By Jason Boog on June 13, 2012 3:42 PM
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.
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books investigated the knock-off title: “Many a romance author tweeted about the idiocy and chutzpah of whomever is behind Nora A. Roberts in the past 24 hours, but the WTFery grows apace. At the home page for the ‘publisher’ which is allegedly comprised of ‘renegade authors,’ Southern Pied Media, there are several more books, including some by ‘James A Patterson,’ and a book titled ‘Nora Roberts: Firecracker,’ which features a main character named… wait for it… Nora Roberts.”
The post also included a statement from the real Nora Roberts: “I’ll state what’s in my name. 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.” (Image via Horia Varlan)
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.
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books investigated the knock-off title: “Many a romance author tweeted about the idiocy and chutzpah of whomever is behind Nora A. Roberts in the past 24 hours, but the WTFery grows apace. At the home page for the ‘publisher’ which is allegedly comprised of ‘renegade authors,’ Southern Pied Media, there are several more books, including some by ‘James A Patterson,’ and a book titled ‘Nora Roberts: Firecracker,’ which features a main character named… wait for it… Nora Roberts.”
The post also included a statement from the real Nora Roberts: “I’ll state what’s in my name. 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.” (Image via Horia Varlan)
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