Nora Roberts is completely right about everything
…At least, everything to do with this plagiarism thing. She’s got multiple posts up about this on her blog now; the most recent addresses comments she’s been getting from people who want her to take a stand against plagiarism, but not a very strong stand.
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…
And then she addresses the sorts of comments she’s been getting.
I think she’s right in exactly 100% of her comments.
She’s really mad, too. Check this out:
To those publishing ‘books’ using these tactics, whether it’s hiring ghosts then slapping your name on a book, whether it’s stealing work someone else sweated over, you’re thieves and liars. Every one of you. And none of you will ever be a writer.
You know who you are.
Enjoy it while it lasts, because it’s now my mission to turn over the rocks you hide under, then stomp you deep in the muck you breed in.
To the black hats who exploit, steal, tutor others to do the same, your day of reckoning’s coming.
I swear I’ll do whatever I can, use whatever resources, connections, clout, megaphone I have to out every damn one of you.
Wow. Good for her, and this would be a great time for RWA to really give Amazon a push. There have to be ways to lock down some of this plagiarism and theft. If TurnItIn could spot this stuff — and it could — then where’s Amazon? Nora Roberts has a high profile and a big following, so maybe she can get somewhere.
Also: I had no idea about ghostfarms. Or clickfarms. Good heavens above, people. I thought book stuffing was the absolute nadir, and I can’t see why Amazon can’t develop an algorithm or two to check for that. Then this hack-and-slash plagiarism that TurnItIn could catch in a heartbeat, but I guess Amazon can’t? And now ghostfarms and clickfarms.
I can’t even imagine what scammers will come up with next.
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