Books News

Man plagiarizes Jane Austen and publishers fail to notice

By M&C News Jul 22, 2007, 10:41 GMT

Think of a major writer that everyone praises, be it Twain, Kafka, or Jane Austen. Then send the publishers query letters with sample chapters and see if the morons write back how it is ‘not compelling enough.’

The truth is, most people, including publishers, are clueless when it comes to judging great writing, and they only mimic those opinions they’ve been told in school. “Shakespeare is great, therefore everything he wrote is great.”

Wrong honey. Just check out this essay for that one. (Not that he's not great, but not everything the man wrote was such).

Reuters has a very interesting article about a man who is struggling to get his work published, and so what he did was he sent to the publishers various chapters from Jane Austen’s novels, changed the names, and no one noticed.

The verdict? All rejected! Even Jane Austen would have to struggle terribly to find a publisher. The article does mention, however, that one of the publishers advised David Lassman (who called himself Alison Laydee) to not ‘mimic’ Pride and Prejudice so much.

But now with his new fame, Lassman will be able to be published. Just goes to show that it’s not about quality these days with publishers but cheap celebrity. Just look at all the celebrity bios for one.

For more information, visit the article. Also there is a video to watch.