In the ever-so-zippy development of the digital publishing marketplace, there's a few levels of trickery from those attempting to make a quick dollar (or euro, or pound, or whatever). There's people selling copies of public domain books for profit, which is pretty skeevy. There's people who sell cut-and-paste substitutions of other authors' books, which is a lot skeevy.
And then there's this example, which I think might be the reigning champion of skeevy behavior. Also chutzpah.
Meet Nora Roberts. You know her.
Now, meet “Nora A. Roberts.“
According to mediabistro, she's a bestselling self-published author on Barnes & Noble.
Many a romance author tweeted about the idiocy and chutzpah of whomever is behind Nora A. Roberts in the past 24 hours, but the WTFery grows apace. At the home page for the “publisher” which is allegedly comprised of “renegade authors,” Southern Pied Media, there are several more books, including some by “James A Patterson,” and a book titled “Nora Roberts: Firecracker,” which features a main character named… wait for it… Nora Roberts.
My first reaction: “You have got to be kidding me.” Are people going to fall for the middle initial? Of course. And apparently readers have, judging from the bestseller placement, and early reviews that state that the reader isn't so sure this is a “Nora Roberts” book.
Yesterday, the title and author name of “Spellbound Cafe” at BN.com was changed to Lora Roberts. That would be marginally (a very thin margin) better except that Lora Roberts is also a self-published writer of mysteries.
Great. Now there's three authors having their names misused to further sales.
This type of trickery is so galling, because it preys on readers who don't know the difference or who are reading author names on a tiny screen, perhaps, using another person's name and reputation as collateral.
But what really tops the WTFery is the entry published today on the “Southern Pied Media” site, which leaves no doubt as to their intentions:
When we decided to circumvent our publishers in order to keep the prices low and the readers happy, of course, we had to come up with pen names!
We decided to choose names similar to authors in our genre.One of us choose James A Patterson
One of us choose Nora A Roberts.
We thought it would get peoples attention, but that readers would be intelligent enough to realize that Nora A Roberts is not the Nora Roberts – as there is no “Best Selling” author titled anywhere on the book nor a list of Nora's books as you'd usually find in a Nora Roberts book.
Well! What a commotion we caused.
Our first reviews were wonderful (thank you).
Then the one star reviews drifted in “This is not a Nora Roberts book!”
I sincerely doubt they read the book, because anyone who has, is directed to this website.
While we did choose names similar to our James and Nora – our intention was to draw people into reading the description of the book, realizing it was not the splendid Nora Roberts, but a genre similar at a very affordable price point – in the hopes the description and price were tantalizing enough for a reader to buy.
We decided to make it less confusing, and changed the name from Nora A Roberts to Lora Roberts – but this just created more of a stir!
We've pulled the other 2 books we had published under the name Nora A Roberts and we'll meet this weekend to decide how to approach this situation.
If you have any thoughts regarding this – please send us an email to southernpied@gmail.com
If you read SpellBound Cafe and truly liked it, please consider leaving a review to let people know it's not the authors name that matters – it's the entertaining story that's most important. At least, I always thought so!
Of course, now we come to find out that there is another author named Lora Roberts – so there could possibly be another change!
Hold to your hats, ladies, we're in for a shi* storm!I need more pie!
Let's break that down for a moment: they chose pen names using one letter additions to extremely successful authors' names and they thought “it would get people's attention but that readers would be intelligent enough to realize that Nora A Roberts is not Nora Roberts” based on the content inside the book. But oh, darn, looks like readers are dumb.
The whole entry carries the gleeful subtext of “We're trying to trick readers, whee!”
They claim the books have been removed, but as of this writing, three titles by “Nora A Roberts” or “Lora Roberts” are still available on Amazon and BN, in addition to the Nora Roberts: Firecracker title by “G. G. Raleigh.”
Have a look at the “Customers Also Bought:”
I'm guessing that's exactly the result they were looking for.
I tend to get REALLY pissed when people insult the intelligence of romance readers, and that's what I think this person (or persons) is doing: presuming readers are stupid, ignorant, or blithe enough to purchase anything with “Nora + Roberts” on the cover, thereby earning this author a quick buck. And likely it's working for the time being.
The following is Nora Roberts' statement regarding Southern Pied's question:
Southern Pied Media asks What's In A Name when explaining why they decided to create pen names that tag onto established writers. As in Nora A. Roberts.
I'll state what's in my name. Over three decades of hard work, of writing, of building an audience, of experience. All mine. And absolutely no one has the right to use my name–with an added middle initial–to try to cash in on that.
