Plagiarism and The Story Siren

Copy Cats AheadIn a series of links that dropped my jaw, made me shake my head, and feel a boatload of “Oh, No,” here's an eyeopening series on how to catch someone stealing your content online, which was posted today by CuddleBuggery  after Katiebabs saw an anonymous link on this older post on plagarism.

The follow posts are from January 2012, and I'm not sure why the book blogging community wasn't aware of it until now. 

Kristi Diehm, better known as The Story Siren, was allegedly caught lifting articles about blogging and making minimal changes to them for her site. Bloggers B from Beautifully Invisible and Vahni from Grit and Glamour found the evidence and confronted her about it. Their entire story is like a master tutorial on how to use analytics to identify who is reading a website, and when – and in this case, possibly why.

Part the first: Beautifully Invisible is plagiarized, and figures out who it is, where they came from, and what they looked at.

Part the second: Grit & Glamour explains options for dealing with similar circumstances, and explains the steps they took to address the theft of their content in this instance.

According to the write up of the process at Grit and Glamour, Kristi responded by saying:

“In all honestly, I have never been to your blog or any of the blogs mentioned in this email until tonight when I cross referenced the posts that you had listed. I rarely if ever read blogs beyond the book blog community. But I could not agree more with your assessments of the posts. And I am sorry to say that I have no viable explanation. I even searched my web history to see if perhaps I had read the posts and had recalled them as I was writing my own.”

The statement that she'd never visited their sites despite the ample IP evidence to the contrary led to a request that she delete the content, which she did. 

Then she responded in part by saying,  “I've tried to be as obliging as possible and in turn I'm hoping that you will allow this to stay private.”

Folks on Twitter who weren't part of this request for anonymity about the accused plagiarist, looked the images online, both of photos and geographic location, and helped identify Kristi Diehm from The Story Siren.

Photo from the writeup: 

http://www.gritandglamour.com/2012/01/31/bitch-stole-my-content-plagiarism/

Photo from LinkedIn: 

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kristi-diehm/39/163/701

 

When stuff like that happens, it damages more than just the accused and the accuser. It undermines the efforts of all of us who review books online. Still no word from Diehm about this matter, but as Jane pointed out via Twitter, I look at her site and wonder if any of it is hers, or if the other content was lifted from elsewhere. And since we who discuss books online work so hard on our content, it's galling to see someone who has been outspoken about plagiarism and who has worked to build a community online despite being plagiarised revealed as an accused plagiarist.

In the book blogging community, we may not always get along, but I absolutely do believe that most of us respect one another's content, and we don't steal words from one another. For one thing, it's wrong, and for another, good golly, have we not figured out that there's very few ways to hide it? 

What I don't understand is how this is coming to light now – these posts were written in January 2012. Did you know about this? Has there been any additional signs of plagiarism? 


Updated 7:53pm ET: Kristi Diehm has posted what she calls an explanation and apology at her site, where comments are closed:

I owe you an explanation and an apology.

 

Please don’t take my silence on this issue until now as an admission to anything.

I made a mistake. I freely admit that. I am disappointed in myself and I’m embarrassed. I’m deeply saddened and distraught that I have broken your trust. I don’t want to give you any excuses. In a way I feel as though it won’t matter what I say at this point. It seems that the verdict has been decided. I was accused of doing something that I am vehemently against, and intentionally or not, I know that there will be consequences.

 

You may be wondering why I didn’t address this issue earlier. The fact is, I thought it was taken care of privately. After the issue was brought to my attention I was appalled. I would never do something like that. That is NOT me. I thought that I did everything that I could do, to make the situation right.

I’ve struggled immensely internally with this, because this is not the type of person that I am. I felt like the fraud I was accused of being.

 

I didn’t want to keep it private for the reasons that you are thinking. I’m not worried about what people will think of me. I’m not saying that it doesn’t hurt, it does. I’m not immune, but that wasn’t my biggest concern. My biggest worry was the authors and publishers that I host.

I offer them something. A viewership. I offer them the chance to have their book seen. I didn’t want to deny them something that I had promised. I now fear that is the case.

I don’t expect your forgiveness. I don’t even expect you to understand. I can’t ask that you continue reading The Story Siren as a result, and I respect your decision to not do so. The only thing I ask of you is that you take this apology as a sincere one.

Four months of silence is not an admission of anything, and nowhere in this “apology” does she actually acknowledge her actions. “Intentionally or not?” How do you unintentionally lift four articles from another site? Where is the apology, exactly? 

