Don't know why I let myself get so ticked off about this crap.
Anyway, if Kristen O (The Auto-Closet posted to FM on 5/24/98) or C. Sprite (Texas Gal posted on FM between May and November 1999) are still around . . .
Be advised that someone using the pen name Jos Miller is posting the cited stories to Kindle. Since I don't think Kristen and C.Sprite are the same person, I suspect this is another case of ripping off someone else's gift to us for profit.
Titles on Kindle are: The Intelligent Closet: a Crossdressing Tale, and
Texas Girl: A gender roles reversal tale.
As near as I can tell, the stories haven't been changed or edited. Even character names seem the same.
There are several other 'offerings' by Jos Miller that sound familiar to me, but I couldn't immediately lay an eye on a possible source tale.
Since I know Kindle won't listen to anyone but 'the real author', there's nothing I can do about this. I've tried in the past on other things and basically was told, "Thanks, but. . ."
So, if Kristen and C.Sprite are still around (and aren't the same author), Heads up.
Okay, these are great, classic stories that should be shared, but any profit should go to the original authors!
Otherwise, warm furry hugs
Tiggs
Comments
appear
to be 9 titles, all put up on Jul 02.2022 which is a bit suspect.
There are also no hits on that name on any of the usual story sites.
Could be genuine but the seeds of doubt are strong!
Madeline Anafrid Bell
It all so hard to prove if
It all so hard to prove if they don't listen. I want to put some of my stuff on Amazon soon, but not sure if it's worth it. I was looking into copywrite
Copyright protects your work and stops others from using it without your permission.
You get copyright protection automatically - you don’t have to apply or pay a fee. There isn’t a register of copyright works in the UK.
You automatically get copyright protection when you create:
original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work, including illustration and photography
original non-literary written work, such as software, web content and databases
sound and music recordings
film and television recordings
broadcasts
the layout of published editions of written, dramatic and musical works
You can mark your work with the copyright symbol (©), your name and the year of creation. Whether you mark the work or not doesn’t affect the level of protection you have.
You don't need to even mark it , but how do you prove the work is yours?
Leeanna
It can be done
I’ve successfully got stuff removed from Amazon that was stolen. Make sure you keep a dated copy of your work at least on your backups. The old fashioned way was to mail yourself a hard copy of the work that you keep sealed, the envelope will have a dated postmark.
One trick is to hide a phrase/name in the text that is clearly out of place, this can then easily be found in a pirated copy, even if they have changed some names, they never edit what they have stolen.
Do include a publishing history and if possible get an ISBN number.
You can get paranoid about this stuff but as with most things in life, not giving something a go gets you nowhere.
Madeline Anafrid Bell
I choose not to publish on Amazon
Rather than Amazon, I choose to publish on Smashwords. One of the things they do when you publish with them is to do an internet search to see if the story in question appears on any web page. If the find that the story appears under anyone else's name they won't publish it and will remover your account.
Also, they procure an ISBN for you, free of charge and keep a record of publishing date. Amazon requires that you exclusively publish with them to get premium distribution and profit effectively tying up your copyright. Smashwords doesn't require that and you can leave you work up here or elsewhere. They also distribute it worldwide in about a dozen different ebook retailers.
Even if you don't want to make money on your work, publishing on Smashwords will get the necessary documentation to prove it's your work.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin ein femininer Mann
Amazon do not
require you to publish exclusively with them, its a falsehood that is rolled out on a regular basis. What they don't like is price disparity and offering your book for free as a complete work does irk them, it'd irk me too. Amazon will also supply free ISBN numbers and there is a full publication history, copyright remains with you unless you are stupid enough to tie yourself into their kdp set up which does require exclusivity for a minimum 12 months. The returns are atrocious but plenty of idiots seem happy to sign up to it. Oh and of course Amazon is a worldwide distribution outlet.
Using Smashwords won't get you anything that Amazon won't, it does give an alternative to Amazon haters but so does Lulu who also offer the same benefits.
Madeline Anafrid Bell
C. Sprite
Crystal ran Storysite for years, It's a shame to have someone steal her work, if that is what's happening.
Here is her author's page. https://www.storysite.org/a_crystal01.html
Texas Gal is a romp. For someone like me, who spent years in corporate boardrooms, her story rang true.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
You have to wonder. Do they
You have to wonder. Do they rip off the TG sites because of the fear of being 'outed' that is so prevalent? It's not like it's an extremely high dollar genre, from what I've seen from posts here.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
maybe
its like stealing the 1c change, doesn't seem worth the effort but do it enough times.....So put out lots of titles and the ten bob the original writer got off one book suddenly becomes a lot more as story hungry readers buy more stolen works. They probably target other genres as well but under different pseudonms, so they could easily have hundreds or even thousands of titles each giving a slow trickle. They will target stuff that isn't mainstream just for that reason, stealing Harry Potter would involve far too much work and even altered would soon be outed by fans of that genre.
Madeline Anafrid Bell
Inform Amazon
Inform Amazon that the stories are already available online for free.
Include links to the originals.
Amazon's primary objective is making money. They aren't inclined to publish content that others are giving away.