Swipe

There’s a lively plagiarism discussion here on Substack.

I had a really weird experience with it some years back.

A guy I used to know in the publishing community (who at first seemed like a nice guy but whose work I didn’t like much, but boy, could he hustle and he was the biggest suck up and name dropper imaginable - and he once borrowed a large amount of money from me which I never saw again, full disclosure for added resentment points,) started writing “inspirational” posts on his social media that had a suspicious resemblance to work I’d been posting.

My old blog (pre 2000) could get 250,000 or more hits per post. It was centered almost entirely on industry matters and the art life. He was an enthusiastic reader of that blog.

When I first read his posts - I mean my posts - I thought I must be mistaken. Maybe he just forgot he’d read the material somewhere else?

He’s perfectly capable of writing his own stuff. But week after week, my posts would go up, and then his would follow, with the same theme, very similar wording, and some paraphrasing.

Once I was even stupid enough to tell him about a book I was working on.

The idea ended up folded into his next book.

Since I’d known him for years, I really wasn’t sure what to do: causing a public stink is something he would use as a sympathy play (I know him too well).

Did anyone notice what he was doing?

Fans did not.

Some in the professional community did.

He was very insecure about his professional position and once made a harried phone call to me, grilling me about who and what authors were snubbing him at a show.

No one mentioned him at the show, frankly.

It took way too long, but finally I decided the best solution was to quietly distance myself from him. I stopped blogging except behind a paywall, and later watched him gather his wisdom and swipes into a series of “inspirational” books.

Whatever.

My books sell better. I have a much larger professional catalogue and better prospects. I figured I could take a hit over this and just, you know, get on with life.

Even after I cut him, he was still making smiley, happy comments at me on social media, especially when a Kickstarter I was a part of hit $3 million bucks.

I thought I’d already blocked him everywhere, but what a surprise.

He later made grumbly noises about how happy he was that he no longer had negative people in his life.

I recently started blogging publicly on Substack, and I haven’t seen him sniffing around in awhile.

But before I wrote this, I checked up on him. Things aren’t going well for him these days.

I’m not going to leave any clues as to whom this might be, because he’d love the attention. And his financial condition makes him lawsuit proof.

He just hoovers up other people and their stuff. Brags about connections, turns in a proposal a publisher turns down, later claims he has been “working” with that publisher, claims he’s working with people he’s merely spoken to, claims he’s friends with people he’s barely met or never met.

In the past he’s bragged about stuff he’s done to bullshit people, passing it all off as youthful hijinx.

Eh.

Whatever dude.

Good luck with all that.

He has some abilities. But what he does on his own still stinks.

Like his character.

.