Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Sad News from Dark Eden Press

As of 1 April 2008, erotica publisher Dark Eden Press will close its doors.

In an email marked for forwarding and sent to the EPIC groups, owner Debra Durham announced that due to personal health reasons, her publishing house will be shutting down. Her email details the specific reasons why, and also outlines her plan of action for bringing her business to a close.

All of you deserve an owner who is going to be here, who is able to get the things done that need to be done. I don’t want my authors trying to figure out why I haven’t answered emails for a couple of days, or why royalties are late, or wondering when the things that need to be taken care of are going to get done, when the reality is that I will be too sick to do it.

I will spend the next two weeks preparing letters to release your book rights to you, doing March royalties, and closing the readers group. I will then begin shutting down all the DEP email addresses except for my own and forwarding all mail from that to my personal email address.  By May 1st, I would… read more »

Breaking News: Bill Napoli Will Not Run for Re-Election

Two years ago, Smart Bitches launched a GoogleBomb against Bill Napoli, after his comments about the appropriate circumstances under which an abortion might be performed. Our goal, to make Napoli the new Santorum, is still in effect. If you google Bill Napoli, our definition still the #1 result.

We backed the campaign of Teresa Spry, who challenged him in late 2006, and though she lost her race, we did interview her about her candidacy. Our efforts raised about $800 for her campaign, our first and only foray into political fund raising.

Napoli held on to his seat, and today I received some good news in my inbox from South Dakotan Wonder Woman Lori Armstrong. It seems that Bill Napoli will not be running for re-election.

PW: “Small House Protests Vanity Label by RWA”

From Publisher’s Weekly: Tsaba House Press is considering legal action against the RWA after one of its authors was barred from entering the RITA because Tsaba House is not an RWA -approved publisher.

Tsaba House Press, a Christian publisher of fiction and nonfiction titles, is considering taking legal action against the Romance Writers of America for refusing to consider one of the small California press’s authors for a Rita Award, which honors inspirational romances. According to Pam Schwagerl, Tsaba House publisher, Molly Noble Bull was barred from submitting her latest release, Sanctuary, for a Rita Award, because Tsaba House is not an “RWA approved” publisher. RWA subsequently told Schwagerl that the organization considers Tsaba House to be a subsidy or vanity press, because its boilerplate contract contains such clauses as charging authors if manuscripts have to be retyped or if the press considers it necessary to add frontmatter and backmatter to the manuscript that the author didn’t provide.

Schwagerl was quoted in the article “‘I really feel that this is an affront to independent publishers to try and once again group us in the category of subsidy presses and try to take away the advances the small publishers have… read more »

RandomHouse: “We Will No Longer Require Use of DRM for Downloaded Audiobooks.”

Via Boing Boing, Wired, and a wise tipster comes this information, which will make the day of anyone who hates DRM on audio material: Random House will cease “the use of digital rights management on all of its audiobooks going forward, unless the author wants to keep using it for some reason, or if the file is already being distributed through a partner that uses DRM (namely, OverDrive and NetLibrary).”

Seems Random House, in a fit of unfettered wisdom, ran a DRM-free audiobook distribution program online and found that “none of the pirate editions of their audiobooks online came from those DRM-free editions.” All the pirated versions they found were from DRM-editions that had been cracked, stripped of their protection, or ripped from CD. To quote Cory Doctorow, “DUH.”

In a letter posted on Wired’s blog yesterday, Random House explained the full rationale behind their decision to allow their audiobooks into the world without DRM protection (and let’s face it: DRM protection is like your average historical romance heroine wearing her pelisse in a thunderstorm: woefully inadequate) and came out publicly with the following statement that literally made my jaw hang open:

For tracking purposes, we watermarked all of… read more »

Evanovich/Cannell: “No Chance” of collaboration

Back in July of last year, an anonymous source asked me what was up with the scheduled collaboration between Janet Evanovich and Stephen J. Cannell. Anonymous loved the sample chapter, and then, it disappeared. Later sources emailed me to confirm that the partnership was off, as the book had been canceled.

Today’s New York Post reveals that not only is there “no possibility of Stephen Canell [sic] and Janet Evanovich ever collaborating on a series of adventure novels,” but that the “fallout may have caused a rupture in the relationship between Evanovich and her longtime agent Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media.” Yeouch.

Publisher’s Lunch Deluxe confirms the report, stating that “creative differences” were the cause of the cancellation of the novel.

RNA Prizes Announced

Thanks to Michelle Styles, my UK source for all really interesting news across the pond, I have word that the RNA has announced the winners of their annual prizes:

Freya North has won 2008 Romantic Novel of the Year for Pillow Talk.

And Kate Hardy has won the 2008 RNA Romance Prize for Breakfast at Giovanni’s, which will be released in the US as In Bed With Her Italian Boss in April 2008.

