Best Selling Author, James Altucher, Admits Plagiarism

I'm a writing podcast fanatic, so I was really excited to find a new one: Write 2B Read. The host is author Ani Alexander. She has a wonderful Russian/Ukrainian accent and is a treat to listen to.

That said...

Ani recently interviewed best selling author James Altucher. James is an old hedge fund manager turned inspirational author. Unfortunately, his latest 'writing' idea lands him squarely in plagiarist territory ... and he doesn't even recognize it.

Forgive my lack of transcription abilities. The following dialog happen about 38 minutes into the interview:

Ani:

I'm seeing that you've been doing many, many different things. I mean apart from the writing you do many different things in life. So, first of all, how do you manage to do all these at the same time. Because, you know, those are like different projects and ... like time wise and attention wise, I don't know how you manage that. Why did you decide to do many different things, and did not pick just one? 

James:

Well, I kinda just do, you know. First off, you have to do what pays the bills for you and your children and things like that. Although most people live higher lifestyles than are necessary. There's probably cheaper ways to pay the bills for many people. But for me, I do what things are interesting. So if someone or something interests me a lot, then I'll get involved in it. Whether its a business or a book idea or a post or an article, or anything. 

I like to share my knowledge. So I have knowledge of business, and I have knowledge of writing, and I have knowledge of technology, and I have knowledge of entertainment, so I like to share my knowledge that I have in different endeavors. And then I just keep going. 

Again, I can never predict tomorrow. I may never get involved in anything new again, but my assumption is if I just keep doing things that are interesting to me, today, fun things will happen. 

I'll give you an example. Can I give you an example? 

Ani: 

Absolutely. 

James: 

So today something interested me. I decided, just for the fun of it, I'm going to take a very popular book and I'm going to hire somebody on [REDACTED] to take this very popular book, and change every word, but keep the same story. So if the words were, “Jane ran to the store,” I might change that to, “Christine walked quickly to buy her clothes.” 

So I'm gonna basically, it's just for fun, I'm gonna see if I can essentially see if I can have someone use a thesaurus to change/rewrite an entire book. So it's the same book, but just every single word is rewritten. So nobody can say this is plagiarism. And if I load this book to Amazon, what will happen? It's just an experiment. So I just had the idea to do it today. I found someone in India who extremely cheaply will do it, by Monday. So I'll have the book finished by Monday. 

Ani: 

Wow! (laugh)

James: 

Then I'll use [REDACTED] for free, to pick out a cover. And I'm gonna make, what I do, is I'm gonna make for $5 each, Facebook ads to test out ten different titles. So I came up with ten different titles, and I made ads for them on Facebook, and I'll see which title people click on the most. 

I'll know by tomorrow which title will be the most popular title. By Monday I'll have the book, I'll load it up on [REDACTED], make a paperback in Kindle, then I'll have a book finished and then as an experiment I'll see if the book does well or not. 

Ani: 

(laughing) Interesting. 

James: 

And then either the book does well, and then I came up with an idea for a business or the book doesn't do well, and I'll write a post about the experience, and either way I win. 

Ani: 

Absolutely. And I presume the book you're using is a successful one? 

James: 

Yeah, sold millions of copies. 

Ani: 

Okay, yeah. That's what I thought.

That truly sad part of this dialog, is that neither Ani nor James realize James just admitted to plagiarism. So, to increase Mr. Altucher's knowledge base, here's the definition of plagiarism.

Plagiarism: (noun) The practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own.

Sure, James kept saying it was 'an experiment' and 'just for fun,' but he also said, "And then either the book does well, and then I came up with an idea for a business ..."

No, James. You just came up with a way to steal someone else's hard work. With the current rash of plagiarists rewriting other author's ebook works, you're just another sleazeball out to make a buck. Apologize for making such a BAD mistake, then destroy every copy of your plagiarist work.

It's not an experiment and it's not fun because its not yours.

UPDATE: On 2/1/2016, I redacted the names of several websites in the effort to hinder others using Mr. Altucher's 'blueprint to plagiarism.'

Inevitable Contradictions

Image From the 'Being Catholic... Really' blog.

At some point in our writing careers, and in truth life, we come up against competing advice.

• "Revise as you go."
• "Don't revise anything until you write the entire draft."
• "Real writers plot out their whole stories before they begin."
• "Writers have to be willing to go where the story takes them."
• "Writing can't be taught."
• "Practice and learn from the masters."

