This is a tough one to determine if the results of Lassman's experiment really show the results he intends. I'm adding the responses on my fingers, and it doesn't seem all 18 publishers got back to him. Other than Alex Bowler of Jonathan Cape, who called him on the plagiarism, only six publishers are listed as responding. If it were me reading the chapters, and I recognized the plagiarism, would I take the time to respond like Bowler did?
But okay, so maybe Austen would not find a good publisher today, being dated, and maybe today's publishers ought to be up on Austen but aren't. Grant these points. What might be more interesting is if a big name novelist, coming out from under a contract with one publisher, were to submit using a new pseudonym to other publishers.
Hi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough one to determine if the results of Lassman's experiment really show the results he intends. I'm adding the responses on my fingers, and it doesn't seem all 18 publishers got back to him. Other than Alex Bowler of Jonathan Cape, who called him on the plagiarism, only six publishers are listed as responding. If it were me reading the chapters, and I recognized the plagiarism, would I take the time to respond like Bowler did?
But okay, so maybe Austen would not find a good publisher today, being dated, and maybe today's publishers ought to be up on Austen but aren't. Grant these points. What might be more interesting is if a big name novelist, coming out from under a contract with one publisher, were to submit using a new pseudonym to other publishers.
Yours,
Rus