And her explanation: she only did it for authors and publishers that she hosts. She did it for you! *headdesk*

To quote Moira Rogers Bree, “Dear plagiarists: please retire, “I didn't realize I'd done it” as an excuse ASAP. It is A RIDICULOUS excuse & now you're ridiculous too.”

That was one of the most flaccid apologies I've seen, filled with double-speak and not much meaning or significance, or even addressing the situation. What a disappointment. And of course I have that Rhianna song stuck in my head again, because this “apology” and “explanation” indicates to me that she's only sorry she got caught. 


Updated 10:00 pm ET: I received a more sincere apology via email from Kristi, as did Jane at DearAuthor: 

I am very sorry for the trouble that all of this has caused the book blogging community. I also apologize for my actions and will work harder to be a better and stronger blogger. I have answered on my on blog as well and am sorry that I was unavailable due to work during the day and seemed unresponsive.

I wish that had been what was on her site. 


Updated 24 April 11:00 am ET: Another explanation and more robust apology has been posted on the Story Siren's site, though comments remain closed, which means other threads on Kristi's site have hosted comments for this topic, which have been deleted, it seems. The apology reads:  

Let’s try this again. I owe all of you, the blogging community and my readers a much better explanation and apology. My first apology was written out of emotion. I should have given myself the time to reflect before responding. I didn’t do that and I tend to let my emotions rule.

I am truly sorry for all the trouble that this has caused the book blogging community. That’s my biggest regret. You gave me your respect and I let you down. I took a role as a leader and I didn’t take my actions into account as it would reflect on the community as a whole. For that I am truly sorry.

When I first received the allegations of plagiarism, I was presented with the information and could not deny the facts. While the content was not identical the subject matter was. It was a confusion of inspiration and plagiarism on my part. I am not denying my actions. I was in the wrong.

While I did not recognize the blogs in question initially after continued correspondence I discovered I was incorrect in that. I worked with the bloggers first linking to their initial posts and then in the complete deletion of the posts in question.

Was I feeling pressure to do something new and engaging? Something helpful and interesting? I was. Had I only paid more attention to where my inspiration was coming at the time, I should have handled the situation much differently. A simple email asking for permission or a link back should have happened. And I didn’t do it. I’ve preached that thousands of times. I lacked in taking my own advice.

I know that I have disappointed many of you. That is heartbreaking to me. I am still the same person that you have come to know through the years. I just really screwed up.

I am sorry for the strain that I have put on the blogger/author/publisher relationship. I for one have worked hard to lessen that strain, and it seems that all of that work may have been lost in this mistake.

I can assure you that my remaining content is my own. Although I know there is no reason for you to believe me. And I don’t blame you for being skeptical.

To Grit and Glamour and Beautifully Invisible, I extend my deepest apologies. Please do not judge the book blogging community by my mistakes.

In the end, I hope that something positive comes away from this. Don’t make the same mistakes that I did. Learn from them. I know that I have. I apologize for my actions and will work harder to be a better blogger. I only hope that you will give me a chance to do so.

 

Categorized:

Ranty McRant

Comments are Closed

  1. April says:

    Wow. That’s really just sort of disappointing, but I’m glad this is being brought to people’s attention.

  2. Guestguest says:

    I don’t think they realize how big she is in the YA Blogging community. Those who follow Kristi strongly clearly know that’s her picture in that Klout picture they tried to hide her face in.
    http://goo.gl/gdKR3

  3. Screenplaydiva says:

    I was referring to Grit & Glamour’s site calling her a B*tch. I should have clarified myself. The writers of that particular blog are very upset. Who wouldn’t be? I just felt calling her that was inappropriate. I know you have B*tches in your blog title, but that’s different. Do you know what I mean?

    As for Kristi responding, I’m wondering what she’ll say too. Her silence is interesting. Maybe she was hoping it would go away. But not with the Internet or Social Media. Ha! As far as bullying names, I haven’t seen that on Twitter. Jane, copyright infringer and plagiarist is not name calling, you are right. I thought the hashtags and some people wanting to stop her memes was bullying.

    I also wasn’t thinking anyone was being catty on here. It’s good that you made a post about this. Plagiarism of any kind is important to discuss, especially if it happens in the book blog community. I think Kristi has lost respect today. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. But does this all really affect me? No. Am I personally hurt by this? No. Is it irritating? Sure! If she continues to be lauded by publishers and authors…we’ll have to see. Why do authors and publishers want her to read their books? I don’t understand that. There’s tons of great blogs, including your blog! You have solid discussion posts.

