Scam Alert!
In the digital world, it is commonplace for images to be stolen and repurposed for someone else’s gain. Apparently on Amazon Marketplace and elsewhere, it is buyer beware, since unscrupulous people take an image and flog an inferior product that looks nothing like it.
I have just become the victim of a similar theft. The blurb for my book, Tapestry Weaving: Design and Technique, has been lifted by a certain Dr Paul Donna, only to be attached to his book, Tepestry [sic] Weaving – The Pratical [sic] Guide to Quality Work (Weav [sic] Like An Expert).
The beginning of the sample page reads as follows:
‘Loom – ready-made or you can make your very non-public from timber or cardboard following these instructions. This tutorial is broadly speaking chiefly based totally on a physique that is 30 x 45 cm, and you will want altering your wool lengths accordingly.’
You may also find it helpful to know that ‘The vertical or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in anxiousness on the physique or loom.’
While the Kindle book is 13 pages long and the paperback 29 pages, both claim to have the 190 illustrations my book has.
Dr Donna has been busy. Between 22 and 28 June of this year, he ‘published’ ten books on subjects as diverse as endometriosis and equine fitness, all with blurbs stolen from legitimate books on these subjects. Or do you fancy learning how to make cannabis butter? Then he’s your man.
Because you can buy the Kindle book for only £2.80 or the paperback for £6.29, if you found the book not to your satisfaction, you would just sigh and move on.
This is a minor scam compared to some, but of course it is galling that someone may profit from others’ hard work. While few will be fooled by this illiteracy, if you are, it may be hard to get redress because Dr Paul doesn’t seem to exist anywhere else on the Internet. Presumably this elusive man is holed up somewhere, writing his next ten books for release soon.
My book:
Dr Paul’s book:
