Serruya previously blamed any instances of overlap on a ghostwriter she said she had hired from freelance services marketplace Fiverr. In an interview with the AP, she denied copying Roberts’ work, and said she had not been notified about the lawsuit, but added that she “could not guarantee” that the ghostwriters she used had not copied anything.
“My books are big. In a book of 120,000 words it’s difficult to know how many supposedly came from a work of Nora Roberts,” said Serruya, who claimed she was using software to analyse her books.
The quality of what you get off Fivver isn’t going to be high. But then it’s the brand – a la Katie Price novels, Naomi Campbell ones – that sells, isn’t it?
Isn’t text like
“Leisurely, he began to loosen her hair, working his fingers through it until it pooled over her shoulders. ‘I’ve wanted to do that since the first time I saw you. It’s hair to get lost in.’”
pretty much boilerplate romantic tosh? I’m not saying this isn’t plaigirism, but with the number of people writing romance novels, this text has to be in a few.
Once upon a time….
“My books are big. In a book of 120,000 words it’s difficult to know how many supposedly came from a work of Nora Roberts”
would the defence be? “My books have so many words from other authors that Nora’s verbatim passages don’t add much value, therefore plagiarism yes damages no.”