. head, heart and spirit EVERY TIME. “
Thank you for taking this on, Nora. Your voice, along with brave folks like Suzane Tisdale, is bringing necessary attention to the ills in our industry. I’ve been around awhile but am not a heavy hitter, and I do not have the resources to even fight the scammers who post my books on pirate sites; all I can do is send a takedown notice & hope they comply. As for CopyPasteCris, she is one of many, so thank you again for taking her on. Hopefully this will send a strong message to others who think they can get away with this nonsense.
Thank you for exposing this person. I hope all affected join forces and put her out of business. I have my favorite authors and stick pretty close to their work. Ocassionaly I will step outside that ‘comfort zone’, usually when one of them suggests someone. I do NOT want to inadvertantly stumble into one of these people. Wouldn’t you think that ghost writers would be verifying that material given to them is legit? If not, sorry, they are as guilty as the person providing the material and should be held accountable.. Thank you for sharing this information. I’m so sorry this is happening to you and other legitimate authors
I am not sure that the fiverr ghostwriter should be held accountable unless their fiverr accounts are checked to make sure they had no prior knowledge that ..let’s call her Fagin… that Fagin provided stolen material.
I have used fiverr for many non writing things such as for my Astrological charts and psychics etc. It is hit and miss but sometimes you can tell a lot of hard work has been put in.
Actually the more I think about it, the more I would like to see the fiverr writer accounts checked so the bad ones get weeded out and the honest fiverr folk can keep a good reputation.
Justice, retribution, karma … all served on a heaping platter by Nora and her allies! And with what we know at this point, it seems #copypastecris is most deserving of whatever happens as a result.
Go, Nora!
Punishment for these f*#ktards should be prison time. And they should be made to write out (physically, by hand) the Encyclopaedia Britannica since they’re so keen on copying!
I’m glad to say I’ve never purchased anything from her, was a little surprised to she Janet Daily on the list. Maybe not though; I really liked her books 30 years ago…the newer ones, not so much. I don’t read her anymore either.
Thank you for bringing all this to my attention, I’ll certainly be more careful in the future.
Janet Dailey died in 2013. If you go to her website there is no mention of this and it lists new books to be released. I don’t understand this. Is she writing from the grave? Or are they recycled material?
I believe that most of these are reissues, it’s also possible that they hired ghosts to finish works in progress. Sort of like how V.C. Andrews continues to create content but passed away in 1986.
What???? How is that possible?
Dailey was updating some of her books before she passed adding mobile phones etc and I think some of those are among the reissued books.
This is just ridiculous. The time, money and frustration you need to endure over what this piece of garbage has done is criminal. Hope you and all the other authors are taking her down. I was happy to see that there is not one book in the Kobo store. Go get them Nora
When it’s your work that came from you, that have created and slaved over, it is such a primal feeling when someone takes that and tries to claim it as theirs. How dare they??? I’m with you, I would go after them with the strength of a thousand suns. I’ve had it happen in a very small way on some of my production work. (Although it didn’t feel small at the time) I didn’t have the financial resources to go after them but I’m still pissed about it. I applaud what you are doing and wish you well.
Keep up the good work Nora! Not only are you exposing a thief, you’re standing up for all the writers who can’t afford to take legal means to stop crap like this from happening!
As I said before, my niece/goddaughter is a published author, well known in her genre (not on your level, but well known), and she’s also a professor in New Orleans, to help pay the Bill’s. She supports you and the other authors going after these plagiarists and has mentioned the problem in her classes, as one of the deadly sins!
Thank you, for all of us readers. I cannot say how important what you’re doing is. It protects not only today’s authors, but future ones as well!
I’ll hold you coat and post your bail.
I will gladly help you.
I’ll hold her hat! And chant “bite me”! ??
???
We could start a GoFundMe for bail
Thank you, Nora, not only for your beautiful writing, but also for your integrity and strength to take on something so overwhelmingly painful! I can’t imagine how angry AND heartbroken you must be to have someone steal from you. Thank you for reminding us to fight for what’s right in a world where too many just look the other way.
Now if the pirates can be stopped. They are just as bad, if not worse.
Your post is the first thing I’ve read this morning. I am energized!!I love when you haul out the big guns. I know there will be more, just like I know you’re up for the fight. Smash her under your heel!!
Atta girl….
