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Saturday, April 28, 2012

Where I Stand on the "Great Matter"

Sigh... OK, some of you guys probably KNEW this was coming...

I realize that some of you aren't going to be happy with my view on this, and most just want to drop it already, but whether you agree with me or not, just know that the reason I'm speaking out on it is because I appreciate and respect my followers enough to be honest and up-front with them about my opinions.

So before I show you guys my book haul for this week, I'm feeling the need to quickly explain something: Pretty much all of you know what has been going on this past week with the Story Siren being accused of plagiarism, and almost everyone at this point has very strong feelings about it one way or the other-- myself included. And while at first I was on the fence about the entire thing and just kept quiet so as not to rock the boat, I realized as I became more informed and enlightened about the TRUTH that I had to say something. 

It basically comes down to this:  Due to the actions and behavior of Kristi from the Story Siren (who runs In My Mailbox) I will no longer be participating in IMM and have switched over to simply doing a "book haul" for the time being. I'm also no longer following her blog or any other of her social media outlets. Let me just say that this decision was NOT made lightly, nor was it based on emotion, personal bias, or personal connection to either side. It has nothing to do with me trying to be confrontational or pretending to be better than somebody else. But the thing is, that after objectively reviewing the evidence and claims from BOTH sides, I have concluded that things were done very wrongly on the Story Siren's end, and then continued to be badly handled after they were made public. And NO, I am NOT going to support that.

For me, this whole fiasco goes beyond just the whole issue of plagiarism-- and I'm absolutely NOT downplaying the seriousness of knowingly stealing someone else's thoughts, ideas and expressions, but there is SO much more to it than just that. There's the fact that the SS had taken on a leadership role in the blogging community and was profiting from that position only to abuse it. That she had spoken out so vehemently against the very thing she was found guilty of, AND that after she was found out, her first reactions were to deny the charges that were backed by solid evidence, and THEN to address everyone with a non-apology while lamenting the loss of her viewership and publishing contacts. But what REALLY, TRULY sends me over the edge with this, is that she only publicly apologized to those she stole from as an after-thought, and not once did she defend them as the victims in all of this. On top of that, she didn't give her followers enough credit and respect as to directly state WHAT she was apologizing FOR in the first place.

To me this all shows a complete disregard to everyone involved-- those bloggers who were most wronged-- and to the readers who trusted her, admired her and looked up to her. On top of that, it looks to me as though she's set herself high above the blogging standards she once so passionately preached about. This is not OK with me. Nothing in her outward actions to the blogging community has shown any true remorse or humility for what she did, and it just doesn't sit well with me. This isn't even ABOUT whether she owes ME or US an apology-- it's about having the decency to apologize to those you have wronged, and then acting like you really ARE sorry.

I also had the mentality for a few days of, "why can't everyone leave her alone already? She has already apologized twice! What do they want her to do at this point?" But after looking at everything A LOT more closely, I realized that there really had not been an apology where it really mattered OR a direct admission of what she did-- and once again, NOTHING was said initially to the ones who actually deserved a public apology. Instead, they have all had to deal with an enormous amount of heated backlash because Kristi never bothered to defend them or ask her supporters to leave them alone. She didn't even give credit to their claims which were backed by clear, indisputable evidence that she had stolen from them. In the words of Grit & Glamour, it was "a weak apology at best," because it was only made after she realized she wouldn't get away with her FIRST non-apology.

As for her excuse that she didn't realize what she was doing, well I'm sorry, but you CAN'T feign ignorance on something that you were claiming to be an expert on just a few months before. She even SAID in one of her posts on plagiarism that those who KNOW what plagiarism is are lying if they say they didn't realize what they were doing:

In her own words awhile back:

“Plagiarism is wrong. No matter how you look at it. There is no excuse… ‘I didn’t know…. I didn’t mean to… I did it subconsciously.’ No, you didn’t. You did know and you did mean to.


Plagiarism isn’t just copying and pasting word for word and passing it off as your own. It can be taking someones work and changing around the sentence structure, getting out your thesaurus and changing a few words here and there… basically taking the central idea tweaking it and passing it off as your own work.”

And now to THIS:

"I thought only content could be plagiarized. Changing a few a words around with a thesaurus, or simple copying and pasting content. It seems as though taking a general topic and rewriting it is plagiarism... It was a confusion of inspiration and plagiarism on my part."

