PA author gets fired from job because of book

Plot Device

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I feel sorry for the people in that small town who are able to identify themselves from what is written. If I was one of those people and what the author had written was not true, I would sue her. I wonder why she wrote negative things about people, when there must have been so many positive things she could have said about the community in which she lives. Then the author might have excited positive media interest which is much more worthwhile.

Barbara


Because she was hoping that the actress who played her would turn out to be Scarlet Johansen.
 

benbradley

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In other words, she knows it's self-publishing.

I love that in the article she can't figure out how people knew it was her because she used a pen name, when the pen name is her maiden name, her father (who of course bears that name) is something of a local celebrity, and she says she picked it so some people would know who she was and that PA sent out letters to her friends and acquaintances. And they used a picture of the library where she works on the cover. Clever!
So that's another way PA works - they solicit names and addresses of friends and acquaintances from the author, and send them blurbs about the book. Is that part of the package, or an "extra" the author has to pay for?
Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from responsibility for what you say. If you're going to claim someone is a sex offender (as she apparently did in her book; claiming sex offenders were using the computers in the library) you'd better be able to back that up.
And aren't many convicted sex offendors prohibited from using computers and the Internet? I'd think she should have called police rather than mentioning it in her novel book.
 

ResearchGuy

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. . .
And aren't many convicted sex offenders prohibited from using computers and the Internet? I'd think she should have called police rather than mentioning it in her novel book.
Libraries are not likely to require (or be allowed to require) background checks, and in any event insist on privacy rights (to the maximum extent that federal intrusiveness allows).

--Ken
 

JulieB

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Luddington Talks about the book here.

The Library Diaries just might be PA's first big seller. If readers can get the book.

Interesting conversation there. Most folks are completely behind the author. Be interesting to see which way the conversation goes when people start getting hold of copies of the book.
 

stormie

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Interesting conversation there. Most folks are completely behind the author. Be interesting to see which way the conversation goes when people start getting hold of copies of the book.
Yeah, but by page four the discussion is disintegrating.

As for PA, they:
a) sure do give every self-proclaimed "author" the chance they deserve.
b) don't care what's in the manuscript. Just get it printed and get friends and family to buy it.
c) right now are probably looking up the word "libel" in the dictionary.
 
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benbradley

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Libraries are not likely to require (or be allowed to require) background checks, and in any event insist on privacy rights (to the maximum extent that federal intrusiveness allows).

--Ken
Fron the apparent context, the claim of a sex offendor using the computer wasn't the result of a background check or anything more than the librarian/author recognizing the person and it being a small town where so many people just naturally know others' business.

Perhaps that wouldn't be a problem for her if she hadn't said anything, but she babbled about it in her book. If this is an identifiable person, I'd think she'd be in some kind of trouble whether he/she really is a known sex offendor (she could be in trouble for not promptly reporting him) or not (he can sue for libel).

Regardless, she may have a lot more problems than losing her job. Perhaps one defense she could use for libel would be that being published with PA "isn't really being published."
 

BenPanced

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Just ask people in Gilford, Laconia, and Gilmanton, New Hampshire. Over thirty years later and residents are still getting flack for how they were portrayed in Grace Metalious's Peyton Place.

Despite the controversy and social commentary present in the novel, Metalious insisted that Peyton Place was a work of fiction. When John Michael Hayes, the screenwriter for the film adaptation, asked her if the novel was her autobiography, Metalious asked him to repeat the question and then spilled her drink on him.
Peyton Place's Wikipedia article.
 
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Bo Sullivan

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I wonder if the author included the words:

"All of the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental."

it might have helped to clear up any confusion, and if she has included them, then perhaps she will be off the hook as far as being sued for libel is concerned. Presumably the words do not appear at the beginning of the book, because if they had, she might not have lost her job.

Barbara
 

Plot Device

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I just checked and now the ranking is 23,181. The book is selling but some of the reviews aren't very complimentary.

Barbara


It seems that Amazon updates rankings several times within the hour. I had no idea they refreshed rankings that quickly.
 

Bo Sullivan

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Would not the non-sex-offender first have to prove that he or she is the sex offender portrayed, and then prove that he or she is not a sex offender, in order to win the case?

It would appear that the author is generally having a rant about unsavoury characters frequenting the library, who are the downtrodden in society such as mentally ill people. People who are looking for a warm place to sit down and have some peace and quiet and look at books. I have, at times, been unemployed and have frequented the local library to use the computer when I didn't have one of my own at home, or to spend half an hour looking at books I couldn't afford to buy. I wonder what conclusions the author would have drawn about my circumstances. It throws new light on the way the general public are perceived by librarians, but I think they should have an impartial attitude towards members of the public who walk through the doors of libraries everywhere.

Barbara
 

Bo Sullivan

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One commenter on the newspaper story said, "I was able to pick out every character in this book."

Perhaps this author will make money on her book only to find that she has to pay it all out in damages for libel! It will be interesting to see how this develops, but I will never look at a public librarian in the same light again.
 

Keyan

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I wonder if it's a protest against some libraries becoming havens for street-people, including the mentally ill, who are looking for a warm safe place to sit rather than a place to read or research.

I've been trying to decide whether to buy the book and understand what the fuss is about. Thanks to PA, though, it's priced at about $18. A bit steep to satisfy curiosity.
 

stormie

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.... but I will never look at a public librarian in the same light again.
She's in the minority. Obviously not much empathy for the down-trodden, not too savvy on the book publishing business, clueless on life, creating characters in her writing, using a pseudonym (heck, her cover was blown pretty fast), and most of all PublishAmerica, which, being employed at the library for fifteen years, she should have had some idea.
 

AnneMarble

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I just checked and now the ranking is 23,181. The book is selling but some of the reviews aren't very complimentary.

Barbara
I'm wondering if the this review was written by the author or a friend. The person making the second comment brings up free speech, reminding me of the author. Of course, it could be another person who doesn't understand that free speech does not mean that you can libel people without expecting consequences.

ETA:
Sales rank at 6:47 EST is #23,181
 
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stormie

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I wonder if it's a protest against some libraries becoming havens for street-people, including the mentally ill, who are looking for a warm safe place to sit rather than a place to read or research.
About 50% to 75% of "street people" have some sort of mental illness that wasn't addressed in earlier years. And most who are mentally ill are not street people. They live in homes with their families, or in group homes or some sort of placement where activities are done as a group. This PA "author's" characterizations could bring NAMI (National Association of the Mentally Ill) into the fray.
 

Ol' Fashioned Girl

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And here's a good question... it's 'in stock' and being sold and shipped by Amazon.com, and is also eligible for SuperSaver shipping. A while back, Amazon and PA had a falling out over the printing of PA's books 'cause Amazon wanted to be the printer - subsequently, my PA book is no longer available from Amazon, but is available through 'other sellers'. Huh?
 

icerose

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With all this attention, especially if the lawsuits start brewing, PA will never keep her book around long enough to make any real sales.
 

ResearchGuy

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And here's a good question... it's 'in stock' and being sold and shipped by Amazon.com, and is also eligible for SuperSaver shipping. . . .
It is even discounted from the customary ridiculously high PA price. Curious. (Expensive even after the discount, though.) Some other PA books I looked for (ones by folks I know) are not for sale by Amazon now. Apparently there are different arrangements for different books.

--Ken