Yeah... well...

Pfft.

Everyone is different. We each have skills others lack. With writing, you may write awesome dialog. I might do killer descriptions. But we all come from somewhere different. Even the same story can be told differently. Don't believe me? When was the last time you told urban legend stories with your friends and had them add/correct the story you were telling?

One thing I know: we each have to find our own way of doing things.

As we develop, we may start out flailing at the blank pages. Eventually we 'find' better ways of doing things. What works for me may not work for you, but that doesn't mean either of us is wrong. Just different.

You may only write a paragraph a day.

Great! Tell your story.

Maybe you revise after your critique group has made suggestions.

Good job! Tell your story.

Don't automatically believe someone who tells you you're doing it wrong. You will find your own way if it's something you really want. That's not to say you shouldn't listen to advise. But try other people's tactics... carefully. They may be destructive to yours. Remember the quote from Tracy Hickman that I used in my Reevaluating Your Goals blog post, "Everyone has to find their own way, but its never the same way. Everyone has to pay their own dues, but they're never the same dues."

Explore your technique and enjoy your journey. Life's too short to do anything else.

Why Redemption Stories Work

I'm a big fan of redemption stories. From books to film, there's nothing better than seeing a terrible person become someone I like. But why do stories like these have such a strong attraction? Here's three examples that highlight why I think they're so popular.


The Characters Overcome Themselves

Vader Attacks Jedi on Kessel

It may be a little bit schadenfreude (pleasure from other's pain), but we like watching others overcome adversity.

One of my all time favorite redemption stories is Star Wars. Sure the whole saga has rebels and Imperials battling for supremacy, but the only character who has to make the decision between right and wrong is Anakin Skywalker. Even if George Lucas decided unconsciously, he chose well when he set the framework for Star Wars on the redemption story of Darth Vader. With the entire galaxy mirroring the choices of one man, the stakes are dangerously high.

But the choice has already been made, right? Darth Vader is a bad guy.

Yes, but what fun is that? If you like tragedies, then maybe you're okay leaving it there. But most people, myself included, prefer to hope for something better. We want the bad guy to either get beaten (the hero wins) or have the villain see the error of his ways and stop the insanity he's set in motion. And how amazing is a story when both happen?

Vader, behind the mask, actually feels sorry for what he's done. The price he paid to become the Dark Lord was higher than he expected and reversing that choice will literally tear an empire apart and destroy him. But he'll make that choice because he has to.

They Show That Those Who Fall Are Just Like Us

Macbeth's Regret

In his book, Story, using the tale of Macbeth, Robert McKee shows what actually makes characters more likeable. In Act 2, Scene 2, Macbeth has given into his wife's urging and killed the king in order to promote himself. But instead of being happy over his life to come, he can only think about what he's done. 

I'll go no more:
I am afraid to think what I have done;
Look on it again I dare not.
... 
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas in incarnadine,
Making the green one red.

Macbeth feels remorse and guilt for what he's done. Have you ever felt remorse or guilt? Of course you have! When we fail, we have to pick ourselves back up and try again. Of course, I'm not saying our sins are at Macbeth's level, but we like to see someone fall and get back up again because we've fallen and had to get back up again too. 

They Provide Hope

Max Bringing Charlie Back From the Edge

One of my current favorite redemption movies is Real Steel (oddly enough, it's another story where the son brings his father back from the edge). Even from the beginning, we like down-and-out loser, Charlie. He's a hard working ex-boxer, who is witty and funny. But he also rushes in to things far too quickly. He's arrogant, self-centered, and has lost everything in the world of robot boxing.

Enter Max, the likeable kid who's thrown into Charlie's world and see's his dad for what he is, a hustler and consummate bull-crap artist. But Max has all of Charlie's good habits, without the cynicism that comes from his father's experience.

Instantly, we hope Charlie can pull himself together for Max's sake. That hope keeps you going through one try/fail cycle after another. But when it finally does pay off, the rush from the emotional payoff is pure gold. And that is why redemption stories will always be popular. Because the elation we feel from seeing someone overcome themselves and arrive at a better place.

The Final Frame
So what are some of your favorite redemption stories and why? Are there aspects of redemption stories that you hate?

The Writer's Advantage

It's hard to find good books on writing craft at the library, so believe me, I was excited when I found, 'The Writer's Advantage: Harness the Power of the Written Word.' It's a ten CD set, with one lecture per disk, each on average between thirty and forty-five minutes.