  4. Danielle, while I think I get where you’re coming from, I think part of the issue, for me at least is this… I personally hold a fellow author to a higher standard.

    Similarly, and I’ll admit this, I’d hold a blogger like SB Sarah or Jane Little to a higher standard than a blogger I’m unfamiliar with.  Now admittedly, I’m not at all familiar with this blogger, nor do I care to be.

    But authors are in writing for a living.  They make a living selling their words.  And it says says something about them if they are selling words that aren’t theirs.  Yes, I know it’s also saying something about a blogger who does it, but *most* bloggers aren’t blogging for a living.  It’s not their livelihood and I get skeeved out by an author who’d steal from a fellow writer to do this.  The job is already hard enough.

    Regarding blogger plagiarism, yes, it still bothers me-if it didn’t, I wouldn’t bother speaking up and I’ve spoken up about this sort of thing more than once.  But maybe that’s part of the outrage when it comes to the ire you see when it’s an author.  Readers feel betrayed (and often ripped off)-they spend hard-earned money on books that the author didn’t write (or wholly) write and authors feel a similar betrayal.

    I try not to focus on lynch-mobbing anybody.  Even when I was plagiarized, I didn’t try to lead mobs against the woman.  I want the issue focused on the problem, not on stirring up hate.  I’ve never seen that accomplishing much of anything.  Once that happens, it seems like objectivity gets lost.

  5. And there that part goes… ‘shame on you for saying anything not glowing…nobody will ever speak to you or love you again…’….

    Ah, I’ve heard that one before.  First time was about… um, 2004?  I think?  I’m still here and I still sell books.

  6. LauraN says:

    Yes!  Yes, yes, and YES!  It’s like I tell my students—plagiarism is the kind of crime where intent does not matter.  “I didn’t mean to steal” will not keep you from getting a giant F on your paper.  I’m not interested in how sorry you are.

    So, what is an adequate punishment?  I have no idea because I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to the world of blogging and how clout and money and all that works, but I’m hoping that the shitstorm that is currently raining down on Krist Diehm’s head will convince her and others (I’m looking at you, as yet uncaught plagiarist!) that plagiarism just isn’t worth it.  I’m willing to grab my torch and pitchfork and join the party because I believe in the value of making an example of wrongdoers.  And of public shaming.  (The internet as the modern pillory?  I might have a paper topic there.)

    I don’t read her blog, but Kristi Diehm is cordially invited to come on over to my Rhetoric and Composition class, where I will teach her the ways of writing responsibly.  Rule 1:  Do not steal, asshole.

    (Please note that attending my class is suggested as REHABILITATION, not as PUNISHMENT.  Right?  Right?)

  7. Peacelovebooks5 says:

    I am in no way choosing sides here because I just learned of this whole thing and have no idea what the exact details of what went on were, but Kristi posted something on her blog addressing the issue. For those interested, here it is:

    http://www.thestorysiren.com/2…

  8. hmmmm… I think she should have plagiarized an apology from someone because that one sucked.

  9. THis not being my first time at a rodeo, I think I might start cutting and pasting this statement every time plagiarism arises.

    It is not mean or bitchy to call a plagiarist a plagiarist and a thief.

    It is not mean or bitchy to expect a plagiarist to be called to account for their actions.

    It is not mean or bitchy to make a public comment on public actions.

    It is not mean or bitchy to be angry about theft of one’s intellectual property.

    It is not mean or bitchy to be angry about a plagiarist ignoring complaints about their actions.

    It is not mean or bitchy to report on plagiarism.

    It is not mean or bitchy to condemn plagiarism.

    It is not mean or bitchy to be upset that plagiarism is occurring.

    It is not mean or bitchy to police plagiarists in one’s community, or allied community. It’s the only way we know to make them stop.

    Plagiarism is theft of a creator’s work, deception of readers, and causes pain and hurt to both.

    Any pain or hurt caused by explosing plagiarism is the result of the plagiarist’s wrong behaviour and nothing else

    [And christ almighty – if you think a bloody hashtag is ‘bullying’, all I can say is that you’ve never actually been bullied.]

  10. Screenplaydiva says:

    People who commit plagiarism should be held accountable. I understand people are upset. But how does this affect your own personal world? Lose your pitchfork over this and find a real cause to be upset about. There are more things important in this world.