Nora, I am so glad you are in a position to help stand up for the authors and keep us aware of this. I looked up the thief on Amazon and she still has a link on there with her books. So readers beware. Her bio says she is a lawyer… interesting.
A lawyer? Did she but it online?
Nora, you are a warrior. All readers are grateful for your courage and fortitude.
Thank you, Nora, from an indie who considers you an inspiration in every way.
I haven’t posted on every one of your blogs on this subject, because I just read them all. So, I leave this here (and I know others have said this): Thank you Nora.
I have always bought your work, gobbled up your work & respected your craft. Now, I respect your passion and sincerity as well. I had heard that you took your readers for granted and could care less about us. This shows differently. This shows just how strongly you feel that you can take the time to put out several blogs over several days to get your opinion out there.
Because so many read your work, your blogs will go wide-spread.
Your fight will be long and arduous. I am sorry for that. I am also sorry for any authors I have bought from not doing the due diligence. I honestly did not know this crap exists and I have been a reader for about 44 years now as well as involved in the online author/reader community for about 27 years.
I’ve never taken readers for granted. What a stupid thing for someone to tell you. Without readers, we write in a void.
And what’s happened here is a huge cheat for readers who spend there money and time buying and reading books they have every right to expect are honest and original.
I hate that part of this.
Agreed! People will latch on to ONE thing you’ve said and twist it to fit their own narrative. That’s how the book thieves/pirates do it, as do the rest of the scammers and plagiarists.
I have been a fan of Nora since the beginning. Her creativity, passion and integrity shows in every book and she has always cared about her readers. I suspect that those who are making these and similar negative comments have some relationship with the thieves who got caught stealing showing a similar lack of character and integrity. They are in the harsh spotlight and it’s getting very hot and a lot uncomfortable there and it’s going to get worse, time to be accountable – you insult both the real writers and the readers. The truth is that it’s the thieves who don’t care about the readers.
Nora has always cared about her reads. I met her about 18 years ago. She was at a book signing. She was supposed to only be there for a little while. She stayed a couple of hours later until all of us had a chance to speak with her. She is great to her fans.
When I was in high school (late 1960s), I loved Georgette Heyer (and still do) and happened to read a Barbara Cartland book not long after reading These Old Shades…. I was shocked at the similarities. The plot was a complete ripoff but also conversations and other specifics…. Being innocent, I went to the librarian to ask what I should/could do. She totally poopooed it. We’re talking about a couple of romance authors she sneered. So i was stumped and always felt bad about my helplessness. It turns out, I was not the ony one to notice! ( I
Also posted this to Facebook) https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2011/aug/02/georgette-hayer-decries-plagiarism
I had no idea. I loved and still love Heyer, and These Old Shades is a particular favorite.
I never read Cartland—am glad I didn’t.
All I can say is wow! She must not have any original ideas or talent that she just cuts and pastes story lines from other authors because she is too lazy to come up with her own. I admire any author especially Nora since her books I anticipate and look for when they come out. She is the one author that when I downsized some books I kept. She is a wonderful author and I look forward to all her books and also when she writes as JD Robb.
Nora, As a reader, I am furious that I may have been taken advantage of by this thief. I realize phlagerism is not new but this seems so insidious and conniving. I honor and respect authors such as yourself who give us so much of yourselves in your stories. I hurt for the innocent authors but also for unsuspecting readers!! Love to you and yours!
I say go get them ALL! After getting a freaking text the other day, describing exactly what you said as far as ghost writers and how I could make a lot of money selling books (that I didn’t write of course) I’m so ticked off! I had no idea this sort of thing even existed. It’s like a virus. I hope you can get these horrible horrible people doing all this. The ones who are randomly sending out texts too!! They need to be shut down!!
Kick their collective asses Nora!
Thank you, Nora. Make a public example of her and hurt her in the pocketbook for a long time. Then send her to jail for theft of intellectual property. That’s all these thieves understand.
And to #copypastecris: be afraid. Be VERY afraid. Retribution is coming. Justice will be served. You have less integrity than a steaming pile of shit.
Greed….for money, praise. A negative human trait that can and does spread like cancer. Rise up humans….we can be better than this.
