Elle!! You seriously have no idea how much i’m proud of you and how brave you are. You’ve been through SO much, and this piece shows us exactly that. I’ll always be in awe of how, despite the circumstances, you always managed to rise above all of this beautifully and gracefully! I hope you get all the support you need from this. You can always count on me for everything. I admire your strength and courage so much, and i love you for it. 💌
I’m so sorry you went through this. Although I’m a fairly new subscriber, I love all of your content and deeply value the time and effort you put into everything! It is admirable, and a rarity these days when creative integrity is at an all time low. I do hope you keep creating 🤍
Elle, as a somewhat recent reader (I found you on TikTok first)... I first want to share how much I appreciate the effort and care you put into your newsletter. Book-related writing is so labor intensive in general, and your posts are always PACKED. What that tells me is that you respect your readers' time seriously. It truly shows.
It is absolutely admirable that you are writing this and, frankly, heartbreaking that you have to do it. I hope that Substack will take this seriously and create a mechanism for addressing it. But please know that, usually, fakes and plagiarizers are easy to spot. And they have to live with themselves.
What is Substack telling you about this? Are they looking into it?
hi petya! thank you so much for your support and your kind words. you are so wonderful!
i've put out most of the fires and don't really want to have to think or care about this any more than i have already, so i'm just moving on for my own mental health.
elle, thank you for sharing this! as someone who works in academia, plagiarism is a huge offense, and i don't think these people are able to translate the consequences in academia to a personal setting, whether it be on goodreads or substack. the consequences are close to none, and it's so frustrating to see that people are just getting away with it
i'm so proud of you for sharing this. your comments on plagiarism are so important, it is such a serious offense and i don't understand why people are so comfortable just shamelessly doing it. you are brilliant and talented, and did not deserve to go through any of this. love you forever
People may not take reviews as seriously as original material, but plagiarism is proof of value. Your post on every book I've given 5 stars changed my opinion of reviewers. I commented this, and still believe it:
On friday I went to a classical concert, and my friend told me this: "A good pianist makes you think "wow, he's so good", but a great pianist makes you think "wow, that piece is so good".
Your reviews make these books feel like beautiful must reads.
Taste will always be something the algorithm lacks, and I will always believe in the importance of curators and your work. I'm a firm believer of feedback, but when it becomes paradoxical toss the whole thing out. "Calling me dramatic, mean, a bully, “not that deep”" is just laughably hypocritical.
hi elle! you’ve been one of my favorite bookstagrammers since 2022 because of how well you articulate your thoughts and i also admire you for how strong you are for being able to overcome all of this. your enthusiasm shows through your work and you’ve been an inspiration to the whole community. thank you for sharing your passion w us 🤍
I definitely don’t see your actions as someone who’s causing unnecessary drama. Your actions and feelings are incredibly valid considering what you’ve gone through.
I’ve been there myself where people have either copied me or they’ve taken my work and convoluted it in a way that was incredibly uncomfortable. It made me want to withdraw all of my writing and never share anything again (not on that platform at least). I completely understand trying to find these nooks for community and expression, and being hypervigilant/retreating from those spaces where that drama was created.
I just want you to know I love your newsletter as someone also new to substack and I love your insta account. I hope you find a way to keep expressing in peace!
Your hard work and authenticity will always outshine them. I'm so sorry to hear this is going on Elle. Please know that your work is valued and appreciated by your readers 🩷
When you said "I wonder if these people think others are stupid or oblivious that we won’t be able to notice when our original work has been stolen" I thought: I don't think they think others are stupid, I think they simply cannot grasp what it means and how does it feel if anyone does that to you because they just can't produce their own thoughts and opinions, their own work... If they end up plagiarising your work so blatantly is because they can't even produce something of minimal quality on their own, so they'll never understand that. Needless to say, that is in no way a justification for that behaviour, and I just want to join all the voices here telling you we absolutely love what you do and all the effort and time you invest in it so pleeease don't let this stop you for sharing your work, I appreciate it with my whole heart 🤍🌷(I apologise for this long comment and for any mistakes, my native language is not english :)
i agree so much with your comment. i just wish people knew that they don't have to post content if they have nothing of their own to post. and thank you so much for reading!
