Over at Romance Divas we've been following the embarrassing story of a teenaged writer from New Jersey who landed herself a half million dollar book deal apparently by plagiarizing the work of another author and calling it ‘unintentional internalization.’
Here’s some of the story at USA Today. I don’t want to mention the author’s name or the name of her book, because frankly, I really don’t want to give her any more publicity.
All I really want to say is she should be terribly ashamed. Her age is no excuse for stealing someone else’s work. Yes, there are only so many plots and everything has been done before. ‘Coming of age’ chick-lit teen sagas are a dime a dozen these days and you can’t fault someone for wanting to jump on the bandwagon with their own tale of slightly post-pubescent woe, but if you read this Boston Globe article, you can see that this is a lot more serious than just a similar plot.
True, if something works in the literary world, just like in Hollywood, the adage is, beat it to death. When a book or idea takes off, everyone wants their own version on the shelves, but this is ridiculous. It’s a slap in the face not only to the author who was stolen from, but to every hardworking writer out there who frets over this very thing – will my story seem too similar to someone else’s? What if someone thinks I copied this idea? The shame would kill me. I often refrain from reading books in my own genre because of this very concern and I’ve adjusted my own plots when I’ve inadvertently discovered similarities. Great minds think alike. Great writers don’t need to copy.
No one wants the shame to kill this young author, but I’d be happy if the shame of her unconscionable actions kept her name off the book shelves forever. Her publisher, editor and agent should drop her like hot...well, hot crap, and someone should gently but firmly tell her to pursue a career in contract law where she can learn to appreciate the value of intellectual property.
In the literary world, plagiarism of this magnitude is akin to treason. It should not be forgotten and swept under the rug. I hope everyone involved with this disgrace fully understands how badly their credibility has been damaged and how much they've hurt the hard working writers out there who struggle to get that first contract, that first advance, and sweat bullets to produce a wonderful, unique story.
4 comments:
I'm not sure I'd be interested in reading a story that a publisher would be willing to pay a half-million for prior to a history with the author. Makes me think there is no creativity to it to begin with because the publisher had to have thought it was a sure thing... in otherwords... a "copy" of something that sold well before. Now with JK Rowling made wrote the second book... that was enough history.
The think the publisher might be stuck with her wouldn't they? Becuase they got her on contract? Anyway, I think the movie rights should be given to the other lady - it's her idea after all... See, the sad thing is - is that it was the agent that got her such a fab deal and the woman that came up with the original premise didn't have that type of deal.
I agree, Annalee and Jodie. I think the publisher could probably consider it breach of contract, since she was supposed to have turned in an original workhowever, the publisher was apparently some kind of book packager and they may have 'helped' her write the book. I wonder if she had an agent who got 15% of her advance and now does the agent have to give back her money too if the author does?
I know who are you talking about. We in India felt so bad about her inexperience! After writing five hundred-odd pages on her own and doing that brilliantly, she should not have succumbed to the pressure of copying at twenty-nine places! It was her foolishness and, in fact, there is very thin distinction between this kind of foolishness and deliberate purloining.
Sometimes, without basis, I wonder if she was a victim of circumstances. But then again, plagiarism in any form is to be blamed.
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