Blog - Pamela DuMond

August 26, 2020 by: PamelaSusan

8/26/2020 – Plagiarized Updated Color Coded Scenes

Dear Readers and Writers:

Greetings from the End of Summer 2020 — aka WTH is happening to this year? The copyright case is still on hold due to Covid-19. I don’t know when that will change.

In the meantime I color coded the scenes so folks can better see that entire chunks of scenes were re-written. I also added paperback chapter and page numbers to see how the ‘repurposed’ material lies on the printed page as well as in the ebook. There is some copy and paste but this is primarily PARAPHRASING and MOSAIC plagiarism.

The color coded scenes make it abundantly clear that Part-time Princess book was WIDE OPEN while it was being re-written. One can’t memorize all the details of a scene and re-write them from ‘memory’ or ‘inspiration’ in this fashion. Sorry — not possible. It’s also not possible that all these lifts located within the same few pages are stock or trope.

The Beginning of the Heroine’s Journey

Scene A: Beginning of Heroine's Journey

Part-time Princess by Pamela DuMond v. Royally Screwed by Emma Chase

The Heroine and Hero play a Game and share Stories

Scene B: H/H Play Game

Part-time Princess by Pamela DuMond v. Royally Screwed by Emma Chase

Heroine meets Hero’s brother for First time

Scene C: Heroine meets Prince Nick's brother

Part-time Princess by Pamela DuMond v. Royally Screwed by Emma Chase

Hero asks Heroine to be his Mistress/Summer Lover

Scene D: Hero asks Heroine to be his Mistress/Summer Lover

Part-time Princess by Pamela DuMond v. Royally Screwed by Emma Chase

Heroine meets Royal Family/Queen for first time.

Scene E: Heroine en route and meeting Royal Family/Queen

Part-time Princess by Pamela DuMond v. Royally Screwed by Emma Chase

Heroine tries on Clothes/Goes to Royal Party

Scene F: Heroine Tries on Clothes/Royal Party

Part-time Princess by Pamela DuMond v. Royally Screwed by Emma Chase

Heroine goes to Club with Royal

Scene G: Club Scene

Part-time Princess by Pamela DuMond v. Royally Screwed by Emma Chase

Hero returns for Heroine at her Foodie Work Place

Scene H: H runs back to Heroine

Part-time Princess by Pamela DuMond v. Royally Screwed by Emma Chase

PLEASE — share these blog posts with your writer/author friends. Get the word out! Big Pub is repurposing my book and selling the bastardized version EVERYWHERE. You know I’m not the only author that Big Pub is taking from. Stick up for your copyright people, or you can kiss it goodbye.

I’ll continue to blog and add more information when I can. Writer pals encouraged me to do a Go Fund Me to defray some of my legal bills which are substantial. Donate if you can, share the Go Fund Me page, share the graphs. https://www.gofundme.com/f/big-pub-amp-authors-stop-repurposing-our-books

And thanks as always for all your help. Thanks for believing that words are sacred. That my books are my books and your books are your books. And that we should all respect boundaries as well as our fellow writers — not be OPPORTUNISTIC and re-write others’ books WITHOUT their consent. ,

Stay safe and healthy!

Pam

August 4, 2020 by: PamelaSusan

8/4/2020 Update – MORE Royally Horrified Side by Sides

In October 2019 I sued Emma Chase, S&S, and EverAfter for Copyright Infringement.

My book — PART-TIME PRINCESS — was repurposed as ROYALLY SCREWED by Emma Chase. Royally Screwed hit the NYT Bestseller list. It won best Audible of the Year in Romance in 2016, Passionflix optioned movie rights, foreign rights sold in multiple countries. They sold Royally Screwed EVERYWHERE.

Small Problem

Part-time Princess is not theirs for the taking. My book is NOT in the public domain.

Part-time Princess is copyrighted. Emma Chase and S&S and EverAfter NEVER licensed my book from me. They TOOK it, re-wrote it, and repurposed it without my consent. Chase and Big Pub’s lawyers argue everything they repurposed is ‘allowed.’ Here’s a SAMPLE of what they are saying is allowed.

PART-TIME PRINCESS >> re-written as >> ROYALLY SCREWED **

Follow Page #s. Kindle Percentages. Follow the CLUSTERS.

Here’s another problem.