In a way I know what this feels like but certainly not to the extent that others like you. I write poetry and for years entered well known poetry contests all over the USA. I never tried to self publish a book of my poems because that just seemed self centered and narcissistic to me.( I’m speaking of NOBODY ELSE BUT MYSELF). Hence I entered contests. Once in a great while I got honorable mention and the poem was published in a small collection that the poet either bought at a discount or was given, after you paid the shipping. You don’t make any money what so ever and in fact you will lose money because there is a $ 25.00-40.00 entry fee plus your own self addressed stamp envelope if you want your poems sent back.
But the smaller the contest, the larger the chances were that someone would steal your poem and put their own name to it and start trying to win with it. Sad but true. It happened to me twice and both times I had to contact the publisher, make copies of my notes of the hand written poem and explain that they had just acknowledge someone else for my own work.
I should also add that this all took place before the Internet.
I’ve never published anything other than those 12 or so poems.
“A big steaming bowl of Fuck You!” I’ve gotta say I read all your books and love each and every one. But this just became my favorite, oft to be repeated, quote from you.
Go, Nora!!
You go Nora…nail her to the wall…..can’t believe that people still buy her books??
Place the plagiarist’s picture on a dart board, and watch it get ripped to shreds.
Nora,
So proud of what you stand for – integrity & honor. I know what you are doing is not an easy task & is costly in terms of not only finances but the emotional, physical & personal toll it takes. Thank you Nora for caring & standing up for what is right – the world needs more of that. Always a champion – Nora Roberts you go girl!!
Kathryn Gray- Lyons
I just can’t believe this mess. I have Kindle Unlimited and have found some great authors that I anticipate their next book so I can purchase and now I am afraid to read because I don’t want to support theft. Lazy people.
Keep writing. I love your stuff.
Yes! This is exactly why I amafraid to sign up for it. I don’t want to support a system that permits and encourages theft.
As a small-time author with only a dozen books out in the world, I thank you. As a reader, I thank you.
Go get her, Nora! Maybe a million+ dollar lawsuit while wearing an orange jumpsuit will get her attention! Isn’t that where crooks & thieves usually end up?!
Making you deal with this awful theft of your written words is another theft of your creativity. Having to spend a myriad amount of time dealing with this larceny drains you, and has to prey on your mind. I’ve always wished I could write a book, but accept my limitations in that area. To stoop so low by stealing another’s work to achieve that dream assaults everything I believe in. It saddens me that everyone doesn’t share the same values of honesty and one’s own hard work. I wish you justice as you fight this, and hope you know how many side with you – and will always buy and read your work.
Nora, I shared to my Facebook page one of your blogs on this subject in hopes that it will get the word out there and hopefully help in this battle of so-called authors stealing the work of real, hard-working authors. I plan to also share this blog.
I am glad to see you have not “lost your mad”.
It takes a lot of nerve to give interviews about aching wrists etc. Cut and paste takes nothing – no aching anything involved. Thinking about an original plot, putting the words together so that they become a story, re-reading and fine tuning – that is the work.
I really hope these “cheats” are afraid, right now, as to what is coming their way.
I am so proud of you Nora, I can’t think of anyone else able to take this issue on like you. You are such a giant in the field and have so many loyal fans that your message is getting out and maybe these creeps will be punished. We are with you Nora, thank you.
I write for my personal enjoyment. From time to time I’ll share with friends. That said one of the reason aside from being completely unsure of myself that I don’t seek to be published, I read a lot of books. I’m guilty of using Kindles $10 a month deal to borrow and read at a alarming rate. I’ve not found anything copied maybe I’m just lucky ?. Or I guess I should say I’ve never borrowed to separately titles and authored books that turned out the same.
But when I can read five to eight books a week I worry incessantly that I’ve accidentally copied someone’s idea. So my writing hides in books in drawers and files on my harddrive, rarely seen.
I simply do not understand a persons compulsion to steal someone else’s work. And to blatantly lie when caught smh ??♀️. I feel for those who are not financially capable of fighting this and applaud Nora for taking a stand and saying no this must stop.
This is one of my fears as well. When you are a prolific reader it can’t help but shape your writing. My hope is that my characters, their interactions and stories, while influenced by Nora Roberts and several other favorite authors, will have their own voice and impact on readers (if I ever manage to get published)
Yes, To The Pain! And hopefully, To the Bankruptcy. Too bad we can’t tar and feather her and the online trolls defending the practice. While they’re secured in stocks in the middle of Times Square. That’d be sweet!
And I like the idea of sentencing her to hand-copying something. Though, instead of the encyclopedia, it should be the copyright laws and regulations. For every country. Forever.
