Let's talk about plagiarism

Okay, there seems to be consensus that Cassie Edwards is too old to beat up on. She even puts her age on her MySpace page, 71--the page is all in pink, by the way. Naturally.

The issue stealing from other authors is being chatted up all over the internets now, with this poor senior lady at its center. So the question becomes, "What is plagiarism?" Crediting sources? Footnotes?

I'm working on a novel with lots of historical references now, and I'm certainly keeping a bibliography, in case I need to re-check something. Maybe--maybe that bibliography will go on the web page for the book, but it doesn't belong in the back of a piece of fiction.

Footnotes worked gloriously for Susannah Clarke's JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL, but they were part of the entertainment. They were funny and colorful and beautifully written. They had nothing to do with sources, and I don't think footnotes in fiction ever work unless they serve the purpose Ms. Clarke put them to.

It seems perfectly clear to me that plagiarism means lifting whole passages out of another author's work and putting them in your own. A little modification doesn't alter the fact that somebody else wrote the passage. And I don't think any writer--student, beginning author, or 71-year-old romance novelist--could mistake that for anything but what it is, stealing.

As has been pointed out on another forum, in science fiction we're all riffing off each other's ideas. Ideas are at the heart of what we do in sf, and there's no patent on them. Where we would get in trouble would be directly quoting another author without saying that we're doing so. Duh.B

ut gosh, I would hate, at the age of 71, and having published 100 novels, to have my career falling around my ears in such a fashion. I think I'm feeling more sorry for the lady in question than outraged. Her pride must be in tatters.

My pride, I feel sure, would have forestalled me doing any such thing in the first place.

Plagiarism, Romance, and Readers

Poor Cassie Edwards! Cassie is the author of more than 100 romance novels, delighting her readers with such titles as SAVAGE LONGINGS, SAVAGE MOON, and SAVAGE BELOVED (that one sounds fun, doesn't it?) Apparently she writes historical romance about Indians. Never mind all the issues I have with romantic views of Indians, since I are one, but imagine this: she's been cheating, and her READERS outed her!

In the New York Times, Felicia R. Lee (see, I'm being very careful to credit my sources) writes that Cassie's readers caught passages lifted directly from research materials. The whole article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/12/books/12roma.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Romance+novelist+accused&oref=slogin (The best part is a link to blog called SmartBitchesTrashyBooks.com. I might like a blog by that name.)

And in her defense: "Ms. Edwards told an Associated Press reporter earlier this week that she did not know she was supposed to credit her sources. “When you write historical romances, you’re not asked to do that,” she said."

Okay, I've written historical, and of course I've done tons of research for my sf. I use the material, but I don't quote it. How boring would that be? This whole thing seems very odd to me, and I'm sure it will all blow over.

The part I can't get over is that the readers turned on her, like a pack of dogs chasing a rabbit! I don't know if I'm more stunned that they cared about the issue, or that romance readers found comparisons between a novel and a historical source. Maybe they really are SmartBitches. Bless 'em.

The trouble with used book sales

The following post is mostly quoted from a position paper published by Novelists, Inc. (NINC). The subject is one that worries a lot of us, and in my opinion, NINC has come up with a significant and well-informed position on the matter. It satisfies both my worry that my used book sales do nothing to help my publisher or me, and my guilt over the fact that I, too, buy used books, especially the very expensive reference books all writers have shelves and shelves of!

So here are a some of the most cogent passages. Many thanks to NINC and to the SFWA Forum for making this available:

"Novelists, Inc. (NINC) is a non-profit organization of professional published authors dedicated to advancing the interests of working writers. Used book sales, particularly sales of used books through the Internet, have a significant negative effect on the income of publishers, and, therefore, authors, as there is no remuneration to them for any sales of used books. This document is intended to focus attention on NINC's position that the copyright clause of the Constitution of the United States stands for the principle that authors and publishers have the right to share in the profits that others make from the sale of their work. Currently, authors and publishers do no share in the profits made through the sale of used books, a multi-billion dollar enterprise."

"In 2005, in an effort to understand the used-book industry and its scope, the Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG) hired a consulting firm to conduct an in-depth study of used-book sales and the used-book industry in the United States. The study indicated that the negative effect of used-book sales on the book publishing industry is growing rapidly and bears serious consideration."

"NINC holds a firm position in favor of Federal legislation to combat the potentially damaging effect of used book sales on the current and future health of the publishing industry. Such legislation would be grounded in the intent of the language of Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution of the United States, which states that:'

The Congress shall have Power . . . To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.'"

In short, NINC proposes that a percentage of fees be paid ("Secondary Sale" fees) upon the reselling of any book within two years of its original publication date. A percentage of these fees would then transfer to authors.

Make no mistake, this is a serious issue. New contracts for authors are routinely, these days, being negotiated on past sales. And those past sales are NEW book sales. All those used books that crop up on Amazon before the new book is even available cost their authors money. I like NINC's proposal, because it doesn't ban the selling of used books, or even scold those of us who buy them, but make provisions for the publishers and authors to be compensated. For some writers, such a provision could be career-changing. And for readers, it means the variety of books available to them will be protected. Such a move would go a long way toward offsetting the best-seller, big box store mentality that assails publishing in this decade. I hope it works out.