There’s no way all this overlap in all these patterns could have happened due to ‘Inspiration’ ‘Trope’, or ‘Stock.’ It is logistically impossible. My book was WIDE OPEN while it was being re-written. Tell me again why they’re allowed to take my book??

Do you think I am the ONLY person Big Pub is re-purposing?

It’s time to stand up for your copyright, people. If we let bigger author brands and Big Publishing repurpose our books — we can kiss copyright goodbye as it will be meaningless.

The Lawsuit is still on hold due to Covid pandemic. I’ll continue to blog and add more information when I can. Writer pals encouraged me to do a Go Fund Me to defray some of my legal bills which are substantial. Donate if you can, share the Go Fund Me page, share the graphs. https://www.gofundme.com/f/big-pub-amp-authors-stop-repurposing-our-books

Part-time Princess	Role/Details	Royally Screwed	RS Role/Details	Details
Prince Nicholas Frederick Timmel	Hero	Prince Nicholas Arthur Frederick Edward of Pembrook	Hero
Lady Esmeralda	Good friend to Heroine	Lady Esmerelda	Good friend to Hero
Lucy ‘Lucille’ Trabbicio–	Heroine	Lady Lucy ‘Lucille’ Deringer	Villainess
MadDog Bar	Bar where Heroine works/hangs out	Horny Goat Pub	Bar where Hero hangs out	Name construction -- Adjective + Animal + Bar
Lizzie	Nickname that Prince Nicholas calls Heroine	Livvy	Nickname that Prince Nicholas calls Heroine	SIMILAR: Li+zz +ie, Li+vv +y
David Billingsley	Owner of Penthouse	David	Penthouse's butler
Tomas	Royal Security Guard	Tommy	Royal Security Guard	SAME: name and occupation
Mark Whitford	Mean boss who threatens the heroine financially	Stan Marksum of Wilford	Mean bill collector who threatens the heroine	SIMILAR names and traits
Lady Joan Brady, a Barrister	A red-headed, close friend of the Heroine, works as a Barrister	Earl Simon Barrister, a copper-headed, close friend of the Hero,	Works at Barrister’s Department Store	Noble title + hair color + close friend + “Barrister”
Alida	BFF to Heroine back home in Chicago A + li + consonant + a	Ellie	BFF to Heroine back home in NYC E + consonant + li + e	BFF to Heroine Similar name construction. Alida spouts off in Spanish because she is LATINA
Cristoph	A handsome man - Prince Cristoph	Christopher	A handsome man - Queen's secretary
Arty	Patron at Heroine's bar	Marty	Helper at Heroine's coffee shop
Marie Callendar's, Beyoncé, Brad Pitt, Kardashian, Linda Blair and The Exorcist, James Bond, Jeopardy	Brands	Marie Callendar's, Beyoncé, Brad Pitt, Kardashian, Linda Blair and The Exorcist, James Bond, Jeopardy	Brands

Thank you.

Stay safe. Be Happy.

With gratitude,

Pamela DuMond

July 23, 2020 by: PamelaSusan

Royally Horrified CRI Lawsuit: Side-by-side Comparisons – 7/23/2020

In October 2019 I sued Emma Chase,

EverAfter Romance, and Simon and Schuster for

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

of my book Part-time Princess and repurposing it into Royally Screwed.

Part-time Princess is the ‘PG-13’ royal romantic comedy that I wrote and published 7/28/14 after my mom got sick and died. Royally Screwed by Emma Chase published over two years later on 10/16/16. I first blogged about it in ROYALLY HORRIFIED.

I’m adding more side by side comparison graphs displaying overlap between the books. In addition to the Kindle Percentages used to mark the overlap I’m also updating the graphs with

Chapter and page numbers taken from the paper books.

I’m doing this to give readers a few different options to keep track of all the lifts.

Please look at all the re-written material in the above chart, then look at the page numbers. You will see the repurposed material lies in close proximity — a CLUSTER. This is not ‘coincidence.’ This is not ‘inspiration.’ Part-time Princess was WIDE OPEN while it was being repurposed.

PLAGIARISM isn’t just ‘Copy & Paste.’

There are varying types of plagiarism. An article by Raimo Streefkirk on Scribbr explains the various types of plagiarism. What was done to my book is primarily Mosaic plagiarism although there is some Copy & Paste.