Hi. You are my favourite bookstagrammer and I love that you are authentic and creative. I know these kinds of things happen. Just wanted to say you did the right thing and never doubt yourself. I love your content 🫶
OMG! I remember that person because the plagiarism issue blew up on Twitter. I didn’t know you were one of the people she stole from. And we all know she didn’t reflect on what she did, because she just deactivated for a short time and then rebranded her account as a lifestyle account. I'm so sorry you've been through this. I'm a new subscriber and I really love and admire how you write. I especially love your book recommendations and I added a lot to my TBR. I hope you keep writing despite this issues, a lot of people love your work!
she stole 6-7 of my reviews and she honestly would have kept doing it had i not confronted her. her rebranding was a bit crazy because she was like "i won't let this prevent me from living my life! i won't let hate get to me!" lmao. but thank you so much! i will!
I remember the bookstagram thing when it went down!! I've never understood what the point of having a medium for content if it's not your own. To your point, if you're not creative enough to not steal someone's work, maybe do something else lol. Beautifully written post <3
Elle!! I’ve been following your bookstagram since 2022 and I am always impressed with the way you express yourself. For me you’re the embodiment of elegance and grace. Tbh, you’re one of my role models. 🤍
Really admire your authenticity and rawness in sharing this. It seems like plagiarism (and lack of creativity) is at an all-time high, especially with with tools like AI. I think it's wonderful how you stood up for yourself, but I'm sorry you've been programmed to do so, even from such a young age. It's so vulnerable to express your words in any way shape or form, and for anyone to take advantage of that feels so violating. I can't believe people are even stealing other people's book reviews! That is so absurd to me, but sadly, not surprising.
I hope this ultimately does not deter you, as you will always have a unique voice that people will look towards (and clearly recognize, as to why they were able to notice you were being plagiarized). You're building a beautiful community, and I've no doubt this transparency you're creating will inspire others to continue to maintain a strong voice and stand up for each other.
i think that's partly why AI terrifies me because people don't think plagiarism is not serious. creative things are no longer exclusively created by humans, so people don't think stealing someone's work is horrifying.
Elle!! You seriously have no idea how much i’m proud of you and how brave you are. You’ve been through SO much, and this piece shows us exactly that. I’ll always be in awe of how, despite the circumstances, you always managed to rise above all of this beautifully and gracefully! I hope you get all the support you need from this. You can always count on me for everything. I admire your strength and courage so much, and i love you for it. 💌
amanda! thank you so much for being wonderful and kind and your support! your essay yesterday was phenomenal. sending you so much love <3
love you!!!!! <3333333
I’m so sorry you went through this. Although I’m a fairly new subscriber, I love all of your content and deeply value the time and effort you put into everything! It is admirable, and a rarity these days when creative integrity is at an all time low. I do hope you keep creating 🤍
thank you so much. this comment means the world to me <3
Elle, as a somewhat recent reader (I found you on TikTok first)... I first want to share how much I appreciate the effort and care you put into your newsletter. Book-related writing is so labor intensive in general, and your posts are always PACKED. What that tells me is that you respect your readers' time seriously. It truly shows.
It is absolutely admirable that you are writing this and, frankly, heartbreaking that you have to do it. I hope that Substack will take this seriously and create a mechanism for addressing it. But please know that, usually, fakes and plagiarizers are easy to spot. And they have to live with themselves.
What is Substack telling you about this? Are they looking into it?
hi petya! thank you so much for your support and your kind words. you are so wonderful!
i've put out most of the fires and don't really want to have to think or care about this any more than i have already, so i'm just moving on for my own mental health.
elle, thank you for sharing this! as someone who works in academia, plagiarism is a huge offense, and i don't think these people are able to translate the consequences in academia to a personal setting, whether it be on goodreads or substack. the consequences are close to none, and it's so frustrating to see that people are just getting away with it
yep! it really is
i'm so proud of you for sharing this. your comments on plagiarism are so important, it is such a serious offense and i don't understand why people are so comfortable just shamelessly doing it. you are brilliant and talented, and did not deserve to go through any of this. love you forever
sarah!! love u princess girl <3
People may not take reviews as seriously as original material, but plagiarism is proof of value. Your post on every book I've given 5 stars changed my opinion of reviewers. I commented this, and still believe it:
On friday I went to a classical concert, and my friend told me this: "A good pianist makes you think "wow, he's so good", but a great pianist makes you think "wow, that piece is so good".
Your reviews make these books feel like beautiful must reads.