The ten presentations discuss:

• Drafting your book in a day
• Grammar
• Punctuation
• How to captivate, entertain & persuade
• Structure, style & spice
• Business writing
• More business writing
• Better proofreading
• Informal writing
• Getting published

Since I'm an aspiring author, the presentations I was most interested in were: drafting, grammar, punctuation and publishing, with a side of proofreading.

The first presentation left me disappointed. The author/presenter spent the majority of her time trying to be cute and entertaining, so the actual content boiled down to about four minutes. Oh, well, I thought. It's okay if one lecture is bad.

But wait.

The same author/presenter does the next two lectures as well. When the punctuation presentation rapidly devolved into the author talking at a cafe with a grande dame, I was looking for razor blades and loaded weapons. I don't know who thought this was a great way to teach, or why they thought it would be successful, but it isn't. Part of me wondered if these first three presentations are the hollow remains of lively business presentation that only work 'in person.' Now however, they are a complete waste of time.

And remember, these were the ones I wanted to hear the most. So,with my blood, well and truly, boiling, I moved onto disk four... and breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the other seven lectures redeem 'The Writer's Advantage' from being so bad you'll need therapy. Each succeeding section is presented well and contains a host of useful information. For example, the business writing sections teach writers how not to botch email (for those of us who don't live in New York, this could be important), and other useful tips for being professional in their communications.

The last section is a nice closer as it covers publishing. Even though it deals heavily with e-publishing options, canny writers will glean what they need and make a more informed choice. One detractor for the novelist, as a business presentation, this last lecture deals strongly with writing and submitting proposals for books without doing the actual work. As most authors know, a new author better have his book in hand before he starts pitching it.

As a business audiobook, you're looking at paying about $80, but I wouldn't pay more than twenty and that's pushing it (available at that price through Audible). Better still, try your local library or inter-library loan program since the value of this program is cut by a third.

Castle Contentions

Beckett and Castle

I'm a huge Nathan Fillion fan, which naturally makes me a huge fan of ABC's Castle. My wife and I sit up Tuesday nights (as soon as I get home from work) and watch new episodes on Hulu Plus. We were particularly excited to see this years season finale (titled 'Always') because of the sneak peak we'd seen.

So we watched the episode and loved it.

And yet... I felt something in the episode didn't work for me. Something that made me feel like the writers botched the character's motivation at the finish line.

** Spoiler Warning ** Spoiler Warning **

Hot and Bothered
I've talked about it with a few people and I think they went where the writers wanted them to go. (To see the conclusion of 'Always', click on the link below and watch it on YouTube -- It's just under three minutes).

As the clip shows, Castle and Beckett finally make their connection and begin kissing heavily. Castle opens her shirt and touches the bullet scar over her heart before holding her hand and walking into his apartment.

My whole problem is that I think the shirt thing is too sexual. Everyone I talked to thought it was as well, but they thought that after four years of being friends, they were just ready to rip each others clothes off.

So after watching it again, I think the writers were going for the connection with how close Castle came to losing Beckett when she was shot in season three's finale. But regardless of whether they were ripping their clothes off, or whether Castle wanted to touch her scar, it came off wrong for me and here's why.

Click to watch conclusion of 'Always'

Castle and Beckett's relationship isn't about sex.

In four years, Castle hasn't opened Beckett's clothes in any sexual way. In four years, they've never crossed the line from friendship into something more. Have there been times when they thought about it? Of course! But when you love someone so much that you just want to be in the same room as the object of your affection, sex (while a wonderful part of a healthy relationship) isn't what you really care about. And I believe Castle and Beckett are definitely deeper in their relationship than just wanting to push each other over and bump uglies.

I think Hollywood has a major problem because they feel sex equals intimacy. You would almost wonder if anyone on the West Coast ever fell in love without jumping into bed first. It does happen in the real world, crazy but true.

The writers do try to redeem 'Always' by having Castle and Beckett hold hands and walk into the apartment together, but even that feels like they are heading straight for the bedroom (nudge-nudge, wink-wink). Why not have two or three tentative kisses, the smile, the hand holding, and then Castle leads Beckett into the apartment? Intimate with the smoldering passion we've come to expect.

The Mirror Cracked 

Click to watch Conclusion of The Limey

There is one other episode this season that cheeses me off with what I feel is bad characterization.