“Verbatim Plagiarism – (copy & paste)

“If the structure and the majority of the words are the same as in the original, then it is verbatim plagiarism, even if you delete or change a couple of words here and there.”

Mosaic Plagiarism (Patchwork plagiarism)

“means copying phrases, passages and ideas from different sources and putting them together to create a new text. This includes slightly rephrasing passages while keeping many of the same words and structure as the original.

This type of plagiarism requires a little more effort and is more insidious than just copying and pasting from a source, but plagiarism checkers like Turnitin can still easily detect it.”“Types of Plagiarism” by Raimo Streefkirk – Jan. 17, 2018 – updated Jan 14, 2020

https://www.scribbr.com/plagiarism/types-of-plagiarism/?fbclid=IwAR2QT46_Pp71_x42disEYEt1xjUbo5g4VnZC9ulwjE6TTtqntvVau-IIOrA

My book was re-written and re-purposed without my consent. Part-time Princess is NOT in public domain, nor is it free for the taking. Ms. Chase NEVER licensed Part-time Princess.

My book is not a royal romance ‘STARTER KIT.’

My book is not something you can buy, download, move scenes about, flip sentences, making it easy peasy for an opportunistic author to skip the part about creating a world, a plot, a hero, heroine, and side characters. Instead that author can concentrate on writing over my story with RHYMING words, SEX, and ADVERBS.

Here’s a newly published (7/23/2020) sequence of overlap between Part-time Princess and Royally Screwed. This is close to ‘The End’ in both books.

A Scene close to the end of both books where the Heroine has returned to her home town in the States.

The Hero professes his love for her and travels from his foreign county to her place of employment — a bar/restaurant to win her heart.

I’ll be updating the blog more frequently.

What I’ve shared is the tip of the iceberg. I’ll be adding a blog page with primarily just the graphs of the overlap I have made public. I’ll be adding Chapter and page numbers taken from the paperbacks. I’ll be adding additional information that I am allowed to share. Please understand that as much as I’d love to share everything — I’m just not allowed to do that. That’s how litigation works.

Please remember that both myself and Ms. Chase are real people living real lives. Try not to bully or bash either of us on social media. That’s not cool and that’s not going to solve this problem.

Besides — I can’t help but wonder if someone gave Ms. Chase BAD ADVICE…

If you are at all inclined — please contribute or share my Go Fund Me. Litigation isn’t cheap. I’d appreciate any help you are comfortable giving. https://www.gofundme.com/f/big-pub-amp-authors-stop-repurposing-our-books

As always — thank you to those people that have been so kind to me during this process. The re-purposing of my book has gutted me.

A bigger brand author re-wrote my book without my consent. Big Pub and the author have repurposed the copy/derivative work EVERYWHERE. Do you think I’m the only Indie Author that Big Pub is doing this too?

We need to stick up for ourselves and our works or “copyright” won’t mean a thing.

Pam DuMond

July 14, 2020 by: PamelaSusan

Royally Horrified: Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

7/14/2020

Dear Book Lovers:

In October 2019 I filed a

Copyright Infringement Lawsuit against EMMA CHASE,

S & S, and EverAfter for repurposing my PG-13 royal rom-com Part-time Princess as erotic royal rom-com Royally Screwed.

I’m a USA Today Bestselling Indie author of over twenty-five romance and mystery novels. I wrote Part-time Princess (PTP) when my mother got sick and published it July 28, 2014 after she died. Royally Screwed (RS) published October 16, 2016– over 2 years after my book published. I tried repeatedly to settle this out of court but my efforts were rebuffed.

The stories feature same/similar names, characters, brands, scenes, plot points, jokes, and sentences.

Initially I graphed the overlap between Part-time Princess (PTP) and Royally Screwed (RS) the traditional way — chapters and page numbers. Then I realized that evaluating from paperbacks was ridiculous – the fonts were different, book dimensions, layout– all different.

I ran the books through Plagiarism software.

I followed the hits, found more similarities, and graphed them using Kindle Percentages and Kindle Locations found in Kindle e-books. For the sake of simplicity I used the K% here.

Side-by-side Comparisons

Ms. Chase’s and Big Publishing’s attorneys claim that all overlap between the books is allowed. They argue that the similarities can be chalked up to “stock characters” and “trope.” A few examples:

Ms. Chase’s and Big Publishing’s attorneys also claim that overlap between the books is random. But much of the re-purposed text is arranged in CLUSTERS and PATTERNS. This suggests entire scenes were re-written.

