Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Another Plagiarist Scumbag: Robin Scott

Oh well, I suppose it was inevitable it would happen. Someone has been swiping the free stories I put up on places like Literotica and StoriesOnline and trying to sell them as their own on amazon.com.

I’m not Robin Scott. I suspect Robin Scott isn’t Robin Scott. Succubus fans, if you’re tempted by “her” Halloween offerings, don’t bother. You’ve already read them.

Halloween Daily Short Story #1: Hollows Eve Succubus is A Succubus for Halloween.
Halloween Daily Short Story #2: Fuck the Flowers? is Don’t Fuck the Flowers.
Halloween Daily Short Story #3: Nÿte Nÿte Is Halloween Nÿte.
Halloween Daily Short Story #4: Red Light Halloween is Venus of the Red Lights.
Halloween Daily Short Story #6: A Succubus on Guard Duty is Guard Duty.
Halloween Daily Short Story #7: The Dance is Wrapdance.

If you also write and post stories on places like Literotica you might want to check her back catalogue to make sure your work hasn't been stolen.

I suppose I should treat it as a compliment that my stories are popular enough on places like Literotica for the unscrupulous to try and make a fast buck out of them. Still, it’s a horrible feeling to see a title, check the preview and realise someone has stolen your hard work. It’s like returning home to find you’ve been burgled. It’s not the value of the items taken, but the feeling of being soiled.

The value is negligible in this case anyway. Judging by the amazon rankings I haven’t lost much in the way of stolen sales. The nuisance comes from having to waste time chasing them off. "Guard Duty" and "Don’t Fuck The Flowers" are scheduled to appear in my next collection as part of a growing narrative. I don’t want to risk that, or future Succubus Summoning books, getting torpedoed by fans confused over original ownership or by the scam-artist getting cute on the legal side of things. I like posting work up for people to read for free and want to continue to do so, but this kind of bullshit is enough to make me wonder if that’s a wise strategy.

I’ll be contacting amazon to see if I can get the offending work taken down.

This is Robin Scott’s twitter link from her amazon site: @Erotica_scott. Feel free to register your displeasure and go all PennyArcade on her ass. These scumbags are a pox on readers and writers alike.

6 comments:

  1. That is horrible, I'm sorry people keep stealing your work. *looks down and starts to whistle shyly* lol

    I hope you get it all worked out, you deserve to get paid for your writing. I know I'll continue to support your writing. But this has me wondering if I shouldn't get into posting stories on Lit. I had/have big plans for my succubus story to create my own world influenced by the monstergirl universe.

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  2. @Yshomatsu. Hehe.

    It looks like amazon have already acted as the stories aren't displaying a price now. It looks like other writers with stolen work have piled in as well after "she" was outed on the literotica forums. These scam artists aren't very subtle, so they usually get pulled down fast (before they come back again under a different name c'est la vie).

    I wouldn't let it dissuade you from posting work on sites like Lit. To be honest, I think they're a fantastic resource for helping a beginning writer hone their skills and get noticed. The best way to show to readers you're worth reading is by giving them plenty of samples to read! :D

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  3. I'm glad they acted quickly and you're right about that con not being very subtle he/she didn't even change the title on most of them.

    I have been working on the next chapters of both my stories slowly so maybe I'll just keep working on them =P

    Btw I didn't see any post about your 50,000 word quest that you changed from nov to dec =P Any progress on SS102?

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  4. Hi M.E,

    I'm not a writer, but as a photographer, I very much understand the trouble with work being stolen online. I've leveled a tweeting accusation at her to see if she at least has the decency to be sheepish about it!

    Cheers,

    Matthew

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  5. Glad I found this. Someone on a message board I know has also been "Robin Scott'ed." What the heck?

    http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234452

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  6. @Matthew. I don't think these people have much decency. :) Sadly, they'll go away and come back under a new name. I sympathise on the photography front - pictures are even easier to swipe :(

    @Stephanie. Thanks for the link. This was the response I was hoping for. I don't mind amazon being fairly passive in what they allow up on their site, so long as they act promptly when something like this happens.

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