If, as they state in the blog, it's all about how good the book is, then don't market the book, try to sell the book, by using a slight variation on an established author's name. It's insulting to all parties, which includes readers.
What they did, and may be continuing to do as far as I know with other established names, is deceptive and offensive. It's also pretty damn pathetic.
Nora Roberts
Agreed.
What recourse to readers have? You can email customerservice@BN.com, and you can contact Amazon.com customer care through their site, explaining why you find this publisher to be deceitful and what you think of their “business practices.”
And, much as I'm surprised to be suggesting this as a method of recourse, there's always the reviews. Perhaps this is a valid opportunity to One Star Bomb the crap out of the books that are still available, including:
- Wedding Jynx (by “Nora A Roberts”) at Amazon
- May Contain Magic (by “Nora A Roberts”) at Amazon
- Spellbound Cafe (by “Nora A Roberts”) at BN.com
- All The President's Friends (by “James A Patterson”) at BN.com
- All the President's Friends (by “James A Patterson”) at Amazon
-
Justice In These Bones (by “James A Patterson”) at BN.com
(Please note: there is another James A. Patterson who wrote James Robinson Graves: Staking the Boundaries of Baptist Identity. He appears to be unconnected with Southern Pied.
I struggled with the idea of suggestiong the One Star Bomb method. If you have a suggestion of how readers can better respond to this sort of predatory and utterly skeevy behavior, please do let me know. I'm still trying to figure out who the people are behind “Southern Pied,” but my hope is they'll take the books down and go elsewhere, and soon.
ETA 14 June 2012, 8:15 am ET: Well, someone did something, and I'm going to give you all the credit, k? All of the above titles except for All the President's Friends at BN.com are gone. Maybe they took them down, maybe Amazon and BN removed them, maybe the International WTFairy struck quickly, but whatever the cause, I've never been so happy to see 404 errors. The Southern Pied site is scrubbed of the content displaying and linking to books for sale, and the June 13 entry I reprinted above is gone, too (I do have screencaps, though). (You know, for decorating). Seems that this name poacher is down for now – but I'm betting this won't be the last time we see name poaching as a “digital strategy.”
Some folks asked in the comments about what to do if your legal name is similar to an already-established author. Tough call. There are a LOT of authors now. My feeling, and this is purely my own opinion unfetted by things like actual experience working in a publishing publicity or marketing house, is that it's sort of like when someone wants to be an actor, and they have the legal name of someone who is already famous. Say, “Michael Douglas.” There's already a Michael Douglas (son of Kirk Douglas, whose real name was Issur Danielovitch).
So if you're named Michael Douglas and you want to be an actor, you become Michael Keaton instead – by, ironically, using Diane Keaton's last name (whose real name is Diane Hall). Part of all this is due to Screen Actor's Guild rules, and there are no similar rules for authors that I'm aware of. But, bottom line, to avoid confusion, if your legal name is similar to an established author's name, you should go by “Michael Keaton” when you publish. Got that?
Blows the mind. Do people sit around all day dreaming up ways to be putrid?
Thanks, Smart Bitches, for exposing this and handing these idiots their collective ass. I can’t imagine how it’s been for the REAL Nora to have her name hijacked by a bunch of pathetic losers. Their blog response was absolutely outrageous, an attempt to defend the indefensible.
Here’s the truth: Writing is hard. Earning a living by writing books readers want to read is even harder. Want to be an author and earning a living at it? Do the hard work. There’s no shortcut for being real.
Doing what they did? Pond scum. The tone they took in their statement? So gleefully amoral I had a Ghostbusters moment just reading it: “I’ve been slimed!”
To Nora Roberts: Your books have cheered me in dark times, modeled for me the strength of character I would like to have, and entertained me time and again. They and you are the read deal. Thank you.
Uh, that should say “real deal.” Duh.
Do people sit around all day dreaming up ways to be putrid?
Have you been on the Internet long?
It’s stunning how much asshattery flows through the internet. What’s even more stunning is that the asshats have no shame.
I told my husband this story last night.
His reply: “Don’t mess with La Nora. She’ll mess you up like Eve Dallas in the morning without coffee.”
Dang, I love dat man!
XD
I hope the lawyers shred these idiots to bits. You can’t hide on the internet, no matter how many people tell you that you can. A few warrants, a few depositions and the cops are knocking on your front door.
What I find mildly amusing: While folks are genuinely angry about the misuse/misappropriation of Nora Roberts’ name, there’s very little said about the same thing for James Patterson. Perhaps because it’s well known that he doesn’t write “his” books, anyway? LOL!