Here is MY response to this statement:

1.) You know perfectly well what plagiarism is, don't even try to deny this-- it's right on the FRONT PAGE of plagiarism.ORG and you've clearly defined what it is in previous posts. If you aren't sorry for what you did, OK fine, but don't sit there and treat your readers like they're idiots. Your claim that you were "confused" is the very height of hypocrisy.

2.) No, it does NOT seem as though taking a general topic and rewriting about it is plagiarism-- but going to somebody else's work and blatantly copying their style and expression of a general topic IS-- and that's exactly what you did. It wasn't "inspiration;" it was flat-out copying.  

If you look carefully at the evidence, this was not a case of someone just re-using ideas or content that had already been published a million times before on the web-- she directly STOLE the expression of those ideas from people who had worked hard to have their OWN VOICE. That is plagiarism, not just the regurgitation of common knowledge.

And as for her leaving 2 vague apologies on her blog and then washing her hands of the whole matter, I think it is very badly done to just brush something you did under the rug so quick and neatly when you were calling out others for the exact same thing multiple times in the past. Not to mention-- I just was not partial to her overall attitude in addressing this. I thought she came across as tactless, arrogant and above reprehension. She covered her bases and put out the fires where things directly affected her, but didn't deem it necessary to address those who really got burned. I don't know about you guys, but that seriously ruffles my feathers.

Is it my place to judge whether someone is truly sincere in their apologies? Absolutely not. It could be that at this point the SS really is sorry for what she did, I really can't see how she couldn't be. But it hasn't been expressed well at all, and the entire thing has just left me with a bad taste in my mouth, one that isn't going away for a long time.

This statement is not meant to incite more drama or controversy-- God knows we've all had enough of THAT for one week. It is simply to express to my readers where I stand on the issue and why. I want to make it clear that IN NO WAY do I condone, approve of, or support the Story Siren's actions or how she handled the plagiarism charges made against her, and I will not be associated with her blog or any memes or promotions directly connected to her blog. THIS IS NOT A PERSONAL ATTACK on Kristi OR those who choose to continue following her blog and/or doing IMM. I'm not trying to "PUNISH" her, she doesn't even know who the heck I am. Also, I have nothing against the personal choices of my fellow bloggers and I'm not trying to convince you to make the same choice as I am-- that is up to you to decide for yourself. All I will say is that I have VERY good reason for not wanting to have anything to do with her blog anymore.

I realize that at this point, all of this has already been stated ad nauseum and we're all looking to just DROP IT and move on-- but I couldn't really move on until I had explained where I stand. I'll just end this by saying that I love and appreciate all of you my followers, and know that you will respect MY decision as I respect YOURS in this matter. I'm also honestly, extremely saddened by everything that has happened. And that's really all I want to say about this. 

RELATED LINKS:

http://www.beautifully-invisible.com/2012/01/i-think-weve-been-plagiarized-sort-of-the-story-of-the-content-thief.html

http://www.gritandglamour.com/2012/01/31/bitch-stole-my-content-plagiarism/

http://www.gritandglamour.com/2012/04/25/now-its-my-turn-for-a-clarification/ 

http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_article_what_is_plagiarism.html

68 comments:

  1. Lea, one of the things I love about your blog is that you always state your opinion quite clearly and you're not shy about it! Thank you for sharing.

    I agree with what you've said here and have decided not to participate in IMM either.

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    1. Thank you for the comment Tiffany, it does mean a lot to me that my followers appreciate my honesty! That is probably the #1 thing I strive for on my blog :)

      <3 you!!

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    2. As book bloggers we can't be afraid to state our real opinion and not an opinion we think our readers and authors want us to have. In the long run I think we get more respect for being honest, no matter how hard that may be.

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  2. She handled the whole thing very poorly. I was never a big fan of her blog and didn't participate in IMM except for a couple of times, I don't blame you for stopping though.

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  3. Wow,I had no idea this was going on. I heard it mentioned somewhere but didn't know what it was really about.So thanks for the inform.
    Lisseth @read-a-holicz

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  4. I had no idea what is really going on until now neither. I did see the apology post from The Story Siren. I thought it was short and i thought it really wasn't a apology. Tanks for the share.

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    1. Now that i have looked even deeper into this matter i think this is horrible. I also agree that she didn't really apologise at her followers or the people she stole from, she just denied it. I strongly agree with what you have said for the story siren side of the stories "end"

      I'm thinking if i should do what you have done. I think this because i wouldn't like to get into this horrible matter.

      Thanks for the share again!

