(Photo from Dear Author)
If you don't know about the Jordin Williams/ Liz Thomas/ KA Andrews situation, read this
*Sigh* Like a lot of readers and bloggers out there I feel very betrayed.
Not just because these authors contacted me on GoodReads, recommending their books and trying to connect, but because this hurts every New Adult author out there.
It was bad enough the stigma that YA had after Twilight. All the rumors of people hiring swarms of English majors to come up with the next YA best seller, but New Adult has always had this stigma attached to it, mainly because it didn't start out in the traditional realm.
"New Adult is just sexed up YA"
"It's not a real genre."
Yeah, then people started making the Best seller lists. That didn't stop the stereotype. So then what happens? Some jerk puts out a bunch of books that are the epitome of the stereotype that are blatantly plagiarizing the other books. Worst off? A lot of people didn't notice it at first, proving to some that New Adult is all the same, sexed up YA. Which is NOT true.
Us New Adult authors work hard. We put our heart and souls into these words. We don't just want to write smut. We want something that our readers will enjoy and that we enjoy writing. Now jerks like this "Jordin Williams" take something that we love and smear it. I feel like I have to constantly defend my books for being a "genre that doesn't exist" now I have to defend the fact that I'm a real person and actually wrote my book, not copied and pasted it.
My loyal readers, I can promise you this. I will only recommend books from trusted authors. I will always keep the originality of my work (Hello who else is writing political New Adult? No one!) and I honor and love the New Adult community. Please don't let one (or multiple personality) jerk offs tarnish New Adult for you.
Thank you.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like sometimes as New Adult authors, we are yalping into the void, but we'll persevere. It'll happen.
After all, what is a good story without a villain to kick? :)
This type of plagiarizing started after Fifty Shades and got attention last year. I think what it really says is that NA is a legit, popular genre. It's going to get knocked as part of the problem, but really it may solidify what is considered NA.
ReplyDeleteKeep your chin up! I will still be a reader! And my guess is that you may pick up even more after the storm blows over!