  11. “There are more things important in this world”

    Yes, there are. But this is a review blog about readers and books. Can you name me a single issue more pertinent and important to its remit than identifying and stopping plagiarism?

    No? Then shut the fuck up, Ms Concern Troll. I am a woman. I am disposed by gender to be able to care and think about more than one thing at once.

  12. Melanie says:

    The Story Siren’s post was the first I’ve read on the subject, and I have to admit, it confused me more than anything.  I didn’t even know what she was apologizing for.

    I’m curious to what the repercussions for such a huge blog will be.  It’s interesting, this has happened to smaller blogs in the past, and a bunch of people completely JUMPED on them, but a lot of her followers are still supporting her.  Double standard, much?

  13. Anita says:

    This type of thing has a tendancy to bite one in the ass. I see that the original post with the accusation was from January (on the blog that had posts stolen) it took a while, but it caught up to her.

    I loved her blog and it makes me sad to see this. I do think that the hash tag is going too far. Her twitter is gone and she has closed comments on her post apologizing.

    I think this could be the end of The Story Siren Blog.

    I could be wrong, but the apology came across to me that she’s more sorry about the possible repercussions from authors and publishers…

  14. Screenplaydiva says:

    Oh and calling me names isn’t bullying? I’m a woman too. I’m not going to sink to your level. Yes, it’s a book review blog. I said it was important to discuss the issue. I didn’t say you couldn’t think about two things at once. That’s taking things out of context. Yes, there more important things—like people losing their homes, losing their jobs and living in their cars, losing public funding, medicaid, people dying of diseases, being killed in third world countries, etc. You are out of line. I’m better than this and this conversation. If you can’t say anything nice to say…don’t say anything at all.

  15. azteclady1 says:

    Oh for the love of f…!

    Seriously? “if you can’t be nice”?

    And since there are so many more important things for you to concern yourself with, why the hell are you doing here? why are you involved with something so beneath your self righteous attention?

  16. “If you can’t say anything nice to say…don’t say anything at all.”

    Blow it out your backside, dearie.

    And as AL said – if there are more important things to concern your pwecious pearl-clutching twatness with, why are you here?

    I have a better saying. “Better to say nothing and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”

    Guess it’s a bit late for you.

  17. vblake says:

    Who fucking cares! It’s the Internet… Nothing can be truly original. Everyone needs to shut the fuck up and mind there own damn business! It’s just a blog!

  18. Nico says:

    And there goes the drink out my nose from laughing. “if you can’t say anything nice…” Someone has obviously never been on this site (or the Internet) before. Wow. I don’t read the Story Siren’s blog but if something like this came out about Smart Bitches, which I visit daily, I would be devastated. I question whether she has learned from what she has done or if she won’t somehow pop up again under a different name and carry on like business as usual (it’s happened before). She obviously did not have qualms keeping it silent for months, thinking she was being the hero and “saving” the authors.

  19. Taschima says:

    The thing is… it isn’t just a blog. It was THE blog. The blog that gave instruction to a lot of people, the blog that a lot of people followed and took advise from. Why do we care so much? Because this is our world, this is what we as book bloggers care about, and the possibility of publishers and authors looking at the Book Blogging community in another light because of this issue is very possible and very frightening. She was completely wrong in her actions, and the apology that she wrote did more to confuse than clarify. I even had to call a blogging friend just to find out what the hell was being talked about since I don’t personally follow Twitter drama. It is a very sad situation all in all.

  20. azteclady1 says:

    If you don’t care, why are you around to complain about anyone else caring?

    That is a puzzlement, indeed.

  21. “Who fucking cares! It’s the Internet… Nothing can be truly original. Everyone needs to shut the fuck up and mind there own damn business! It’s just a blog!”

    Terrific parody response! ::applauds::

    Oh…you’re serious.

    Perhaps we could take up a collection for all these darlings who are so determined to make sure we all know how little these things matters that they have to post repeatedly on the subject of how little these things matter, and send them to a nose-hair plaiting class.

    I’m sure their lack of caring about anything that might be construed as remotely disturbing, could be applied more productively to the arcane art of nasal trichological decoration, than to attempting to tell total strangers how they should feel.

  22. LauraN says:

    The Bitchery has spoken: Plagiarism is bad.  We will punish you.  Grr!
    The Fuzzy Bunnies have spoken: You guys are mean.  Sob!
    The Random Trolls have spoken:  Hate.  Hate. Hate fucking hate hate.
    The Philistines have spoken: Plagiarism totally doesn’t matter.  Whee!
    The Wandering Activists have spoken: Your issue doesn’t matter.  Let’s save the world on the internet!