All kidding aside, I expect that the story of this company’s legal troubles will be more entertaining than the books they are selling…
It is possible to live in peace and harmony with an author who shares your name. There is another Christine Merrill out there, and she was there first. So I suppose, in a way, I poached her. But it’s my name. And I’m keeping it.
But it’s a legal name for both of us. And we are in different genres. She illustrates children’s books, and paints fabulous pictures of dogs. If there is any confusion, I’ve never heard of it. We’ve exchanged e-mails, and think it’s funny. She bought a stack of my books to give as Christmas presents. And if I can ever afford one, I will definitely get an original Christine Merrill portrait of my labradoodle.
However, if I were legally Nora Roberts? Uhhh, yeah, I’d change that, double quick.
Too bad they didn’t decide to use the name “Cassie A Edwards”
This is actually trademark infringement, because an established author’s name is her common law trademark. I know because this happened to me. Someone started publishing erotic romance as “Patricia Ryan,” my real legal name, and the name I’ve been publishing romance under for 17 years. I hired a trademark attorney to make them cease and desist. The publisher actually admitted that they knew there was already a “Patricia Ryan” writing romance. WTF?
I don’t think the people behind all of this mess will be eating any pie for a while. It’s great to see the power of the internet in the hands of righteously indignant readers.
And the story behind Michael Keaton’s name has always made me smile. La-di-da.
Anyone who knows anything about Nora Roberts should know not to mess with her or her work (i.e., Janet Dailey?). 😉
It would seem to me that all of us who have posted comments have unleashed our inner Eve Dallas and Kicked Ass at this absurdity!
Thank you Nora/JD for the thousands of hours of enjoyable reading you’ve given to me and the millions of your fans.
Great work and thanks to SB Sarah for keeping us in the loop about the plagarism and infringements of these so-called writers. It will never diminish all the truly gifted and hardworking authors who give us such wonderful books to read. Keep it up. You rock!
People ask me why I used a pen name and why I don’t use my “real” name. Years ago, a woman published a book using my real name (which I assume was her real name as the name isn’t that memorable or uncommon.) When I set out to “discover” what name I would use, I made sure it was a name no other author had used. I wanted a pen name that was “all mine.”
This “Nora A Roberts” and “James A Patterson” are lucky they weren’t sued for some type of name infringement as they readily admit they were trying to trade on the fame of the real “Roberts” and “Patterson.”
I’m glad this duplicity was exposed. I hate that they made some money off sales.
Thank you for pointing out yet another scam we have to watch out for. As a writer, I understand how hard it is to build a name and to have a reputation messed with, no matter how long in the business, is such a load of crap. The writers who were in essence stealing names should no longer be allowed to publish. It is already difficult enough to make a name in this business, stay away from scams with agents, editors and publishers as it is. I’m with THE REAL NORA ROBERTS, nothing can replace all the hard work and decades of turning out successful book after book. They are pathetic. I would rather build on my own name and be proud of the work I have accomplished.
If the name is one’s legal name, there is little to be done, but as Christine Merrill noted, one can choose to make the best of it.
“Mary Reed McCall” is my actual name, and I’ve been published since 2001 (I’ve been on a bit of a writing hiatus since 2007 but have recently re-released in e-book form four of my rights-reverted titles from HarperCollins/Avon). “Mary McCall” is the legal name of another writer who has published within the past two years.
The kicker is we both write medieval romance, though our styles are very different and our settings have some differentiation (hers are primarily Highland-set, while mine are primarily England-based) Regardless, readers have been confusing us on a regular basis for the past two years.
It is what it is. With any luck, both of us will garner some new readers who try a book by one of us, thinking they’re buying something written by the other, and end up liking it as well, different though our styles may be. Of course it’s possible for it to go the other way (reader expectations and all that), but I like to be positive!
—MRM
This is utterly disgusting and unethical. Thanks for what you’ve done to highlight this issue and for your call to action.
The person behind this is named Laura Freed. She’s previously published some of these books under one or both of the following pen names: Madison McGraw or Moxie Baker. I think she may have published SPELLBOUND CAFE under her own name, as well.
She’s also published SPELLBOUND CAFE under the name Lucy Hobbs.
As a self published author this pisses me off. I’ve put a lot of work into my name, website, blog, promotion of my book etc. Only to find out I am not the only D.L. Rose but at least I am the only D.L. Rose in historical romance. It also makes self publishing look bad. These theives made a mockery of readers and hard working authors.
Sorry for errors I’m typing on my phone with a sleeping baby in my arms.