I like the UK title better, but then, that’s probably not news.

A Thank-You Note from Defenders of Wildlife

Got this in the inbox this morning, and it brought the biggest smile to my face:

Dear Nora Roberts and the ladies and gents of Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books, We at Defenders of Wildlife are thrilled with the outpouring of support that we’ve received concerning the lifting of certain ferret-related passages from “Toughing It Out in the Badlands” in Defender’s magazine.  We appreciate the generous challenge grant of $5,000 from the Nora Roberts Foundation and the quick response from your readers.  When we were first made aware of this plagiarism incident, we had no idea it would become such a sensation! After several days of answering reporters’ calls, a constantly blushing editor, and fits of giggling breaking out all over the office thanks to the witty banter of a certain group of Smart Bitches, we feel this scandal has had quite a positive outcome. Awareness has been raised for the plight of the endangered black-footed ferret, and we have made some wonderful allies in unexpected places. Though the ethics and legality of this literary “borrowing” are suspect , we are very pleased that our work inspired someone to write about wildlife, and has inspired so many of you… read more »

Nora Roberts Matching Donation Program for Defenders of Wildlife

Here at Smart Bitches, we’ve examined a slew of material since last Monday, from novels to anthropology texts to poems, and we’ve discussed authors, editors, publishers, writers, scientists, ethnographers, Native Americans, and of course, Bitches.

But as Paul Tolmé pointed out in his article in Newsweek, there’s one party that hasn’t gotten enough attention.

The ferrets.

Tolmé‘s article about the black footed ferret focuses on the loss of their habitat, the prairie, and the programs working to bring them back from near extinction.

The black footed ferret is officially classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as extinct in the wild, though breeding and repopulation programs have been successful. Defenders of Wildlife classifies the ferrets as an imperiled species. 

And then came this morning’s email: Nora Roberts has volunteered to match up to $5,000.00 USD any donations made by Smart Bitches readers to Defenders of Wildlife, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to preserve not just ferrets but endangered wildlife across the US, most particularly that species much loved by paranormal romance writers: the wolf.

Are you outside the US, but want to increase Nora’s gift? Please feel free to make a donation… read more »

The Debate Continues

The story is in the AP and therefore in USA Today, the New York Times, and various local newspapers from Oklahoma City, OK, to Morris County, NJ.

Hi there, newspaper readers. Hayadoin?

My point is, this isn’t a blog story anymore, and it’s not just a concern for the romance community, either. It’s a national story about what is and what isn’t plagiarism. Candy, myself, Jane at Dear Author, Nora Roberts and other readers say it is. Signet Publishing and Cassie Edwards say it is not.

Some of the comments I’ve seen on our site and in my inbox sent to me personally ask in irate tones how dare we, why didn’t we pursue it privately, and how can we BE so MEAN!?

Accusations as to Candy’s and my morality notwithstanding, this isn’t really about Cassie Edwards so much as it is a debate of ethics. The entries we’ve posted as to the passages that match her novels speak for themselves. This became about plagiarism and the ethical debate surrounding fair use the minute Signet said she’d “done nothing wrong.” I personally, as a reader, consumer, and writer, think there is something very wrong when sections of dialogue… read more »

A centralized document for the Cassie Edwards situation

Part of a series: Cassie Edwards 1: The First Post | Cassie Edwards 2: Savage Longings | Cassie Edwards Part 3: Running Fox | Cassie Edwards Part 4: Savage Moon | Cassie Edwards Part 5: Savage Beloved | Follow-up: Penguin (Part 1?) | Official Statement from Signet | AP Article Contains Response from Edwards  | RWA Responds to Allegations  | A centralized document for the Cassie Edwards situation

I realized recently that all the information we’ve uncovered regarding the Cassie Edwards situation is scattered all over the place. Granted, Sarah and I have been pretty good about keeping that little header bar updated, but it’s still a pain in the ass to click all over when all you want is to specifically see which books have been looked into, how many passages we’ve found, how the passages compare, etc.

So I created a little Word document and converted it to PDF to track this little controversy. It’s by no means complete yet—I’m still waiting to hear from two people about a few books they’re researching, and I might’ve forgotten to include one or two titles. Also, none of the links are clickable, as I’m working from my laptop and my… read more »

Nora Roberts Quoted in AP Article regarding Cassie Edwards

Nora Roberts has been quoted in a revised AP article regarding the Cassie Edwards story:

Roberts, whose fiction has sold hundreds of millions of copies, told The Associated Press on Thursday that “it seems clear” Edwards acted improperly.

“Given the side-by-side comparisons I’ve read, it seems clear Ms. Edwards copied considerable portions of previously published work and used them in her books without attribution to the original source,” Roberts wrote in an e-mail to the AP. “By my definition, copying another’s work and passing it as your own equals plagiarism. As a writer, a reader and a victim of plagiarism, I feel very strongly on this issue. I’m not a lawyer, but I can’t see it as fair use, or fair anything when one writer takes another’s work.”

