Letter to My Plagiarist

A/N: Just a quick background: I found one of my stories on Booksie that someone had posted there over four years ago as theirs. I've since had it removed, but found an account of the same pen name on the site that said story was taken from. I sent a first message asking if that person had a Booksie account and received no reply. What's below is the second message I just sent.

                Dear (Name Redacted)

I didn’t get a reply so I’m guessing you were kind of weirded out by the out of the blue nature of my message, which I can understand. I actually messaged you because there’s this chick on Booksie who has the same pen name as you and she’s a plagiarist. I’d actually suggest changing your pen name on here so you’re not associated with her, because this girl is just plain bad. She seriously took one of my stories, didn’t even bother to change the character names or the title, and posted it on Booksie as hers. She even replied to comments as if she’d written it. That really pissed me off. The whole situation was total BS and I got my story removed.

            I know what you’re thinking. How could anyone, especially anyone who’s actually written anything themselves, actually do that to someone else? I have no idea. I’m guessing she’s either really stupid or is an unfeeling creature with no concept of right or wrong. Or a combination of the two.

            I mean, even children are taught that taking something that doesn’t belong to them is a crime. And plagiarism is a crime. Heck, I could have totally sued her, but I’m assuming she’s just a kid, so I won’t be that mean. Though when I first found out I was angry enough to want to. I kind of wonder if this girl’s parents actually taught her right from wrong. It’s the only reason I can imagine that someone would think that taking something someone’s spent three years of work on, something they poured time, energy, and heart into, is okay. I mean, the story she stole was the first one I ever finished. It was a huge personal achievement for me, and to find that someone was just claiming it as their own… It actually made me so angry I was pacing, and made me consider shutting down my writing accounts.

            On the other hand, I’m kind of worried this chick is some kind of callous monster, who doesn’t care at all about the hard work people put into their stories and just wants attention. That kind of narcissistic, sociopathic person probably has no concept of the care and love people put into their work. Probably doesn’t have too many real friends either. Only wants to be admired, even for things that don’t belong to them. That kind of person is the worst and probably won’t care about the damage they’ve done, or the pain they’ve caused. That type of person would only understand that it’s against the law, and then only if they got punished for it.

            Anyway, I really do think you should change your pen name, since otherwise you’re going to get tarred with the same brush as this horrible excuse for a human being, and as a fellow writer, I’m sure the last thing you want people to think is that you’re a plagiarist. If you want any more information or anything, let me know!

            Sincerely,

            Lauren D.M. Smith