#CopyPasteCris Will Blow Your Mind

ElaineA

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It's the newest Romancelandia explosion, it involves rampant plagiarism, and it's freakin' BANANAS.

"Author" Cristiane Serruya has been caught out lifting full passages from other authors and smushing them together to make her own books. "She" (I'm not convinced this isn't a ring of people, not a solo scammer) has had the incredible BAD SENSE to filch from Romance's stars. Courtney Milan, Tessa Dare, and a queen of the genre, Loretta Chase, among many, many others. Last count was up around 24. (She has also lifted recipes from two sources, which amuses me no end. She didn't even change the note at the beginnings of the recipes, lol.)

Beyond the plagiarism is the brass balls of this person. She entered her book in the RITA contest, where the people who she stole from are potential judges. She did the same last year.

And apparently, someone on Twitter discovered she sent DCMA notices to the actual authors whose work she stole. O_O

Anyway, it's been going on less than 24 hours and hoo-boy is it one wild roller-coaster ride. Say bye-bye Cristiane Serruya. (I'm sure she'll be a different name doing the same next week.)

One of these days we should talk about Amazon enabling this crap (and taking their cut of sales of plagiarized material) for all these years.

Links:

Milan's original blog post

Milan's follow-up post about what to do if you're an affected author

Kayleigh Donaldson's overview on Pajiba

Comment on Milan's blog from a ghostwriter who worked with her previously
 
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lizmonster

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I have been stuck to this all day.

Her Twitter feed is suspicious. If it weren't for the story from that ghostwriter saying she got a sob story about why Serruya couldn't pay, I'd wonder if this was a content farm and not a real person at all.

I do wonder, actually.
 

ElaineA

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I don't believe it's a real person. When I clicked on their website this morning my internal warning bells went off. It's OTT polished and professional. They have freebies everywhere, content on every SM platform. Too slick-looking by the standards of other best-selling authors not to have me suspicious. But I'm the suspicious sort.
 

amergina

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I actually think she's a real person. There's Linked-In stuff to an actual law firm in Brazil, for example.

I just think she got caught up in her own scheme when she tried to take shortcuts. Doesn't actually matter whether she did the copying or hired a fiverr ghostwriter... her name is still on the book, and she claims the copyright...to other people's words.
 

Bicyclefish

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First learned about this mess while lurking on Reddit. The post there contained a good summary and links to copied novels, including:

* Tessa Dare’s The Duchess Deal
* Kresley Cole’s Lothaire
* Trish Morey Forced Wife, Royal Love-Child
* Lynne Graham Spanish Billionaire’s Pregnant Wife
* Abby Green The Spaniard’s Marriage
* A wedding cake description from The Knot

https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama...ce_novels_author_called_out_for_plagiarizing/

I'm not sure of the books mentioned in this interview are among those she had allegedly Ghostwritten, but this bit stuck with me.

Joyce: Do you write by the seat of your pants, or do you carefully plot your stories?

Cris: I am a mix of plotter-puzzler-pantser. First, I outline a plot and interview my characters, but as I sit down to write and get to know my characters better, I let myself be led by them. Then I rebel and decide to write a middle scene that’s too good not to be in that book. It’s much more work, but I love wearing the characters’ skins for a while.
 
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amergina

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Also, Cristiane Serruya is/was a member of the RWA (plagiarism is against the code of conduct, so I can't see her remaining a member), soooooo. If nothing else, THEY have a record of who the person behind the pen name is.
 

Cobalt Jade

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I just don't get why writers do this. Do they have such a low opinion of their (female) audience that they assume readers won't know or remember the plagiarised passages? That when women read a Romance they automatically forget it after they read "The End?"
 

Chris P

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This isn't the first time something like this has happened. This sounds copy and pasted from this incident from (holy smokes, that long ago?) 2010. Sorry folks, we get judged by our actions, not our intentions.
 

Filigree

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Serruya has a lot to answer for. I hope she vanishes from the genre.

But there are two other forces at work that lead to Serruya & her ilk.

Amazon's page-read payment system is so broken it encourages plagiarism and sloppy fast fiction.

So do readerships who create the push for more books, more quickly written, no matter how bad the writing is.
 

ElaineA

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Serruya has a lot to answer for. I hope she vanishes from the genre.

But there are two other forces at work that lead to Serruya & her ilk.

Amazon's page-read payment system is so broken it encourages plagiarism and sloppy fast fiction.

So do readerships who create the push for more books, more quickly written, no matter how bad the writing is.

Amazon DOES have a lot to answer for, but I'm not holding my breath that anyone is going be able to actually hold them accountable. I've been waiting for years for some enterprising lawyer to take them on, claw back the money they've made on plagiarized works, and cheaters and scammers.

In the meantime, the latest "plagiarized" count I've seen is 42 books by 29 authors (and various other sources like recipes and Wikipedia), and Nora Roberts is not just pissed, she's ready for action.

To those publishing ‘books’ using these tactics, whether it’s hiring ghosts then slapping your name on a book, whether it’s stealing work someone else sweated over, you’re thieves and liars. Every one of you. And none of you will ever be a writer.

You know who you are.

Enjoy it while it lasts, because it’s now my mission to turn over the rocks you hide under, then stomp you deep in the muck you breed in.

To the black hats who exploit, steal, tutor others to do the same, your day of reckoning’s coming.

I swear I’ll do whatever I can, use whatever resources, connections, clout, megaphone I have to out every damn one of you.

I think she should hire the same company Bezos hired to find out who filched his dick pics. This isn't a one-person operation. There aren't enough hours in the day to do what "Cris" did. As fast as the internet footprint was shut down, they'll be back up and running somewhere else. They use a computer, someone can track them down. :evil
 

MaryMumsy

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Nora is really on the warpath. She has posted four blogs in four days. Usually she does one every five or six weeks, about gardening or baking or grandkids and stuff.

They picked the wrong author to plagiarize, big time!

MM