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    2. I was the same way-- I read the "apology," had NO CLUE what she was apologizing for, and then had to ask on Twitter what was going on!

      Yikes :/

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  5. I like how you tell us how you feel without any bs. :) I've heard what happened from other bloggers and I agree with you; I'm horrified. I could've forgiven her if she apologized and admitted it before things went public, or maybe even after if she wrote a sincere apology. People like her give the book blogging community a bad reputation. Can't wait to see your haul tomorrow!

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    1. Thanks Julie! I agree, there were just too many factors involved here that really just added up to a crappy situation, one that I don't want to have ANYTHING to do with.

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  6. I really like this post - it's an unbiased and considered look at the whole issue, without sitting on the fence. Congratulations. If only the Story Siren could have done something similar!

    I do agree with you though. It's not even about the plagiarism for me - it's the way she dealt with it. I was shocked when I read the first apology because it was just so awful. 'I didn't do it, but I'm sorry. But I didn't do it. Please keep sending me free books.'

    I wonder what she'll do now.

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    1. EXACTLY, for me it was all about how things were handled. Yes we all make mistakes and even intentionally make bad decisions, but then we have to deal with the consequences. I felt as though the SS didn't feel as though she really had to deal with any consequences though, and that is what really led to my decision in the matter...

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  7. GREAT post Lea! I agree with you 100% I have a big problem with her using the very excuses she herself at one point deemed unacceptable.

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  8. Bravo, thank you for taking a stand. I think I've voiced my opinion enough on this LOL, but I am in agreement with you. XO Have a great weekend.

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    1. Thank YOU Rachel for being such a great role model and taking a stand in this-- if it wasn't for your post, I might not have posted anything about this myself. You totally convinced me of the importance of taking a stand, so that things like this don't CONTINUE happening.

      **HUGS!**

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  9. I appreciate this post so much, especially the part about Kristi stealing the voice of other bloggers. It's sad when something like this happens, but I 100% agree with you, and have decided not to take part in the IMM or Debut Author Challenge anymore.

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  10. Well said! I agree with everything you said. I don't know if you caught it, but the day after she wrote her clarification post, she want back and altered it. And it's even worse. I don't want to give her a single blog hit, but let's just say she pretty much retracted her apology even more. Anyway, I agree with you and I won't be visiting her blog or participating in anything SS related anymore either. Thank you for speaking up. <3

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    1. Yikes. I'm not sure she could've dealt with all of this ANY worse if she was TRYING to get everyone to be pissed off!

      <3's you :)

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  11. Lol I love your works cited at the end ;) very well done!

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    1. Haha, yes well I wanted to make sure that everyone could clearly see all the evidence for themselves if they hadn't yet ;)

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  12. Lea,
    Like you, I haven't said a thing about this issue yet. I think you have put into words everything I have been thinking since I saw all of the posts over the past few weeks. Thank you for sharing your thoughts in such an elegant way.

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  13. I definitely agree with you, Lea - and that's exactly what I was saying in the past few days. What shocked me the most was that it's not just one article but at least 4 or 5.. And she still wouldn't admit the fact that it was intentional. I mean, come on. And for me that's where she made a mistake. Denying that she didn't even see their blogs before when, in fact, there's evidence that she spent more than 4 hours on one of their blogs is just... ridiculous.

    I stopped taking part in IMM as well and I know most of my blogger friends did the same. I'm hosting a new alternative each Sunday called "Showcase Sunday" - you can join us, if you'd like to :) Here's the info

    Great post!

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    1. That's great, I wasn't sure what to do about IMM, I liked sharing my book haul but didn't want to get involved with the whole drama. So thanks for offering an alternative. :D

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    2. Thanks for the invite Vicky! I will check it out one of these weeks :) Glad you are taking a stand as well! <3

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  14. I'm a reader of blogs, and have so far not made any comment on the issue. I just wanted to say I agree with what you have said. Thanks for writing this.
    Leoni

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    1. You're very welcome Leoni. I think it's important for people to make their own choice in this and then stand by it! :)

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  15. I love your honesty and that's why I started following you in the first place! I totally agree with everything you said!

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  16. Great post and well said. I am hosting my only meme on Sunday's called The Sunday Post. It's a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog. If you'd like to learn more here is the link:
    The Sunday Post

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    1. Thanks for the link Kimba, I will def check it out one of these weeks! ;)

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  17. I'm really glad that you posted this. I haven't commented on this issue and probably won't do so, but I have been following it. I feel exactly the same way as you do. I wasn't a huge follower of Kristi or of her blog but I did participate in In My Mailbox. I don't feel that I can continue to do that in good conscience but that's just my decision.