    Goodnight, interwebs.  Love ya!

  23. Sunita says:

    The irony of commenters coming to this blog of all blogs to complain that plagiarism is being taken too seriously … if it were self-aware behavior, it might even qualify as performance art.

    Sadly, I believe they are serious.

  24. I wondered the same thing. 

  25. Wow, I’m flabbergasted.  I live in Indiana, I’m a librarian, and I’ve heard of this blog – I’ve even read it a few times.  I won’t be reading it anymore – I think she should delete the blog altogether.  There are a lot of book (and other) bloggers out there who’ve worked hard to build reputations.  The fact that she’s not taking any kind of overt responsibility for what she did is an insult to the rest of the blogging community. 

  26. Screenplaydiva says:

    I’m actually laughing at myself that I said that too. It was said in the heat of the moment so was the “more important issues in this world” “and if you don’t have anything nice to say…” comment. But I’ve been on the Internet. No, I don’t frequent this blog. But I do respect the opinions of this blog and the commentators who are part of this post, including Ann’s. I know this topic is about plagiarism.

    “Plagiarism is theft of a creator’s work, deception of readers, and causes pain and hurt to both.” Ann, I agree with you 100 percent! I understand your point of view—from a reader and writer. I’m a writer too. I write for newspapers and magazines. I also blog about my books on my own blog and some prominent websites. I hear about bloggers who have been plagiarized. I hope no one does that to me. I know I’ve had people take images from my site without my permission.

    The Story Siren should NOT get away with this. Having conversation about plagiarism is a great thing. I don’t think The Story Siren’s apology is good enough. As Taschima said, The Story Siren is THE blog when it comes to YA books. Things like this need to have plagiarism brought out of the woodwork. I wonder if she plagiarized other things on her blog. Her credibility is out the door for me.

  27. SAYOMAY says:

    Its all one sided. I bet u the fashion blogs are getting a LOT more news feed right now. Its dangerous and wrong to just take one side! Yes Kristi isnt talking, but hell would u? She hasnt even started to explain her side and her roast is already being thrown! As book bloggers I wouldve expected yall to b more calm and try to understand the situation more, but yall r just like everyone else in the unforgiving world.

  28. “Its dangerous and wrong to just take one side!”

    And what, pray, is the other side of this?

    “Oops, my finger slipped and I accidentally copied and pasted multiple entries from other people’s blogs”?

    Or perhaps
    “Aliens probed my mind and made me incapable of telling right from wrong”?

    or even
    “Masked terrorists broke into my house (repeatedly), held guns to my head, and forced me to steal other people’s work”?

    “yall r just like everyone else in the unforgiving world.”

    Y’all r an id!0t

  29. SAYOMAY says:

    Well r just a nice ray of sunshine. My point is that yes coping she an issue but all this roasting is so immature. She should b held accountable, but no roasted. All of the avid book readers ive meet personally think things through and ask questions before sending hate mail. Im def wrong, avid readers can still be unhelpful trolls.

  30. Diana McCabe says:

    Interesting question. I’m in the news biz and any whiff of allegations of plagiarism would spark an inquiry. If the the writer did plagiarize, he/she would be fired. News orgs usually issue an apology from the company and the writer because it’s important to acknowledge mistakes to our readers. We like to think we are a transparent industry—even though many times we are not—and correcting mistakes or apologizing for plagiarism goes to the heart of credibility for a news org. (There are a zillion other reasons to do this but from a simple, ethical point of view this is one.)

    However, this blogger doesn’t have an employer to fire her. It’s not like she’s stained the reputation of a company or will have a black mark on her resume if she tries to apply for a writing job. But she still owes her audience an explanation—whether they want to read it or not. It’s the right thing to do. Frankly, I couldn’t make heads or tails of what she was trying to say in her apology. In the end, readers and authors will decide her fate. They could “fire her” by not reading her blog. That’s the strongest condemnation—no more support from whatever audience she had. But I think she had to respond. Whether folks choose to believe what she wrote is up to them.

    Just my 2 cents as a fan of bloggers.

    Diana

  31. SAYOMAY says:

    Love the levelheadedness! 😀 U make a lot of good points!

