Sunday, January 4, 2015

Hardcover Lover Confessions (1)

So today, I'm starting a new feature on my blog, called Hardcover Lover Confessions (HCL Confessions). It was inspired by a feature that I used on my old (non-book) blog.

This is not a meme, but just a way for me to express myself and my views on book blogging. You can think of it as a discussion post because everyone is more than welcome to comment.

I won't be posting a HCL Confession every week, but I will be posting them when I find that I have something to share with the book blogosphere. They might be about blogging news, or even about a book that I might have disliked even though it's popular. Bottom line - anything and everything can be discussed. I encourage you to join in the conversations, and leave comments. You can even suggest topics for a HCL Confession. All I ask is that you be respectful if you disagree with my opinions.

HCL Confession on Plagiarism:


Today's topic is about plagiarism. I saw this a few days ago on Twitter and on another blog, The Steadfast Reader. I even commented on the blog post because I felt so bad to see how much this had hurt a blogger in our community. Of course, I always have a lot to say, so instead of just leaving an immensely long comment, I thought I'd open this up to more people.

As a teacher, I know all about how students go out of their way to sometimes use something that isn't theirs because they might be in a hurry or because they don't want to do the assignment. I also know about how so many of them unknowingly plagiarize just because they are unaware of how to credit the proper sources. This is what teachers are for; they teach their students how to avoid plagiarism. But still, it's illegal, and we teach our students that plagiarism is punishable by law.

The sad thing is that plagiarism is happening in the book blogosphere.

I've even seen that some bloggers are saying that their entire reviews have been copy and pasted and are being used by other people! That's ridiculous! Do you know how hard some people work to write a review? It's inexcusable to sit behind a computer screen and take someone's work and use it as your own. And for what? So a few publishers might notice you and send you ARCs? Many of us book bloggers are here because we love reading and sharing our own thoughts on the books we read. That's why we blog.

Personally, I've always loved writing. I've been writing my whole life - fiction, nonfiction, pretty much anything that I've wanted to write. Many of my teachers and professors encouraged me to get published. Eventually I turned that love of writing into this book blog.

Now I'd been writing book reviews way before my time as a book blogger. For me, I sometimes put hours into a review. Obviously there is the reading part, but as I'm reading, I take notes on everything in the book - plot, characters, writing style, point of view. After I'm finished with all of that, I turn it into a review that makes sense for my readers.

What people need to understand is that blogging is a form of self-publishing. Bloggers are putting their work out into the world for people to read and enjoy. I can't even imagine what it would feel like to have an entire review stolen from me. I'd be crushed.


If you haven't already guessed, I am one hundred percent against plagiarism. As an English teacher, I know I must tread water carefully to teach students to learn the differences between citing someone and plagiarizing, but as a blogger, I cannot condone it. You know what you're doing when you copy and paste someone's materials into your own post. You know it's not yours and that it's wrong.

How to Avoid Plagiarism:

  • Don't copy and paste from another blogger - Seriously... this is like a cardinal sin in the blogging world. Write your own reviews. Come up with your own writing style. Your readers will see your unique voice and take notice. Publishers and authors may even take notice and ask you to review. Dr. Suess had it right when he said, "There is no one alive who is Youer than You," so be yourself and have fun.
  • Write - Even if it's not for a review or a blog post, writing every day helps. If you take the time to write, you're strengthening your skills. I'm telling you as a teacher and as a lifelong learner, this works. Even authors will tell you to write every day. Practicing is the only way to improve, and writing each and every day is the best way to create your writing style.
  • Ask for advice - There are plenty of veteran and new bloggers out there who are willing to help. They can direct you to tutorials or places where you can find themes for your blog or even offer advice so you can strengthen your own writing style.
  • Feature guest bloggers on your blog - If you really enjoy someone's review style, ask them if they'd be interested in posting a guest post on your blog. It's a way to bring new readers to both of your blogs, and everyone gets their rightful credit. Even if the blogger declines, you have let them know that you enjoy their posts, and it lets them know that they are appreciated.
  • Credit someone if you borrow anything from them - Bloggers get really annoyed when they see something they've written or said in another post. Leave a link to their blog so people can be directed to them. (Do you see how I credited April at the top of this post? Did you know that you can find the credit for the templates I use for posts in my About Me?) If you use an image (meme logos) that belongs to someone else, make sure that you create a hyperlink within the image that will take readers to their blog.

If you have been plagiarized, April and Allison have some suggestions for you. It is not legal advice, but it may be able to help you deal with content thieves. Please visit April's wonderful post to see how to handle it.

Wow... that was a lot to handle, right? Feel free to discuss plagiarism in the book blogging world in the comments. I'll reply to them. Also, don't be afraid to reach out to another blogger in the comments. Discuss with them. This is all about getting to know more people in the book blogosphere.

If this feature is popular, I'll definitely be doing more HCL Confessions.