I want this thief or thieves to pay for every book they stole from. Make then pay by taking the money they stole from so many authors. This thief shouldn’t be able to slink off into the night like so many plagiarists before them.
Go get her! She needs to pay, and pay a hefty price, for what she has done.
Ouch. I have carpal tunnel syndrome, but it wasn’t caused by typing on a keybord. This person did something similar to rape, in my opinion. I worked a job where I had to type constantly for eight hours a day as a medical billing clerk so I can understand what kind of problems that can cause. Fortunatly, I used to play piano so that helped me with not screwing up my wrists.
Go Nora, I hope #copypastecris sees you as a Tibetian mastiff charging for her with open jaws.
I would love to be a fly on the wall when she sees you coming for her Nora. She should go to prison for theft for what she has done.
Some readers in the comments to this post and others are still saying they’re afraid to buy 99¢ books or download freebies or read through Kindle Unlimited, although Nora’s pointed out that she’s not saying all KU or low-priced books are produced and sold by bad actors.
And that’s a conundrum. Because there are a whole lot more legitimate writers than plagiarists and scammers with books in Kindle Unlimited who are struggling to make an honest living. How much more fear should readers have that by abandoning KU or by otherwise eschewing low-priced, loss-leader, first-in-series books that they’re not helping to support those innocent and talented authors? Serious question: How will you discover these authors otherwise?
By allowing such an open platform for selling books with little oversight and little regard for both readers and authors, Amazon continues to enable plagiarists and other scammers.
They *know* these bad actors are infecting their site, yet Amazon does little to rein them in. And, of course, Amazon actually *profits* by abetting the black-hat actors. So Amazon continues to be reactive rather than proactive in dealing with the fallout.
There are a few simple and effective oversights Amazon could implement to at least start curbing the bad actors on a continual basis, but so far they’re unwilling to take the necessary steps.
So while it’s great readers want to help (thank you!!), simply boycotting KU and/or low-priced books will harm a great many legitimate authors. And note that while Cris Serruya’s books were once in KU, they had been taken out of KU (though whether they were voluntarily removed or not is subject to debate) and were available through all online retailers at the time the plagiarism was uncovered.
But if readers never try new authors because they don’t wish to reward the bad actors (which is a commendable wish!), then new authors are unfairly punished. There’s no easy answer, but demanding Amazon — along with the other online vendors — address this problem proactively is a better first step, IMO, than cutting off the income stream of legit authors, and by doing so denying yourselves some extraordinarily good reads. ♥
Phoenix, you yourself have said that Amazon has to be the one to curtail the ‘bad actors’ and that won’t happen unless they are incentivized to do so. The only thing Amazon understands is is the bottom line.
You can demand all you want, but until $ is affected little will change,
Withholding support of the business model is the only support the common person has?
It’s not that hard to discover new authors sans Amazon: you go to the websites of small publishers and buy the books there. It’s a twofer. You deny Amazon the profits and you reward a small publisher.
Or go to a local bookstore.
Or a library.
Keep at it Nora. I know you can’t end it completely but you can make a huge dent in it.
I’m curious: is plagiarism a civil or criminal act? If it’s civil, I say every single one of those plagiarized should go after this worthless waste-of-skin and sue her ass off. And if it’s criminal, I hope there’s a district, criminal, or other jurisdictional attorney out there willing to file charges that will come with a hefty fine, hopefully felonious, that will follow this thief for the rest of her miserable, rotten, sucky life. Shame, shame, shame.
To you, Nora, and all of you wonderfully gifted writers out there, I say: please! continue to write, and continue to chase this diva wannabe, loser, thieving, worthless bitch until she’s pounded into the literary ground.
There. I said it. BTW, love you, Nora.
Nora, you sound like one of your heroines out of one of your books!
I’m hoping jail time, at her expense, not the state. A year for each offense to authors and books minimum, is this possible?
Really no. To the best of my knowledge copyright infringement is civil, not criminal. Only one more reason it’s so vicious on the victim. They have to sue. Incur the expenses, take the time, document. It’s a long, ugly slog.
Civil money penalties aren’t enough. She needs to go DOWN. Leave her “wallowing in freakish misery . . . forever.”