Taste will always be something the algorithm lacks, and I will always believe in the importance of curators and your work. I'm a firm believer of feedback, but when it becomes paradoxical toss the whole thing out. "Calling me dramatic, mean, a bully, “not that deep”" is just laughably hypocritical.
oh wow jesse, thank you so much for this comment. i'm so so honored you think highly of me!
i'm not the only one :) keep fighting!
hi elle! you’ve been one of my favorite bookstagrammers since 2022 because of how well you articulate your thoughts and i also admire you for how strong you are for being able to overcome all of this. your enthusiasm shows through your work and you’ve been an inspiration to the whole community. thank you for sharing your passion w us 🤍
hi katie, wow, thank you so so much!!!!
I definitely don’t see your actions as someone who’s causing unnecessary drama. Your actions and feelings are incredibly valid considering what you’ve gone through.
I’ve been there myself where people have either copied me or they’ve taken my work and convoluted it in a way that was incredibly uncomfortable. It made me want to withdraw all of my writing and never share anything again (not on that platform at least). I completely understand trying to find these nooks for community and expression, and being hypervigilant/retreating from those spaces where that drama was created.
I just want you to know I love your newsletter as someone also new to substack and I love your insta account. I hope you find a way to keep expressing in peace!
that feeling is so horrible and i'm so sorry you've been through it. and thank you so much for your support!
Your hard work and authenticity will always outshine them. I'm so sorry to hear this is going on Elle. Please know that your work is valued and appreciated by your readers 🩷
thank you so much lauren <3
When you said "I wonder if these people think others are stupid or oblivious that we won’t be able to notice when our original work has been stolen" I thought: I don't think they think others are stupid, I think they simply cannot grasp what it means and how does it feel if anyone does that to you because they just can't produce their own thoughts and opinions, their own work... If they end up plagiarising your work so blatantly is because they can't even produce something of minimal quality on their own, so they'll never understand that. Needless to say, that is in no way a justification for that behaviour, and I just want to join all the voices here telling you we absolutely love what you do and all the effort and time you invest in it so pleeease don't let this stop you for sharing your work, I appreciate it with my whole heart 🤍🌷(I apologise for this long comment and for any mistakes, my native language is not english :)
i agree so much with your comment. i just wish people knew that they don't have to post content if they have nothing of their own to post. and thank you so much for reading!
thank you for sharing this
thank you for reading!
Hi. You are my favourite bookstagrammer and I love that you are authentic and creative. I know these kinds of things happen. Just wanted to say you did the right thing and never doubt yourself. I love your content 🫶
thank you so much vivi!
OMG! I remember that person because the plagiarism issue blew up on Twitter. I didn’t know you were one of the people she stole from. And we all know she didn’t reflect on what she did, because she just deactivated for a short time and then rebranded her account as a lifestyle account. I'm so sorry you've been through this. I'm a new subscriber and I really love and admire how you write. I especially love your book recommendations and I added a lot to my TBR. I hope you keep writing despite this issues, a lot of people love your work!
she stole 6-7 of my reviews and she honestly would have kept doing it had i not confronted her. her rebranding was a bit crazy because she was like "i won't let this prevent me from living my life! i won't let hate get to me!" lmao. but thank you so much! i will!
I remember the bookstagram thing when it went down!! I've never understood what the point of having a medium for content if it's not your own. To your point, if you're not creative enough to not steal someone's work, maybe do something else lol. Beautifully written post <3
thank you so much kaeleen <3
Elle!! I’ve been following your bookstagram since 2022 and I am always impressed with the way you express yourself. For me you’re the embodiment of elegance and grace. Tbh, you’re one of my role models. 🤍
I’m sorry this happened to you a lot of times :(
nikka!!! thank you for being such a long time follower & supporter - that means the world to me!
Really admire your authenticity and rawness in sharing this. It seems like plagiarism (and lack of creativity) is at an all-time high, especially with with tools like AI. I think it's wonderful how you stood up for yourself, but I'm sorry you've been programmed to do so, even from such a young age. It's so vulnerable to express your words in any way shape or form, and for anyone to take advantage of that feels so violating. I can't believe people are even stealing other people's book reviews! That is so absurd to me, but sadly, not surprising.
I hope this ultimately does not deter you, as you will always have a unique voice that people will look towards (and clearly recognize, as to why they were able to notice you were being plagiarized). You're building a beautiful community, and I've no doubt this transparency you're creating will inspire others to continue to maintain a strong voice and stand up for each other.
i think that's partly why AI terrifies me because people don't think plagiarism is not serious. creative things are no longer exclusively created by humans, so people don't think stealing someone's work is horrifying.
and thank you so much thea!