28 comments :

  1. Plagiarism is, of course like you said inexcusable, and something I had a fear of doing in the beginning of starting my blog. I love your tips on avoiding them and have one of my own to share. I think it's best that if you know you're going to write a review on a book, don't read reviews about that book prior to writing your own review. That has helped me so much because I feel like I now know what to write on my own without anybody's words or thoughts in my head. I think this is just a wonderful post, and thanks for calling this problem to attention! Looking forward to more Hardcover Lover confessions!

    Alex @ The Book's Buzz

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    1. OMG. So true! That's why I avoid reading reviews until after I've posted mine. There is always that chance that two people will have similar thoughts, but avoiding reading them helps prevent using the same words.

      Thanks, Alex! I did something like this on my old blog, and I loved it. I'm so glad that I brought it over to this one because I missed the discussion posts.

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    2. I love this advice. I definitely try not to look at other reviews first, and the few times that I have, I regretted it. Once you read something you agree with it can be hard to phrase it differently!

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    3. Right? If I know I won't be reviewing a book, I'll look at the reviews. But when I know I want to review it or if I'm a reviewing an ARC, I only look at ratings just to avoid anything.

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  2. I was so nervous writing papers in high school, because I was always afraid I would use a similar turn of phrase as the source material and be called out for plagiarism. I don't know if I could even write a paper for a school assignment today without going insane; just knowing that there are computer programs out there that can analyze your paper to look for similar phrases would probably paralyze me with fear and I'd never get any of the assignments done.

    I would never knowingly or willingly copy someone's words and try to pass them off as my own. That's just lazy. And rude. And greedy, especially if you're doing it for financial (or bookish) benefit. Luckily, I don't seem to have to worry about accidentally plagiarizing reviews too much on my book blog; my opinions on the books I read often run counter to everyone else's!

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    1. OMG. One of those analyzers said I was plagiarizing my own name once. Usually teachers and professors go through the highlighted material that is said to be plagiarized to double check things. So many unavoidable words get highlighted and marked. It's ridiculous.

      It's so sad to see that people will steal reviews. In my opinion, no mailing list or connections are worth it.

      Oh no! Your opinions are usually the opposite of everyone's? That's lucky for you for when you're writing reviews but sad because you probably don't have many people to discuss with.

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  3. Plagiarism has become far too easy in the modern world and it is almost impossible to know if or when your work has been copied. I've had photography stolen before and people forget how much it can hurt somebody.

    I love this idea for a weekly post :-)

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    1. It is. All it takes is a few clicks. :(

      You've had photography stolen? That's just not right. My mom loves taking pictures, and people have been stealing them from her Facebook. I tried to teach her how to watermark them, but she couldn't grasp it.

      Thanks. It probably won't be weekly, but I'm aiming for two or three of them a month. I've already got a few scheduled. :)

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  4. First of all, love your blog! It's so awesome and cute! Also, this new meme is awesome too. Thanks for stopping by my own blog, and I really like your blog! :) Hope we can talk/chat more!

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    1. Thank you, Erica! :)

      You're welcome! I love finding new blogs and bloggers. I hope we can chat more too! :)

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  5. I had no idea this was happening. I guess it probably happens everywhere, really, but I find it difficult to understand why people would create a blog and then plagiarize the material on it. Seems simpler to just not make a blog!

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    1. I knew it was happening on Goodreads, but Allison, who was referenced in April's post, has apparently had like 40 reviews stolen and posted elsewhere. That's so sad, and I can only imagine how disheartened she felt.

      It does seem so much easier not to make a blog. Like if someone is stealing reviews, what would even make people think they'd really ever read a book?

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  6. Fantastic post Erin! I wasn't aware that some people were stealing reviews from other bloggers and it's simple outrageous... I would never understand something like that, because regarding what you said about sometimes students doing it to get a assignment done is more understandable than the other situation. I mean, most of the time students (minues the ones on higher courses or college) don't know that plagiarism is a fellony (at least that what I was taught) and they do it unconsciously, but stealing a review is something someone does on purpose and it's just so wrong, on all the levels.
    Looking forward to more posts like this ;)

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    1. Thank you, Noelia!

      I didn't think it was as bad as what I saw, but it makes sense with how easy copying and pasting is. I'd never steal a review either. Writing them is so much fun.

      A lot of them don't. I taught research essays to eighth graders last year, and when the librarian and I told them that plagiarism is a crime, they freaked out. They had no clue. But stealing a review... that person knows exactly what they are doing.

      Thanks! I have another one set up for the end of the month, and I've been editing and getting more ready. They'll probably be two or three of them a month. I wanted to do this before Soundtrack Saturday, but I wanted to have more of a following before starting discussion posts. :)

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  7. Oooh, I'm definitely glad that you opened up this new feature. I love the sound of it!

    And yeah, plagiarism is just the worst of the worst. Honestly though, it's so incredibly hard to hold onto your work nowadays, what with technology and all. Call me a cynic but I think that keeping a lid on plagiarism depends on ethics and morals and I kind of think that with technology, humans just don't have that much respect for ethical lines and whatnot. The internet has made it far too easy to plagiarise AND get away with it and I feel like because it's so easy, people don't have much respect for the law anymore which SUCKS. But yeah, plagiarism is not on.

