seriously, what are you even doing here?
postcard 25: on originality, intellectual property, and my very long history of getting plagiarized online
part i
Two years ago, I was repeatedly plagiarised by a mutual of mine on bookstagram. I then wrote this caption on a post because I thought it was deeply important (and think it strongly pertains to what I want to say about Substack or any literary platform, for that matter).
on honesty & integrity:
starting from a few months ago, i noticed that a mutual with a large following/platform (100k+) was copying and rephrasing chunks/the trajectory of my reviews, along with a few other accounts’ ones. when i talked to her about it, she claimed to be only ‘inspired’ by my reviews, despite having directly copied and paraphrased my work.
i work very, very hard on my reviews. i also work very hard to create my own voice, my brand. i spend hours on them and i’m really proud of them. and to see it ripped off and broken into pieces on someone’s review is so disheartening and demoralizing. especially when it’s on books i love. beartown. everything i know about love. the s…