That’s a deliberate attempt to deceive, no matter how you slice that pie. This is not a matter of Howard Stern vs Howard K Stern (both are their legal names and the HK began using the middle initial to avoid confusion in the media, but only after he started making headlines independently). These people picked theses names with the obvious intent to piggy-back on the ‘brand’ they have built.
I hope Nora and James put a serious HULK SMASH on them. The take-down is nice, but this kind of behavior needs a consequence (other than notoriety) so a) they won’t repeat it and b) others can learn from it.
This is a classic case of trademark infringement, as someone pointed out upthread. Deliberately causing confusion between your products and the legitimate owner of the trademark’s products, diluting the value of the trademark by putting out sub-par products under a trademark that isn’t yours… indeed. And for a writer, their pen-name *is* their trademark.
I firmly believe that shame needs to be reintroduced into our culture. Shame on these moochers – may they feel deeply ashamed of their behavior.
Nora (the only Nora!) chose the perfect word for their shameful actions – pathetic.
Shame, shame, shame.
There’s a similar phenomenon on iTunes: people will record crappy covers of a current popular song and upload them, hoping the unwary will mistakenly buy their cover instead of the real one (ask me how I know….).
For what it’s worth:
Here in the US, it is generally the case that a person has AN ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO USE HIS/HER TRUE NAME, regardless of its similarity to a famous person.
In the same vein, a person (famous or not) has an absolute right not to have his/her name used by another for commercial gain.
The fact that this schlock operation would admit on their website that they deliberately did this is astonishingly STOOPID and is an ADMISSION OF LIABILITY to Nora Roberts and James Patterson, neither of whom are lacking in resources to pursue justice.
I hope they do.
Ugh. If someone opened a store in a mall and sold Praada and Guccci and Coacch bags hoping that unsuspecting shoppers wouldn’t notice the difference, they would be immediately shut-down as counterfeiters. How is this even legal (when the professed intent is to trick readers into buying?!)? Glad to hear the books have been taken down—that’s a start, at least.
I’m guessing they could each bring the hammer down—- hard—- with just today’s interest income.
I don’t know if it’s legal or illegal—it’s not like there’s a writers equivalent of the SAG rule regarding names. Back in the day, before ereaders, authors used to choose pen names that would guarantee them a spot on the shelf next to a more famous author in the same genre.
This is pretty blatant, however, which is indeed pathetic.
My real name is Nora (but not Roberts), and I write under another name because I’m afraid people will think the ‘Nora’ alone is a fake name meant to capitalize on Nora Roberts’s fame even though I write traditional mysteries and not romance or romantic suspense.
I also hate the name Nora, always have, which is totally beside the point, so I’m happy to let Ms. Roberts have it. 🙂
Also, I think it’s weirdly sad that their defense seems to come down to “our books are so crappy no one in their right mind would think Nora Roberts or James Patterson had written them!”. Or James Patterson’s ghost writers, anyway.
AND the thing is, La Nora has a book called Spellbound, adding to the deception 🙁
Regarding similar names- this is where I think the full middle name comes in handy. I want to publish under my real name, and if that happened to be similar to someone else, I would see if my full name, including middle, would be different enough to keep people from being confused. Or go the totally opposite direction and use first and middle initials, and last name. N. A. Roberts would be less confusing for consumers, I would think, then if your name was true facts Nora A. Roberts. Just a thought.
I think it’s much ado about not a whole lot. Look, Nora Roberts – the real one – is famous and huge. She should not feel threatened by a not-so-veiled attempt by a tiny publisher to cash in on a name that sounds similar. The books may be horrible and nothing like the real stuff – I’ve neither read them nor the real Nora Roberts’s books – but this crass attempt is blatant.
This SBTB post admits on the one hand that it’s blatant and won’t confuse romance readers; but, on the other hand, it makes a big issue about how people are confused because, after all, they’re also buying the real deal’s books. Well, which is it? We are in a sorry state when we can’t ascertain the difference between a legit Roberts book and one of these knock-offs, especially when there’s so much admission and evidence of copycat activity. I mean, can we really say they’re trying so desperately to deceive when they’re bragging about it so much?
As far as the name is concerned, if someone shares the name of another author, let’s no go crazy. The name is as much theirs as anyone else’s; they shouldn’t have to use another. We are, in fact, smart enough to discern authors by more than just names. If anything, add an initial. That’s perfectly fine. There are times, believe it or not, when the reader is actually responsible for some thought.