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    1. Thank you, Jess! I'm hoping it's a hit. :)

      It is hard to hold onto stuff. I know there is an HTML code that prevents people from copying and right clicking, but anyone can take a screen shot or just memorize it to retype.

      I agree. I think it does have to do with morals. Good people who are in blogging for the right reasons are way less inclined to take something from another blogger, but even good people can see something they like and try to pass it off as their own. I'm just glad there are steps to follow just in case content is stolen.

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  8. I've seen bloggers venting about this on twitter and didn't really know what the buzz was about. Thanks for sharing this.

    As a teacher (math) and a current graduate student, I agree 100% that plagiarism is terrible and it saddens me that bloggers are doing this to each other. It's tough to blog and write reviews, but the challenge is part of the fun and part of how you get better at writing.

    Thanks again,
    Emily @ Follow the Yellow Book Road

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    1. I saw it on Twitter and on one blog, but it just needs to get out there so people at least know it's sadly happening.

      You teach math? I could never do that but mostly because I lack confidence when it comes to math.

      It is tough to write reviews but fun, so I don't understand why stealing them seems to be a thing. It's just sad.

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  9. I agree! That's just mean. Book Reviews are hard work, and they are just a form of writing. It's terrible that Bloggers would do this.

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    1. It is pretty mean. All I know is I'd never do it. It's hard enough just to come up with something completely original for a review.

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  10. Ohhh.. I love this post so much! All great tips. Since I blog pretty informally if I found a sentence of mine in someone else's review (once) I would probably chalk it up to a mental mistake - (I am guilty guilty guilty of reading other reviews before I write my own, normally when I've waited too long to review the book and need a bit of a refresher) but where it's egregious - Houston, we have a problem.

    I've caught myself a few times in academic legal papers that I wrote accidentally directly quoting source material without attribution - mostly because it was so beautifully written and go stuck in my head - luckily I proofread academic papers in an incredibly strenuous manner and am able to see where the wording looks a little too good to be my own. :)

    I honestly felt like a bit of an ass on Twitter - but my intent wasn't to destroy the blogger in question it was merely to provide information to the public. Plagiarism is a disgusting thing, especially in the book blogging world. Not to mention that it absolutely MAKES NO SENSE in the context of blogging.

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    1. Right? I know there are going to be times when some bloggers might use the same simple sentences the same way, and there's really nothing that can be done to avoid that. But real, thought-provoking sentences are off limits.

      I actually think it's brave to call out a plagiarist on Twitter. It's so easy to see things and get them seen by others through retweeting. I wouldn't feel bad at all. If someone is stupid enough to steal a review, they should have to deal with the consequences. Sometimes a little public shaming does good for a person like that.

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  11. I had no idea that such blatant plagiarism is happening within the blogger-sphere! I'm personally so afraid to plagiarize that usually I avoid reading reviews about a book I'm reading, until I've finished my own review. Great tips though!

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    1. I didn't know it was as bad as it really is. It's a shame. I also avoid reading reviews until I've written my own. Like yesterday, I saw a review with all the same points that I saw on a really popular review and I just shook my head. It's sad.

      Thanks!

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  12. This is a great feature Erin. I'm planning something similar on my blog this year...mainly just more discussion posts on general subjects etc.

    I agree with your thoughts on plagiarism, infact it happened to me quite badly when I was working on my old beauty blog which I ran for 2 years. I eventually found out that someone else was copying and pasting all of my content onto their blog each and every time I uploaded. I was furious....and also that blog had more followers than mine....by using MY stuff!!! Man, I was crazy mad.

    There is nothing wrong with taking inspiration from other bloggers and working on your own blog and writing style to make it more appealing to yourself...but you should always give credit and never lose your own view along the way. No one wants to see the interwebs full of clones! ha

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    1. Thank you, Lauren! I'm excited for yours, too! I think that discussion posts are a fun way to get to know other bloggers!

      OMG. I saw some beauty blog the other day that was full of plagiarized posts! The owner of the plagiarized posts was basically every other comment, and it was insane. I can't believe that whoever stole all your stuff had more followers than you did! It's absurd.

      Right? There's nothing wrong with being inspired by someone else, but you've got to credit them. It's only right. Google allows you to at least report content thieves, so that's always a good thing. And there are content monitors that check your posts to see if any of it is elsewhere on the web.

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  13. The idea of plagiarism happening in reviews is horrible >< It should always be your honest opinion! I try not to read too many reviews before I am just about to review a particular book in case their ideas get translated into mine because I want it to be my own. Likewise, when I see a book with a cover and see another book with the same kind of image, just changed a little (for example, the cover of The Messenger by Leah Rose. Seen that cover on a lot of other books) it bothers me as well because it should be unique to yourself!

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    1. It is horrible. I'd be extremely angry if I ever found out people were stealing my reviews.

      I don't like reading reviews before a read a book because I like to go into them unbiased. I'll look at the synopsis and ratings, but I'm pretty big on forming my own opinions.

      Cover trends are a big thing. I'm not bothered by similar images as much, but I do find it annoying when I see complete ripoffs. I know right now gradients and silhouettes are pretty popular, but the ones I've seen are all unique.

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