There’s a video game called Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. At one point, you get a huge Greek warship, and you can choose to have Amazon warriors as your crew. Any time you begin to board an enemy ship, they cross their shields over their chest and rhythmically slam them – band, band bang – and then let out a war cry roar. They do this over and over until they’ve successfully boarded the ship. It is awesome and terrifying. That’s what I hear in my head whenever I read these posts and their comments or the twitter thread.
I am 63. I have been an avid reader since I was 7, back when all I could find was animal stories, The Happy Hollisters, the original Oz stories, Heinlein, etc. It made for a very broad range of literary interests in a young girl. So I have the utmost respect for all the work & dedication I have seen in all these authors that I have seen grow in their craft over the last 20 years like Nora and can so understand the outage and sense of betrayal that someone would use all your hard work over and over for money and then act so innocent of any wrong doing. Do whatever is needed to stand up for yourself and all those others & know we are behind you!
Go get her. And personally, I would like to see a book about Roarke and Eve’s friend Nadine going up against a team who plagiarized (and maybe kill off people to hide the evidence) and Eve and Roarke bring them down!!! Just an aside, my mother and sister Lois and Pam Henry had the pleasure of meeting you several times years ago. We are all huge fans!
Karma is a hitch which this thief will find out when you unload a can of whoop ass on her. David from In the Garden would be so proud. I say some prayers that you will have the strength to perservere.
I meant karma is a bitch. Darn autospell.
There’s a reason why you’re the Queen of Romancelandia, and if anyone ever doubted it, this blog post should put set them straight.
I wish you good luck in the legal hell you are no doubt about to rain down on that thieving bitch, and I hope in the end we’re able to know the truth.
To the hoover that is stealing your work, you don’t know who you’ve done this to. You’ve not only done it to Nora Roberts and her work, you’ve done it to readers who trusted you. Shame on you, I hope your name will be erased.
She and the other plagiarists should definitely tremble, especially on their way to prison. I applaud your stand, and am sad that you have to interrupt your writing to deal with it.
I have been thinking and decided that plagiarism is just as stupid as suspects running away from K9 cops. You’re going to get caught. I would think the more authors you use, the easier it would be to get caught because the more different people have the chance to realize something’s wrong.
Go Nora! I am not a writer but I am a big reader. I admire your work and the fact that you are standing up for it. I am very much looking forward to Vendetta and I am so sorry this happened to you and your fellow writers. Keep up the good work and good luck with the fight!
Sorry to hear you’re having to deal with this instead of writing. Hoping things calm down. It has to be gut wrenching and heart breaking to know people do things to others like this.
Nora, I stand with you and the other writers that have been so viciously raped. Go get ’em!
Nora, I am so sorry you have to go through this. I hate theft of any sort. She stole your words, but now she is stealing your peace of mind. Take a deep breath, cuddle Griffin, walk in your garden, and take care of yourself. Then, kick her butt! You’re the only author besides the late, great Dick Francis who tempts me to read untl 2 am (just 1 more chapter…).
If only she could be locked up in a tiny cell with no access to media, except for the crap she’s shoveled out after stealing from all of you. Even that wouldn’t be enough punishment, but being a lifelong reader it would seem like hell on Earth to me. Go get’er, Nora. Hope you steamroll her into a puddle.
I never read any of Serruyo’s stuff- I won’t call them books, and dignify them. But if I was her- i would be quaking in my boots! You go girl- We love you! btw- you remind me of Eve Dallas in this post. And we know she always gets her quarry!
It’s too bad she got away with this for so long. I am both sorry she hurt so many and glad to see you fight her. You have an army of fans, both yours and others, who will cheer you on to the end. I can hope that some protection will arise from this. Thank you for fighting.
What really hurts is not only did she STEAL works by 35 different authors, but that she was able to get her books out there and read! Double Whammy for those of us struggling to even be read! And her faux humble nature? Makes me sick.
Go get ’em Nora!
Here is where my anger comes in. I try writing. I got umpteen manuscripts. I do not try to copy anyone. I get in my writing n let it flow. Then I reread it n l see things that look like I copied other authors n it horrified me so I chicken out on sending it. Yes I let others read my work n they yell that I need to send it in but I am horribly afraid I have stollen from someone else’s hard work. Then I see stuff like this happening n I just can’t submit my stuff cause I freeze with fear thinking I am stealing someone else’s idea let alone their work. I know haven’t copied deliberately but I see similarities n that makes me feel like a their. How screwed up is that. Lol have my own daughter reading my stuff n she says I haven’t copied n she has read everything I have read or write n i still can’t shake it. N then this chick steals from everyone just sickening. Lol told my daughter she can publish when I am dead n not here to freak out.