The art of book promotion

Poor Ann Coulter. Did no one explain to HER that she has to promote her book?

Her newest hatefest, IF DEMOCRATS HAD ANY BRAINS, is tanking. Her last book spent twelve weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, but this one only lasted four. Her last book sold 223,000 copies in its first month out, and this one only 97,000.

Now all of us out here in genre-land know that you have to blog, you have to print up bookmarks, you have to do appearances, you have to work the system. Reviews don't help, Ann. (Well, in your case, they really don't help, since they're ghastly.) You have to work at this, not just write two hundred pages of tripe and expect it to sell!

Toby Bishop understands all this. The androgenous writer of AIRS BENEATH THE MOON is celebrating the appearance of the second book in the trilogy, AIRS AND GRACES, which is released this very day, December 18th. Toby's smart, and has sent e-mails to all and sundry, refreshed the website (http://www.tobybishop.net/, if you want to know). Or eager readers can visit http://www.amazon.com/Airs-Graces-Toby-Bishop/dp/0441015565/ref=sr_1_1/002-7963065-4204831?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187052410&sr=8-1 Toby doesn't expect great reviews alone to sell books.

Of course, Toby doesn't go around in an assortment of inappropriately skimpy little black dresses, either. Maybe that's how Coulter went wrong?

The stuff of science fiction

It's hard to write sf that's wild enough to compete with the truth these days. Here's a quote from the IPCC in Bali that will give you the chills:

"Dec. 12, 2007 How dire is the climate situation? Consider what Rajendra Pachauri, the head of the United Nations' prestigious Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said last month: "If there's no action before 2012, that's too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment." Pachauri has the distinction, or misfortune, of being both an engineer and an economist, two professions not known for overheated rhetoric."

We've all read doomed planet scenarios, of course. But have we read the ones in which ultraconservative politicians and mentally lazy consumers deny the evidence laid out for them?

According to Technorati.com: ". . . as of Dec. 11, the synthesis report had some 265 blog reactions, where the Aug. 24 YouTube video of Miss Teen South Carolina struggling to explain why a fifth of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map had more than 5,300 blog reactions."

The whole article is here: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/12/12/ipcc_report/ And it ends this way: "Or perhaps we could videotape Miss Teen South Carolina trying to explain why Americans still refuse to take serious national action on climate change. "

I suppose exploring this wouldn't make as exciting a story as, say, the planet blowing up and shooting bits of itself all over the 'verse, but it would be real science. I'm just not sure I have the internal fortitude to take it on.

Earth that was

I felt a little spurt of hope for the planet when I read an introduction to The Presidential Climate Action Project. Sixty leading scientists, including a former NASA director, have compiled a 100-day plan to reverse global warming, to be implemented in 2009. It appears to be a real, considered response to the urgency of climate change, and its members assert that it's nonpartisan, to be put in the hands of whoever our new leader may be.

I had that old Star Trek feeling--you know, the one where Earth actually survives, where humans work together to solve problems, and have the wherewithal to explore new frontiers, where no one has gone before?

For example:

Government's Atmospheric Trust Responsibility

An Essay by Mary Christina Wood

In this essay, Professor Wood presents a framework for holding government at all levels responsible for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. She draws upon the Target for U.S. Emissions Reductions recently released by scientists to contend that government has a duty to cap emissions by 2010, reduce emissions by 4% annually thereafter, and ultimately bring emissions down to at least 80% below 2000 levels by 2050. As she explains, there can be no "orphan shares" in meeting this planetary carbon liability. She explains that government has the tools to accomplish this, and as a sovereign trustee of our atmosphere, has the obligation to do so.

And here's the site:http://www.climateactionproject.com/

Please, no one burst my bubble. It feels so good to have this optimistic moment. I love FIREFLY, but the idea of a vanished Earth is just too sad.

More on research as timesuck

I confess, I haven't gotten as much done as I might have these past two days, because not only did my own research lead me off on tangents, but links from other people distracted me even more. But who knows? These things might turn into stories some day.

So one last link, because Derek Lee Ragin was, when I was singing Bach and Pergolesi and Handel, the reigning countertenor of the day. His voice, combined with a female soprano's, created the lovely soundtrack for the film FARINELLI. (If you haven't seen it, rent it! It's beautiful.)

Here's Derek, with my comments: the tempo is a bit too fast, because even though his coloratura (very fast notes) is remarkable, he's struggling to get all the notes into the time framework, which means a slightly slower tempo could have made the whole piece easier to listen to (and to watch.) I love the fact that there's video, because it gives the listener a chance to observe his technique, and not guess at it. If you're interested in the fine points, his steady stance and relaxed jaw are essential to the breath support, which comes from below the rib cage. The movement in his jaw and mouth are because of the quick coloratura, because the singer has to constantly release any tension so as not to obstruct the flow of sound.

And do observe these marvelous violinists! These musicians are hardly glamor girls, but wow--can they play. Wonderful baroque precision and phrasing. This is almost a duet between the principal violinist and the singer.

And also notice, if you're one of those who likes to write about classical music, how the orchestra applauds: they lightly click their bows on their music stands. Such a cool detail to use someday, isn't it?

Too much information? Just watch, and enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfNAGm0bjL4