  32. Carrie @Sweet Southern Home says:

    The bottom line is fellow bloggers won’t go to her blog anymore because of what she did, but noon blogger readers will still visit her because all she does is give stuff away… Provided she Lewis the blog open. Non bloggers won’t care and will continue to blow smoke up her butt and give her traffic for the chance to win a free book.

  33. PamG says:

    Isn’t this the “wisdom of the crowd” in action?  Ms. McCabe made a valid point about journalists being subject to firing; so what is the appropriate response to someone who is essentially self-employed?  I use that term loosely—assuming that there are concrete material or financial benefits to being a successful book blogger.  Isn’t it up to her customers/consumers to *fire* her. I completely agree with Ms. Somerville’s original statement.  And I think that the community needs to be self-policing.

    However, I can’t help but wonder about what motivates people to plagiarize on the internet in the first place.  I work in a high school, and I understand how a fourteen year old could do it out of ignorance and/or laziness.  And yeah, they need to be flunked and take the disciplinary consequences too.  Learning comes from failure and screwing up, and Fs can be wonderful instructors. 

    But how can an adult even imagine that anyone would accept a obvious cut-and-paste as an oops?  It seems like the risk of discovery and the actual work of hunting down some content worth stealing would be a deterrent, even if it wasn’t wrong.  And aren’t you blogging because you love to write?  So, why steal?  I know that this is serious stuff, but I would love to see a thread (not this one) wherein people could post hypothetical reasons for stealing someone else’s ideas or words.  I mean people want a response, but who is going to say that I stole your essay because I am a douche-hat… or was that ass-bag?  I’m not talking about justification, but reasons.  And I am really curious about the payoff for the plagiarist.  Plagiarism has been around as long as writing I imagine, certainly long before technology made it a 5 second impulse control problem with the potential for instant reputation destruction. So why do it and is it possible to do it accidentally?  Sorry for blathering, but I wonder about this every time one of these sh*t storms blows up. 

  34. akmamma says:

    I am not even bothering to read all of this. The hashtagging aside her followers are now attacking anyone who speaks out, their right. ALSO there is NEVER an excuse or a way ANYONE can accidentally plagiarize as she did. PLUS she lied. She did not apologize and just wait, this is going to come down rolling down to us, the smaller blogs. I for one am glad I do not generally read YA but it will effect me as well I am sure. PLUS since she does work for publishers etc, she could actually be in line for a civil suit. High schoolers get flunked, College students are thrown out of school, people at work, get fired and lose their jobs. What should happen to her?

  35. Ritesh Kala says:

    Yes, but this is the internet! She can’t bring a libel suit against someone in Nepal or South Africa!

  36. I may not be the blogger who was plagiarized but being a member of the book blogging community myself, i am hurt. Its taken some time for the news to finally sink. You come back from school and you see such a post, it sends you in shock. I adored her blog. I admired her so much, that my aim was to be the best i could be but at the same time try and reach the stature she was at. This isn’t a small thing. She may have apologized, but this doesn’t just affect her book blogging life…it affects the whole community. Its hard work to get authors/publishers to notice you and you to get review requests.
    I just hope/pray that we all recover from this blow and the innocent aren’t affected in any way.

  37. Mag BeWitt says:

    You know what I find amusing/slightly disturbing? If the tables were turned some of the Story Siren’s defenders would be baying for blood, and some of the current victims’ staunchest followers would be defending their actions.

  38. Mack Lundy says:

    If anyone missed the story at this link, you can read it here, http://goo.gl/kbI9q thanks to web.archive.org

  39. Jessica Blankenship says:

    There is absolutely NO way that she couldn’t have plagiarized your work. I read both screenshots and YOU can see that most of the 2 main paragraphs are copy and pasted from your website and then she changed like 3 words.

    As a blogger myself.. I do look to other bloggers for inspiration at some points but there is no way that I would do this to someone. As a bigger blogger than myself, she should have already known what was going to happen. That she was going to be found out.. But what did she do? She didn’t address this correctly, and then deleted the post. Did she think because the post was deleted that nobody was going to find out. HELLO this is the tech age… of course they will. AND they’ll fly through cyberspace at the speed of light. I seriously don’t see how she could have that many pageviews.. I mean.. NOT downing her.. but if I were an author, I would want more than plagiarized content and IF NOT plagiarized then it’s “Hey, I liked this book”. I want someone who would really read my book and give honest opinion….

    I think she shouldn’t have deleted the posts that were supposed to be the apology and just faced it head-on. Now she has the blogging community pissed off..

    Jess

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