    I think I will use the term "haul" until I find another similar meme that I like.

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    1. Way to take a stand Jenn! It really makes me happy to know that so many other bloggers are rallying together-- not in a mean or hostile way-- but just to make a statement about what they believe in. It rocks!! :D

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  18. I don't like to place harsh judgements and hate drama so I told myself to just not comment on any of this since I didn't know what to say. Every time I see someone talking about how they truly feel about this whole ordeal, they get labeled as "bullies" or as "YA mean girls" or are are accused of being jealous of Kristi or acting as if they were perfect and never make mistakes. And I am a fan of her blog, love her IMM meme and reviews.

    However, I would betraying myself if I said I am not annoyed with the plagiarism. I spent most of my high school career and my entire college career (all of it) turning from long essays to simple question assignments all into turnitin.com. 95% of my classes required it. It is drilled in me to avoid plagiarism at all costs and all it's forms and all those grueling hours of research, of working on my works cited list, my bibliographies, and writing MLA format and Chicago Manual style research papers/essays really made me paranoid about it and I try to avoid plagiarism like the plague because of it. Dealing with footnotes and MLA works cited is grueling but in the end it taught me to really learn the value of referencing. It may take time to reference people but when you can link things, I don't see the need in not giving credit where it's due. You can't steal peoples ideas. In any forum or any form. It's just not okay.

    Though. Not even the plagiarism is my biggest issue here. I just don't like how she has never been straight forward about admitting what she did. Not even in her apology post. I had to go all Sherlock Holmes to figure out what she was apologizing about and when I did, I realized that her apology doesn't even cover half of the issue here and as I research more from the bloggers who were affected by this, new things come to light. I think that if Kristi wouldve at least gone in more detail about all of this, I don't think I'd be conflicted about it but her apology is not really clear so how can a person expect forgiveness and not even try to at least be honest with their readership and tell them what went down, word for word.

    And in the end that same evasiveness demonstrated in her apology and in handling this situation is what I think made those affected bloggers come out to the light with all of this and explain detail with detail (with evidence) what happened. People say that they shouldn't have done it, that they wanted attention etc but who likes to be taken for a fool in their face and disrespected? They didn't ask to get plagiarized.

    Ive only recently taken part of the IMM posts so I don't know how to go about it but I think your idea of just doing book hauls is great. It's what they are in the end of the day. Book hauls. Thanks for sharing your opinion and your honesty.

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    1. Ugh turnitin.com. I lived in fear of that site. Even knowing I had cited all my references, I waited with bated breath for the call that said I had been expelled for failing to properly credit a source.

      "I had to go all Sherlock Holmes to figure out what she was apologizing about..."

      YES! When I read her first "apology" I was like, "umm...what's going on?" I would have appreciated her sentiments more if she had first provided me with a clear explanation, and then apologized. I'm still waiting on both from her...

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    2. Jenn~

      I had the same reservations about saying anything, but after thinking about it a loooong time, I decided I HAD to say something. Not to raise any more controversy, but just to be up-front with all those who follow me. I want them to know where I stand on this, that's just me.

      Also, it wasn't the fashion bloggers who "outed" her-- it was a few bloggers in the book blogging community who found out and publicized it. I think what makes things WORSE is that the bloggers who were plagiarized, really did act in the kindest, most discreet and professional manner, considering what happened to them. It is so unfair that they have had to suffer such abuse from others when they have not even done anything :(

      Thank you for your comments, and for letting me know how you feel :) I like the idea of book hauls, and really as long as I have a way to show you guys my books and my excitement for books, that's all that matters!! :D

      <3

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  19. *Applauds* I really don't have any new to add that hasn't been said by others or myself elsewhere. I'll be doing my own thing to display books this week as well.

    The only TSS thing I'm still doing is Debut Author Challenge, but I'm not linking up or anything. I'm just going to note to myself when I read a debut, because it's a thing to do. Sigh.

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    1. yeah it really stinks that we all have to scramble to figure out another way of doing things, but I'm sure everything will be fine in a few weeks ;)

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  20. Well said. And that's all I have to say about that.

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  21. I have to say, I think your response to this situation is the most objective and well-worded. Honestly, so many people's responses to this whole debacle has made me more disgusted by the behavior of others than the plagiarism itself.