Look at how the Kindle Percentages line up next to the text. Does this look random? Or does this look like my book — Part-time Princess — was wide open while it was being re-purposed as Royally Screwed?

Part-time Princess tells the story of Lucy a/k/a Lizzy, a down on her luck waitress at a Chicago Bar. She takes a job – only meant to last a few weeks in the summer — impersonating a royal lady and meets handsome, cocky Prince Nicholas on the plane to fictitious European country of Fredonia. She falls in love with Nick and ultimately gets engaged to him back in Chicago.

Royally Screwed tells the ‘stories’ of handsome cocky Prince Nicholas and of Olivia a/k/a Livvy, a down on her luck waitress at Amelia’s Coffee Shop in NYC. She meets Prince Nicholas in NYC and travels with him for the summer to the fictional European country of Wessco. He proclaims his love for her back in NYC at Amelia’s and she ultimately marries him.

Stop Re-purposing my Book!

Royally Screwed hit the NYT Bestseller list and won Best Audible of the Year in Romance 2016. It spawned multiple derivative titles. Foreign rights sold to Germany, Italy, France, and more. It was optioned by PASSIONFLIX for Film/TV in 2017 and — according to their recent Passionpod Interview with Ms. Chase — is still on their docket of books to be filmed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnQ54Q4pxZk

Defense attorneys claim that even though both books are royal romances – they do not have “substantial similarity” because Royally Screwed—is more of a “bodice ripper” than Part-time Princess.

Before her book “Tangled” sold to Omnific and S&S — to the best of my knowledge — Emma Chase had a background writing Fan Fiction. It’s also worth noting in RS Acknowledgments Ms. Chase states,

“[i]t’s not always easy coming up with a new story idea. . . But sometimes, inspiration takes a holiday, leaving a writer to flounder with the question: What am I going to do next?. . . .”
Emma Chase– Royally Screwed Acknowledgments

But Part-time Princess isn’t public domain, nor is it free for the taking. I’ve never authorized ANYONE to write ‘Fan Fiction’ of my books. I’ve never licensed Part-time Princess to Ms. Chase, S&S, or EverAfter. They do NOT have my permission to copy and re-write my book, twist paragraphs, flip-flop sentences, and/or publish derivative titles.

Yet, they not only re-purposed Part-time Princess— they continue to sell the repurposed version(s) – EVERYWHERE. (FWIW – the graphs I included in this blog post are the tip of the iceberg.)

How you can help

How would you feel if Big Pub and opportunistic authors re-purposed your books? I bet you’d feel like I do — DEVASTATED.

Please help me send a message to Big Pub and opportunistic authors that repurposing others’ books is NOT OKAY. Indie authors and their books are NOT the local ‘Mom & Pop’ convenience store for them to browse when “inspiration takes a holiday…”

Writer pals encouraged me to do a Go Fund Me to defray some of my legal bills which are substantial. Donate if you can, share the Go Fund Me page, share the graphs. https://www.gofundme.com/f/big-pub-amp-authors-stop-repurposing-our-books

Links to press about the case are on the GFM.

Please don’t trash Ms. Chase or me on social media. Bullying doesn’t solve problems — it just creates more. Besides — I can’t help but wonder if someone gave Ms. Chase bad advice…

What’s next?

The case was put on hold due to Covid-19. I plan to be blogging and releasing more graphs and similarities in the next few weeks. I’ll keep you updated should I hear of anything.

I love being an author. I love our book community. Let’s work together to make our book community a safer place for both writers and readers.

Thank you so very much for your kindness.

Pamela DuMond

November 8, 2018 by: PamelaSusan

21st Century Courtesan Dark Romance Release

November 2018

Dear Readers:

Many of you know me for my rom-coms like The Client, Part-time Princess, or the light-hearted Annie Graceland mysteries. If you’ve read any of my Mortal Beloved time travel books, you know I’ve always been a fan of thrillers.

I’m so excited to share 21st CENTURY COURTESAN-– dark romance and psychological thriller. #21stCenturyCourtesan is a sexy, addictive series filled with love, lust, family loyalty, deceit, and revenge.

