How To Write A Novel Without Really Trying
You've probably heard about teen author Kaavya Viswanathan, whose debut novel apparently contains bit and pieces of other authors' works.
I'm hoping her next book will be a tell-all nonfiction effort (written entirely by herself this time) that will rip the lid off Alloy Entertainment -- the "book packager" that collaborated with her on her novel and co-owns its copyright. It seems obvious that plagiarism occurred. But was Viswanathan the lone gunwoman? Or were Alloy and Random House also in Dallas that day? For more info, go here and here.
If you're curious about the plagiarism claims but not up to actually reading the books involved, Wikipedia's entry for Viswanathan features numerous examples.
Also, if things weren't bad enough for Viswanathan, Harvard's administrative board is being called upon to put her on trial.
posted by Ian @ 11:22 AM
1 Comments:
That's what I was wondering, actually. Where was an editor in all of this? Why did no one recognize the rip-off from a book on EXACTLY the same theme? It's standard practice for publishers to review the existing market.
My favorite quote:
But within the genre "there are certainly similarities across the board," said Bethany Buck, a vice president and editorial director at Simon Pulse. "The teenage experience is fairly universal."
Oh. You know, like the human experience is. I know it's only be sheer luck that I haven't written a copy of Moby Dick accidentally. Universal themes and all.
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