    As a teacher, I cringe at plagiarism, but the mean girls attitude of so many was just so abhorrent that I started to lose sight of the original wrong that was done.

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    1. Thanks Beth, I'm glad because objective and NOT mean was exactly what I was going for! And I FEEL your pain-- I'm a librarian, so I cringe as well... And yes, the worst part about the whole situation was how poorly it was handled by BOTH sides. I wish it could have been different, without so much mud-slinging...

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  22. This is one of the best responses I've read to this whole situation. Your sentiments on the situation are exactly how I feel. I also want to add that I'm also really disappointed in the SS's initial request to keep the whole matter private. While I can understand where she was coming from when she requested to keep it private, I have more respect for people who are willing to admit they did something wrong and then give a sincere apology. Unfortunately, that's not how the situation was handled, which you touch on in your post.

    I don't agree with any of the bullying that has occurred as a result of this, in regard to the SS being bullied but also in regard to the bloggers she plagiarized from being bullied. I'm glad so many people are speaking out against it.

    I was disappointed when this happened, because the SS used to be such a valuable source of information for me, but like you, I have decided to stop following her blog and other social media outlets, and to stop participating in IMM. I know there are many other wonderful bloggers out there who I can connect with and who will be fabulous sources of information for me, which I greatly value as an assistant librarian.

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    1. Thank you for your thoughts Kelly, and I'm glad you found this to be a worthwhile read. I also was not a fan of the bullying, on either side. I'm glad you too are taking a stand!! <3 <3

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  23. Uuuum I heart your freaking face dude!

    Everyone knows where I stand... I'm thinking "Brunette's Book Binge" for the time being for a replacement IMM!

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    1. Aww I heart you TOO!! :D

      I loved your post as well, and it was one of the things that encouraged me to write my own opinions on the matter :)

      <3

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  24. LC, this post summarizes my feelings about this issue to a T. You have elegantly laid out exactly why people are upset in a way that is easily understood. THanks for your honesty.

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    1. You're very welcome Jen-- I'm so happy to know that I was able to word things in a way that also expresses many other bloggers' feelings on this situation.

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  25. Well said!

    I don't have anything to add - you've captured my sentiments exactly.

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  26. Wow, Lea! I hadn't heard anything about this. I must of been under a rock this week. That's awful and I am now kicking myself for posting a IMM today. I'll definitely be changing that next week. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and putting this out there. I'm highly disappointed with her and as awful as this sounds, I'm glad she has lost followers and publishing contacts for it. What she did was wrong and I don't think people should just ignore it because she's THE STORY SIREN.

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    1. I'd have to agree with you Olivia, and really unless you were on Twitter this past Monday or Tuesday, it was easy to miss. There was A LOT of drama on Twitter.

      Without sounding super judgmental, I also think there should be consequences in this situation. It's like when you see politicians or celebrities getting away with things that no one else would get away with in A MILLION YEARS. Justice should be had no matter WHO it is that committed the crime.

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  27. This post is perfect. I love that you totally get it. I feel the exact same way, and I really just had to sit down and read all the evidence to form my own opinions on the matter. I didn't want to join all the bullying (namely on Twitter), because that only drives forward the issue by making things even uglier.

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    1. Cass it makes me SO HAPPY that you read all the evidence as well in order to come to your own conclusions-- I think that half the problem is that people jumped to conclusions and made uninformed decisions about all of this, and then took sides without even fully knowing what had happened! I know that I was ACTUALLY siding with TSS until I went back and carefully looked at all the evidence. It's all RIGHT THERE and cannot be denied, all people need to do is take the time to inform themselves.

      <3

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  28. Awesome post, Lea. I agree w/you on all counts. Thanks for putting into words what so many of us are thinking!

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  29. You've said all the things I've been thinking, Lea, and presented it all so well.

    Plagiarism is stealing, plain and simple and I don't condone that in any way. But it's the lying, BS 'apologies' and lack of respect for others that really irk me.

    Beautifully Invisible and Grit & Glamour handled the whole thing with amazing professionalism and for that they definitely get my applause.

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    1. They absolutely did! I have such admiration and respect for how they dealt with such a horrible situation. Thank you for commenting hun! :)

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  30. I whole-heartedly agree with this post, Lea! I'm definitely not going to be doing IMM anymore. I don't follow her on Twitter and I won't support her blog in any way. The ONLY thing I'm conflicted on is the debut author challenge and the ARC Tours I participated in there, but that's for me to figure out. Any way you look at the situation, she was wrong. She was wrong to do it, wrong to dodge her accusers, and wrong to offer a non-apology that clearly showed she cared more about her publishing contacts then her loyal readers.