Both Roberts and Edwards are published by Penguin Group (USA), which on Wednesday defended Edwards, saying: “She has done nothing wrong.”

RWA Reponds to Plagiarism Accusations

Part of a series: Cassie Edwards 1: The First Post | Cassie Edwards 2: Savage Longings | Cassie Edwards Part 3: Running Fox | Cassie Edwards Part 4: Savage Moon | Cassie Edwards Part 5: Savage Beloved | Follow-up: Penguin (Part 1?) | Official Statement from Signet | AP Article Contains Response from Edwards  | RWA Responds to Allegations  | A centralized document for the Cassie Edwards situation | Updated Statement from Signet | The NY Times Art Section Story | Cassie Edwards: Remarkable Similarities to Laughing Boy

The RWA has released a statement regarding the plagiarism accusations against Cassie Edwards:

There are heated discussions on various loops and blogs regarding the accusations of plagiarism against a published romance author. Some questions have also been raised regarding RWA’s stand on the matter. To be clear, RWA does not condone plagiarism or any type of copyright infringement. (Please see RWA’s Code of Ethics ).

RWA takes all accusations of plagiarism very seriously. RWA also stands behind the idea that guilt or innocence should be determined after a thorough review of all documents and sources, not based on discussions or articles found on the internet or in other news media.

Within… read more »

Letters to Editors

Jane at Dear Author has published her open letter to the CEO and President of Penguin, and it's sharp and eloquent (manishtana?). Well played, Jane! My letter to the PR rep who published the Signet statement, read as follows: While I appreciate your statement on the subject of Cassie Edwards' novels, your statement of Signet's position is certainly not well received and is quite disappointing. For one thing, the use of the word "done nothing wrong," allows for ethical debate that doesn't do Ms. Edwards any favors. Ethically, if our comments on Smart Bitches and on Dear Author are any indication, Ms. Edwards is in hot water with romance readers. She may not have broken any laws, but she would have failed my English class. But more importantly, your statement that "reasonable borrowing and paraphrasing of another author's words" is permitted under fair-use is not applicable to the facts of this situation, because our evidence seems to show that Ms. Edwards allegedly reproduced word-for-word paragraphs of written data as dialogue for her characters. It wasn't paraphrasing or borrowing, in my opinion. It was reproduction without citation or acknowledgment. Further, many, many authors of historical novels cite sources in their acknowledgments… read more »

Associated Press Article has Response from Cassie Edwards

Part of a series: Cassie Edwards 1: The First Post | Cassie Edwards 2: Savage Longings | Cassie Edwards Part 3: Running Fox | Cassie Edwards Part 4: Savage Moon | Cassie Edwards Part 5: Savage Beloved | Follow-up: Penguin (Part 1?) | Official Statement from Signet | AP Article Contains Response from Edwards  | RWA Responds to Allegations  | A centralized document for the Cassie Edwards situation | Updated Statement from Signet | The NY Times Art Section Story | Cassie Edwards: Remarkable Similarities to Laughing Boy

An Associated Press article has a response from author Cassie Edwards to the allegations that “she lifted work from texts:”

[Edwards] acknowledged that she sometimes “takes” her material “from reference books,” but added that she didn’t know she was supposed to credit her sources.

“When you write historical romances, you’re not asked to do that,” Cassie Edwards told The Associated Press, speaking earlier this week from her home in Mattoon, Ill.

Edwards then asked her husband to get on the phone. He told the AP that his wife simply gets “ideas” from reference books.

“She doesn’t lift passages,” Charles Edwards said, adding that “you would have to draw your own conclusions”… read more »

Finally heard back from Signet…

Part of a series: Cassie Edwards 1: The First Post | Cassie Edwards 2: Savage Longings | Cassie Edwards Part 3: Running Fox | Cassie Edwards Part 4: Savage Moon | Cassie Edwards Part 5: Savage Beloved | Follow-up: Penguin (Part 1?) | Official Statement from Signet | AP Article Contains Response from Edwards  | RWA Responds to Allegations  | A centralized document for the Cassie Edwards situation

...and, well, read it yourself.

Signet takes plagiarism seriously, and would act swiftly were there justification for such allegations against one of its authors.  But in this case Ms. Edwards has done nothing wrong.

The copyright fair-use doctrine permits reasonable borrowing and paraphrasing of another author’s words, especially for the purpose of creating something new and original. Also, anyone may use facts, ideas and theories developed by another author, as well as any material in the public domain. Ms. Edwards’s researched historical novels are precisely the kinds of original, creative works that this copyright policy promotes.

Although it may be common in academic circles to meticulously footnote every source and provide citations or bibliographies, even though not required by copyright law, such a practice is virtually unheard of for a… read more »