——

“…breath-taking, beautiful, and brilliant. A must-read…” USA Today bestselling author Maggie Mar

“Chapter 1 made me cry, Chapter 4 made my heart skip a beat…” A. Reviewer

“I read this story in one seating and now I am pounding on author Pamela’s door, begging for the next one.” Catty Jane Book Lovers.

DESCRIPTION:

I’m a 21st Century Courtesan, the most coveted escort in Chicago.

Beautiful, broken men pay Ma Maison Agency ungodly sums of money to be with me because I’m empathic: I feel their emotions in my body. I track down the bitter belief that broke them and then I help them heal. The work is brutal enough but now someone’s stalking me.

I’ve made enough money to support my family and I’m getting the hell out. I’m down to my last four clients. One wants to play me. One wants to buy me. One wants to marry me. And one wants to murder me. Can I can get out in time…

——

PLAYER #1 When Dylan McAlister, beautiful, broken tycoon hires Evie, her empathic ability returns with a fury. Can she help him heal? Or will she break him like the first boy she fell in love with…

★ ★

Start the series FREE!

TYCOON: A 21^stCentury Courtesan FREE Prologue

——

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JMQGJ8F

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tycoon-8

Apple Books: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1438793997

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=ilt0DwAAQBAJ

B&N:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tycoon-pamela-dumond/1129776153?ean=2940161921579

★★

PLAYER: 21^stCentury Courtesan #1 publishes Friday November 9, 2018. I’m so excited to share this dark, sexy world with you.

Order PLAYER here:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JQ3J9TR/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4

Apple Books: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/player/id1438812290?mt=11

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/player-13

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/player-pamela-dumond/1129804255?ean=2940161834428

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Pamela_DuMond_PLAYER?id=5oF1DwAAQBAJ&hl=en

★★

Check out Pamela DuMond Author FB page. If you’re interested in reading ARCs of Pam’s books and getting the good news first — please ask to join Pamela DuMond’s Dirty Darlings FB group.

Happy reading!

Pamela DuMond

September 18, 2017 by: PamelaSusan

Meet… THE CLIENT: A Playing Dirty Rom-Com

Meet

THE CLIENT

A Playing Dirty Rom-Com

USA Today Bestselling author

Pamela DuMond

The Client

Description:

Charlotte: I was an assistant at a Matchmaking Agency living on Insta-Ramen, hope, and dreams. How was it possible I that I made a love match that resulted in the society marriage of the year? Now I attended the wedding reception, basking in fine Champagne and decadent elegance.

Joe: As heir to the Delacroix dynasty, I avoided society affairs like the plague. I only hit the reception to drop off a bottle of Scotch. I didn’t plan on colliding with the sexy, pretty woman with the pouty lips. Certainly, didn’t intend to spill liquor all over her dress.

Charlotte: What kind of jerk… I glared up at the tuxedo-clad brick wall of a man holding the serving tray, and went weak in the knees. This jerk was the most smoking hot waiter I’d ever seen.

Joe: I was an honorable man, always cleaned up my messes. But every press of the napkin against Charlotte’s gown filled my brain with filthy, dirty fantasies.

Charlotte: Hot Waiter was practically feeling me up in the middle of the ballroom. Worse? I was enjoying it. Hold the door. Wait just one minute – he’s my new CLIENT? Fine, I’d work with the gorgeous jerk. But I don’t care how hot he was – I would Never. Ever. Sleep with him.

Joe: My grandmother hired Charlotte, Ms. Pouty Lips to be my Matchmaker? I was totally going to sleep with her.

GAME ON…

~~ A Second Chance Romance. ~~

Here’s what early reviewers are saying about The Client:

“The perfect balance of funny (like laugh out loud funny), witty, and sexy (sosohot).” ~ Sweet Red Reader

“5 Hot Waiter Stars” Brandi-Let’s Read Romance

“And don’t get me started on the sexy scenes…I found myself panting by some of these scenes! ~ Starange13

“2 Thumbs up for a great heart warming story…” ~ Barbara – Amazon Reviewer

“Lots of feels, terrific secondary characters, drama, comedy, angst, this book has it all!” ~ Melissa P. – Amazon Reviewer

“Found this book to be really steamy!” ~ BookAddict’sReviews

Grab your copy HERE:

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074WJ15LJ