I am a single mom– I created a company once and companies in China stole all of my designs and mass produced them. I was making a living and overnight– I was put out of business.
I started writing because it’s the only thing I CAN do. I’ve seen people sitting on writing forums stealing work all the time from people who, “want to be authors” and no matter how many times you warn them they don’t listen.
I am glad you’re on her and you’re calling them out. People need to be aware. I think building a close knit community is your best weapon because they can and will catch similarities and call people out.
The world is disgusting now. We used to have things like character– and morals– good judgement and empathy. That’s replaced with cut throat talentless twats who come along and steal whatever’s not nailed down… novels included.
Good job Nora! I’m sorry you went through this, but I have a feeling she will be back. She will just get a pen name. People like this– they don’t change. They keep doing it. She’s not sorry.. she’s sorry she got caught.
Nora,
Thank you for using your huge (and hard-earned) platform to discuss and fight this. I am an aspiring, unpublished romance writer. I’ve been working hard for years, improving my craft and dreaming of one day seeing my words in print. Recently my agent told me I should try writing something else (mysteries) because the “traditional romance market is dead right now for new writers, killed by the indies.” If that’s true, fine, I’m all for capitalism. If I’m not getting published because I’m not good enough yet, I can live with that, and more power to the writers who get there first. But if it’s these plagiarists who are killing it by upping their output with plagiarized work, well, those people?
As our favorite lieutenant would say, they can “bite me.”
All my stories live in boxes under my bed, but like you, I write my own damn books.
Thanks for standing up–not only for yourself, and your work–but for the little guy like me.
-MN
I am not an author but I wholeheartedly support (and thank) you and your efforts. As a “consumer”, I will be mindful of what I purchase. As a fan, I will support the authors that I love and know work hard to create. Again, thank you for standing up for yourself and others. You go, girlfriend!
Go get her Nora, just like you do the bad guys in your books. Keep up the good fight. We love you and your books.
What sucks about this— it’s international.
There are companies in china and Russia taking US books and publishing them as exact copies and selling them to book sellers in the USA.
You have to watch Alibaba because they will list novels that are NYTBS. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/fifty-shades-of-grey-e-book_131569210.html?spm=a2700.7724838.2017115.14.24336a84kKcuDZ
A lot of times they will type the novel into an ebook and sell it. I can’t imagine many people buying– but you never know. I see a lot of people online, they hand their manuscripts over to anyone who wants to read it – and a lot of times these people are stealing and publishing. Mostly in India but on amazon to international sellers. They change the name and author and publish it.
This is unbelievable! As an aspiring indie author, this just depresses me.
So sorry that all this must’ve opened doors that you would like – and deserved – to keep closed or filed as a won battle.
If I’m always in awe with your strength and stamina now I surrender – you just keep fighting. Your stance in this (everything) reminds me a quote I love from Dr. Martin Luther King*…
So for all those claiming you don’t need to do this, that you are rich enough – as if it all fell from the sky or brought to you by a red-haired Irish fairy – to not have to bother they should think that it is not how it works. For some people. The people that matter. People who will matter… in Eternity and beyond (if there is one because world is gone crazy when someone thinks they can steal and think they are entitled because it was there to steal ?)
Thank you Nora! Just thank you – now and always. ?
* ““Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree” Martin Luther King Jr
Thank you.
I’m astounded by all that happened since I’ve been away. Disappointed that new romance authors prefer to steal rather than create tops the list. Go get ’em. ?
Oh my God. Seriously? That’s ridiculous. 35 different people??? I hope she gets in Big trouble! I’m so sorry! You work too hard to deserve this! You need to channel some Eve! I’d love to see what she would do!! !! Is there anything as readers we can do to help? I wish you all the luck in taking this thief down!!
I think this is for my favorite author!
I usually buy my In Death books from A——n…and the next book has been listed…Is there another site I can pre-order from?
If you want another venue, I’d have to recommend our own bookstore (obviously!). Turn The Page ships worldwide, has a subscription service and takes pre-orders. You can also order a book signed.
You can check it out at ttpbooks.com.
It’s a customer-service focused independent bookstore, and carries a wide selection of books and some nice sidelines.