I seem to have really rotten luck. In the past months, at least three stories I was halfway through reading, have been taken down. Also, tons of stories I wanted to read but haven't started yet, have been taken down as well :(

So, I thought 'why not inflict my misery upon all of you?'.

No actually I thought, 'why not so something about it?'. This is my attempt to combat plagiarism on Fiction Press. Though it'll serve no other purpose than to (hopefully) give you a laugh, I hope it helps. There's a rant on top, but I'm a ranting expert! Stick to what you're good at, right?

Petition against plagiarism

Some of the best authors on Fiction Press have taken their stories down because of *cue evil sounding music* plagiarism.

The purpose of Fiction Press is to help aspiring authors improve their writing. I'm sure the founder(s) of Fiction Press never intended for their site to be the base for a circus of intellectual property infringement. It become the breeding site (pun unintended) for developing criminals.

Why anyone would plagiarize someone else's work is beyond me. The plagiarized stories are normally very popular, so it's close to impossible not to get caught. Do some people really enjoy getting flamed by readers who recognize the work they have copied? Or maybe they are naïve enough to believe that no one will notice. If they lack the creative juices to think of an original story, then why bother even trying?

Whatever the reason, the result is nearly always the same. When the original author finds out, he/she sends the perpetrator of the act (to be referred from now on as the Rat) a scathing PM or Email telling them to take the story down at once. The Rat tries to come up with some flimsy excuse, is caught in its own web of lies and eventually takes the story down, often deleting its account as well.

At this rate, with multiple stories being taken down each day by authors who fear plagiarism, there will be no more good reads left on Fiction Press. As it is, a lot of authors take their work down to pursue publication. Add that to the plagiarism victims and you have an unfortunately large numbers of great stories that you never got to read/ finish reading.

Some authors have resorted to leave Fiction Press completely, while others have vowed not to post anything online again. As a reader this is disheartening to see. A few Rats have managed to wreak suck chaos upon us all.

Now, we come to the purpose of this essay. Why exactly have I posted information that you are most likely to already know? Why have I bored you to death with this long and winding essay? Why am I asking you these questions? Some things just don't have an answer!

Well, actually it's because I would like you to help me do something about it. This essay doubles up as a petition (wow, right?)

Leave a review following this format.

I vow never to plagiarize another author's work. I also believe that the Rats who do plagiarize, deserve (insert what you would like to do to them here)

Sincerely

(Insert pen name here)

[Insert feedback if any here]

For example,

I vow never to plagiarize another author's work. I also believe that the Rats who do plagiarize, deserve to be 'isolated from the rest of humanity, and abandoned on a horrible island where, due to lack of anything better to do, they plagiarize one another's work, eventually go mad, and rip each other into pieces'

Sincerely

Annoyance

Hopefully, if there are enough reviews, at least a few authors might change their mind about leaving Fiction Press. Be creative, and think up your own cruel and unusual punishments. Keep it light though; we don't want gory descriptions now, do we?

If this essay doesn't encourage authors to stay on Fiction Press at least the, what I hope will be creative, reviews will give them something to smile about.

Don't hesitate to leave a review. Your review might be the one to inspire your favourite author to stay! If you are considering leaving the site, or you know someone who is, then hopefully this essay will help change your/their mind. Get everyone you know to sign this, the more the merrier(or in this case the funnier)