I’m surprised that a genre behemoth like Roberts would bother to lower herself to protest so vehemently this half-assed “attempt” to fool people. A simple statement saying ‘Buyer Beware: Nora A Roberts and Nora Roberts are NOT the same’ would have been classier and more fitting to her position as a confident and established leader in literary world.
Aniko, I don’t agree with a single thing you said. And moreover I don’t consider it lowering myself to protect my name, reputation, work and readers from pathetic and offensive crap. I’ll continue to do so anytime someone tries to use me.
Nora
Much ado about nothing? You’re a much calmer person than I am. This whole situation makes me want to run out and punch these “authors” in their faces on behalf of Ms. Roberts and her fans. 🙂
If I were to see the books on a shelf, side by side, I could probably figure out the difference pretty quickly and raise some hell in the bookstore. It might take slightly longer to figure it out with an ebook. What about someone who has heard how talented Nora Roberts is but has never read her books? Could they, upon entering “Nora Roberts” in an Amazon search, figure out the difference between “Nora” and “Nora A.”? Probably not until they have already purchased and started reading.
Where did I say their deceptive practice wouldn’t confuse readers? I said that it would, and has done, given that last week, “Nora A Roberts” sold enough books to land on a bestseller list among other self-published authors. And there are a LOT of self published authors right now. Further, the fact that the people doing this were crowing about their actions meant that their decision to deceive and profit from the deception was deliberate. It was not a mistake.
Authors, from the multi-published bestsellers like Roberts to the debut authors just entering the market, work really REALLY hard to establish a brand for their names, to create reader recognition and to build a readership for their work. It’s harder and harder to do so now that, as I said, there are so many more writers publishing their books online. It’s isn’t lowering for Roberts (again, the real one) to defend her work any more than it is for me to defend mine, when someone deliberately attempts to trick readers into buying a sub-par product based on name confusion. The attempt to deceive is the problem, not an author’s defense of her work and reputation.
But they don’t share the name. In fact they seem willing to change it at the first hint of controversy (with a frying pan/fire result as they didn’t do even a cursory search for a ‘Lora Roberts’).
From their post it is clear that they were trying to sucker readers in. With Amazon’s one-click, buying a book takes seconds; how many clicked without thinking and wasted their money? How many first time Nora readers never did realize and thought the book was rubbish and decided not to take a chance on another by her?
Sure, the damages are small as this was nipped in the bud by the sellers—but why should an author suffer ANY adverse consequences because another author is too unscrupulous/lazy to market her books the correct way?
When the books were listed on Amazon and BN.com, if you clicked on the link attached to Nora A Roberts, it brought you directly to the list of 200 books written by the real one.
So even if a reader tried to be discerning, there was no evidence to support that this was not the author he/she thought it to be.
That’s no “attempt” to fool people. It was a direct, planned method of gaining readers on the coattails of a writer who did three decades worth of her own hard work.
When we decided to circumvent our publishers in order to keep the prices low and the readers happy, of course, we had to come up with pen names!
This may be the funniest thing I’ve read in ages. “Circumvent our publishers,” they say, as if self-publishing is some sort of underground railroad for books/authors oppressed by The Publishing Man. (Actually, now I’m wondering if what they mean is “The rights to those books haven’t actually reverted to us, but we’re going behind our publishers’ backs to self-pub them anyway.”)
Also, they “had to” come up with pen names. Had to. Right. Because if you self-pub under your own name, Traditional Publishing will send a hit squad to your house to threaten your life/kneecaps /pets/Precious Moments figurines/whatever. I guess? Wait, you mean to tell me there’s plenty of people self-pubbing under their real name or usual pen names? The devil you say!
So you want her to behave like Stephenie Meyer who never sues anyone for anything and lets people walk all over her work and brand name she fought tooth and nail for? Nora Roberts was no overnight success who magically had a big bestseller landed in her lap, she worked her ass off over the years to get to where she is in the publishing world. I, personally, am not a huge fan but I respect her and making stinks over this stuff is why. She has every right to defend her name and people trying to cash in on it.
You say it’s not “classy” but would you say that if she weren’t a female romance author? Is she being held to a higher “polite” level in your mind than any other type of author?
I haven’t commented on this post, but I find it even worse that anyone would even condone this behavior. I have read almost everything of Nora Roberts…yeah I love Nora. But I feel as a reader, blogger, fan…offended that someone would try to trick us to buy their books using Nora’s name. Sure I would have known, but the new fans would not. They are taking Nora’s name and using it to make money without earning it the right way….sell your own books with your own name.
As for Nora lowering herself… that is a joke….I say…GO NORA GO!!!!!!!!!!!!