Saturday, December 09, 2006

Stop, Thief!

The Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels are known for their witty, snarky and sarcastic discussions of books, especially romance novels. Occasionally, however, they are serious. Yesterday they tackled the topic of plagiarism, a continuing and apparently growing problem for authors. The SBs referred to the 1997 case in which bestselling romance author Nora Roberts discovered that also-bestselling romance author Janet Dailey had repeatedly plagiarized Nora's work. It was a big scandal within the publishing world, particularly the romance genre. The Smart Bitches interviewed The Nora and posted it online. Good discussion. For a contemporary take on the Dailey-Roberts situation, see Laurie Likes Books.

Yeah, Dailey had excuses, but they didn't fly. I myself have boycotted Dailey's books ever since learning of her dishonesty.

1 comment:

Charles Gramlich said...

Wow, some links to some disturbing reading. I don't understand how anyone could condem Nora Roberts in this situation. I also don't understand how Janet Dailey could have been dumb enough to plagiarize from one of the best known and widely read authors anywhere.