Yesterday, I commented on Galleycat's post that listed indie bestsellers, and listed the successful authors myself. This led to a lively discussion on my blog, which I hope will be ongoing, especially as one of the authors (a real author, note) is one of this blog's followers.
It has also, as Galleycat revealed today, led to a lot of controversy.
I must admit I did a double-take when I read the name of mega-seller Nora Roberts in one of the lists, albeit with the middle initial "A". And, unsurprisingly, it has turned out to be the nom-de-plume of some opportunistic author, and not the real Nora Roberts, at all.
As Galleycat reports, there has been a lot of angst in the ranks, including within Galleycat itself. Never again, does the popular blog vow, will the name of a fake author be included in bestseller lists.
Herewith the nitty-gritty of the release:
"Our newly launched list of self-published best sellers included SpellBound Cafe by Nora A. Roberts, one of the top-selling PubIt! books at the Barnes & Noble digital bookstore.
"The romance book played with the name recognition of bestselling author Nora Roberts, and has been removed from Barnes & Noble’s site (as well as our list). Going forward, our self-published bestseller list will not include writers attempting to game the system by using the names of famous authors."
A blogger, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, was the investigator, apparently after the twitter world went wild. The ploy, it seems, is the deliberate policy of Southern Pied Media, which alos publishes books by ‘James A Patterson.’
The real Norah Roberts (pictured) has also weighed in: “I’ll state what’s in my name," she says. "Over three decades of hard work, of writing, of building an audience, of experience. All mine. And absolutely no one has the right to use my name–with an added middle initial–to try to cash in on that. If, as they state in the blog, it’s all about how good the book is, then don’t market the book, try to sell the book, by using a slight variation on an established author’s name. It’s insulting to all parties, which includes readers. What they did, and may be continuing to do as far as I know with other established names, is deceptive and offensive. It’s also pretty damn pathetic.”
1 comment:
I did a double-take at that name too, Joan. I'm glad to see that the book's been removed.
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