 In the episode titled, The Limey, Castle realizes that Beckett has lied to him and begins pursuing other meaningless relationships. My beef with this episode, as the clip shows, is that Beckett, after being rejected by Castle, goes out with the handsome detective from Scotland Yard.

I'm not saying she can't go out with whoever she wants, but how many episodes have we seen where Castle swallows his pride and goes home alone after seeing Beckett heading out with another man? If Castle is man enough to know that if he can't have Beckett and he'd rather be alone, then why should Beckett be written so shallow that she wouldn't go home alone because she's not going with Castle?

It was a total misfire with me and breaks the mirror image that Castle and Beckett were finally getting into the same mindset. This is just one of several episodes where Castle's writers do something that resets the emotional balance between the two characters, ultimately making their connection in 'Always' even more surprising/unbelievable.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury
Anyway... all this nitpicking at these episodes made me remember something David Farland said at his Writers Death Camp. He said people don't like watching movies and T.V. with him because he likes to tear apart the scripts and analyze them. Unfortunately, or fortunately as the case may be, I'm obviously starting to do the same.

So what do you think? After watching the clips, is my interpretation correct or am I just up in the night? Do you tear apart movies and T.V. shows to find what you don't like? Do you find times when you wonder why characters act like they shouldn't?

Crap... My Vampire Sparkles

I've always wanted to write comedy. Unfortunately I'm too scared to do it because think I would offend someone and quite possibly everyone. At the very least, it's quite possible that what I write wouldn't be funny at all.

Comedy is a fine line and it's hard to hit. When I took a script writing class at Utah State, we discussed it quite a bit. One comment that stuck with me was the reason Bill Cosby was so successful. You see, Cosby made fun of himself before he ever made fun of anyone else. It essentially gave him license to rip on anyone because he'd already made fun of himself.

So, in the spirit of making fun of myself, here's a little secret about my writing that my writing group will verify as true.

Here's what I think my villain/vampire looks like:

And here's the way my natural inclination is to write said villain:

Notice the similarity?

Me either.

Sadly, I'm not Gail Carriger writing the Parasol Protectorate series where you can have a hilariously funny gay vampire. My vampires are true monsters. They kill for the fun of it and view people as nothing more than cattle. So why is it my natural instinct to write a vampire overly obsessed with his ruff? I want a threatening bad guy, not some fop that speaks with a lisp!

The Death of 'So What'

Like most people, I have a healthy sense of my own inadequacies. And when you put yourself on display as you do with writing, you have a heightened feeling of standing on a cliff waiting for a good gust of wind to knock you down.

While I was at LTUE (Life, The Universe, and Everything writing conference), two members of my writing group began asking me what was going on with my story. You see, my submissions dried up in mid-October. But it's not like I didn't have good excuses. Moving into our new home, Thanksgiving, unpacking (which is not done), followed closely by Christmas (which is definitely done), and overtime at the post office. All these things had me seriously busy, but the main result was that my writing suffered.

But it's February now, so why am I still not writing? At least like I use to...

So my group started quizzing me where I was stuck. Or at least what I was thinking about my plot. I rattled off my ideas for finishing Blood of Mars and some of my concerns. As I near the end of the rough draft, I feel like I'm coming up with several logic errors relating to the worldbuilding. Worst of all, I was beginning to doubt whether some of the ideas I had for creating the storyline were really viable.

In studying writing craft, I've learned that one of the three crucial 'things' your story has to deal with is the 'So What?' factor. In other words, why should readers care about your story?

I think that, in addition to being busy, I was losing my sense of wonder with elements of my story. My techie things weren't techie enough, the characters were cardboard, and the vampires were just lame. Then these thoughts fed their own fires. I mean, who really wants to read a vampire story anyway? They're over done!

But one of the most critical things a writing group can give you is feedback. Mine told me that everything was working and that ideas I had for continuity were fine. I just needed to get back to work. Any real problems I did have with the story, they helped me untangle. And in my head, sometimes those ideas are just like the tangled ball of Christmas lights I'll be untangling in November.

The result is that between the emotional boost I got from LTUE and my cheer-leading writing group, my writing is back on track. I've put a stake in the heart of my own 'So What?' and just started writing again. I began laying down new chapters and writing a few short stories for contests, always kicking myself in the head for forgetting that writers write.