    Again, well said, Lea!

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    1. **Hugs** Molli for taking a stand on this!! Everyone has to make their own decisions on how they are going to handle this for themselves, that is a big belief of mine. As I said, I'm not trying to tell anyone else what to do, only what I feel is the right thing for me as a blogger to do :)

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  31. Lea, what I love about this post is that you've so eloquently said what a lot of people were thinking but didn't know how to say, or didn't want to publicly say. I've tried to stay out of it for the most part, but so far what I've seen of the people who have gotten involved is a lot of immature name-calling and finger pointing, and I keep waiting for people to bring out their torches and pitchforks. Not everyone, of course, but it's refreshing to see this post where you're simply expressing your honest opinions and not judging anyone else for their opinions. I think that's what's been bothering me most - people telling everyone that they must choose sides, and if they don't choose the 'right' side, there'll be hell to pay. We're a community, we have a common goal and a common love, and we need to respect each other. That being said, I completely agree with your feelings regarding the non-apology (I think she's sorrier over the fact that she got caught, and that she's going to lose her standing in the blogging community - and therefore lose free books, publicity, and general adoration of hundreds of people - than she is over what she actually did). Well said, and thank you for sharing. <3

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    1. Aww Marie I love you!! I'm glad you can appreciate this post, because I did spend a lot of time and thought on it. I wanted to very clearly state where I stood, but not say it in a mean way. And YES we are a community-- I would be devastated if that community were broken by an incident like this. I'm sure things will eventually calm down, but the weekend won't really be the same without that one, main linky to hook up with everyone else... I'm hoping to find a good alternative! <3

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  32. So incredibly well said all around!!! I don't even need to chime in - just to say "ditto"
    -Kristin @myparahangover

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  33. I completely agree with you Lea! I'm with you on the book haul things too, I'm not going to support her blog anymore in anyway. Great post (:

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    1. Love you Haley, and you are SO AWESOME for taking a stand on this too!! :D

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  34. Thank you for this brutally honest and well-said post! I completely agree with you on everything, and that is the first and final thing I will say about this whole debacle. Thank you again!

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    1. Thank you for sharing your point of view on this Kristy!

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  35. I completely agree with everything you said here! I've kind of kept quiet on the whole issue mainly because I'd rather not get too involved in the drama lol. But I read all the evidence extensively and I made my decisions based off of that, my choice not to support her blog is what I feel is best for me personally, other people may feel differently and that's okay. Like you said it's not to "punish" her, it's because not only is what she did wrong but the way she handled things after the fact didn't go too far in helping her case.

    I'm really glad you did this post though and took your stand on the issue :)

    <3
    Taylor

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    1. Taylor it is so good to know that you took the time to look at all the evidence for yourself-- I think that is my MAIN point I want to make to people, to inform themselves and make a decision based on the EVIDENCE because it's all right there.

      I'm glad you can relate to this post, it is one of the main reasons I decided to post it-- so that I can sort of "voice" what other people are feeling but may not want to say themselves because of all the drama and controversy. I'm glad I was able to write something that so many other people can connect with themselves. <3

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  36. You know I've stayed out of this since it began. I do the same with politics. However, having mulled it over the last few days I have decided to speak up. I was plagiarized last year and it was heartbreaking. This blogger literally copied a review I wrote on one of my favorite series. Even after I created a post that showed what sentence (only 1) she added to the entire review she still denied she stole it. Of course now her blog and goodreads account are both closed and I always wonder if she is still out there. I can't stand what this did to me, always wondering while typing up a review if she will do it again. No one should ever feel their hard work and words, basically our heart, are stolen and taken advantage of.

    That being said, the evidence is clear. I was never really a huge follower of SS, even know I knew she was one of the biggest. She just came across as too 'holier than thou' to me and I can't stand that! I think honestly she has as many followers & comments as she does because she does a grip load of giveaways but no real 'discussion' posts. This is just my opinion of course, but I can honestly say I'm not jealous. I would rather have followers that leave meaningful comments on my discussions that I put everything into. I stopped doing IMM a long time ago mainly because "who cares what books I bought or won"?! I mean I will review them anyways. I'll still follow her only just too see where this whole thing leads. But that's it.

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