Bad Barbara Burns a Book, and Why

I have never in my life burned a book before today, but in the spirit of New Year's resolutions, I have one roasting on my barbecue right now, and a tasty morsel it is, indeed.Smoldering in my Weber yet no longer in my heart lies a tale that needs telling.

In addition to being a custom dressmaker I am also the author of two books on sewing. One of my jobs as an author is to flog my books relentlessly for as long as they remain in print, in order to continue to earn the approximately $1 per book sale that eventually ends up in my pocket. I have frequently received telephone calls and emails over the past seven years from reviewers, journalists, and writers of various other stripes with questions regarding my books or about the sewing work that I do. Since there is ordinarily honor among thieves, I had never been concerned that these writers might fail to credit me or my book with whatever information I gladly gave them in the dozen or so interviews that I have given. And indeed, these professionals credited me properly; I helped them get their piece written; and I flogged my books dutifully. This is how the system is supposed to work.

On March 23, 2004 I received a telephone call from someone who identified herself as Alexandra Benwell from the Richmond, Virginia area at (804) 222-2165, who had been referred to me by the administrator of my professional association. Benwell stated that she was doing research for a chapter on clothing and appearance for a book called Five Minute Fixes to be published by Reader's Digest. Benwell stated emphatically that my book, Sewing 911: Practical and Creative Rescues for Sewing Emergencies, would be given textual or bibliographic credit to me and to my professional association. Such credits are routine, where there is honor among thieves.

So in the spirit of helpfulness and in order to promote my book, I spoke with Benwell by telephone again on April 1, 2005 (should have told me something, yes?) regarding sections of Sewing 911 regarding oil spots on clothes, water spots, scorch marks, press marks, and similar concerns. As we spoke, I took careful and extensive notes in my telephone log. Once again, I requested that she and the author, Jeff Bredenberg (whose name appears only on the next-to-the-last page of the book; how telling), credit me appropriately. Benwell stated that Five Minute Fixes would refer to me as "Barbara Deckert, author of Sewing 911 and member of PACC." I gave her my mailing address and asked for a courtesy copy of the book to be mailed to me on publication, also routine.

Benwell called again three days later with more questions on handling pet hair on clothes and with questions on gaping necklines. Over the next month or so, she called again and repeatedly asked confused-sounding questions, to the point of being a pest. A professional interviewer contacts an author only once, not a half a dozen times, and does not act as if she is a high school girl who is trying to con you into doing her homework for her.I began to worry about the situation but chose to think the best, as I usually do.

A year sped by. In early January 2005 I had not received the promised courtesy copy. I found the book on Amazon and bought a used copy.

I was appalled but not surprised to find that the bulk of Part Five, "Clothing and Appearance" had been plagiarized from Sewing 911 without any reference, citation, or acknowledgment to me or my book.

Here are some examples of the plagiarized sections: (NOTE: I am unable to copy and paste the following with the original charted format, so I have labeled each quote from the two books below and I hope readers can follow along.)

Incidents of Copyright Violation in Reader Digest's Five Minute Fixes (Reader's Digest 2005) from Sewing 911: Practical and Creative Rescues for Sewing Emergencies by Barbara Deckert (Taunton, 2001) and Telephone Conversations

Theirs: p. 255, "Getting Rid of Pet Hair Pronto. . . . Lightly mist your hair-covered garment with water from a spray bottle. Then put the garment in the dryer with a damp towel . . . .tumble dry. . ." Talked about removing pet hair using this method in telephone conversation on 4/05/04 See telephone log notes.

Theirs: pp. 255-256, "My dress's neckline keeps gaping open. Keep it in place with toupee tape. . . .Double-sided toupee tape will come to your rescue. Products such as Vapon Topstick will adhere to your skin and the garment . . .The tape comes in segments about 2 inches. . . long. . .Look for it in beauty aid supply shops." Telephone conversation on 4/05/04. I read her the brand name and dimensions as we spoke from a box in my desk drawer. See telephone log notes.

Theirs: p. 259, "I have small pinholes in my garment. Dampen, rub, and iron the holes.. . .To close such holes, wet your fingertip and use your fingernail to gently move the weave closer together. Or dampen the fabric around the holes with a small wet paintbrush. Then ironing with a press cloth should close the weave." Mine: p.118, "For pinholes. . . For washable fabrics, moisten your fingertip and use your fingernail to gently rub out the holes. . . . Paint the holes sparingly with water using a tiny paintbrush, then cover with a press cloth and press." (NOTE the paintbrush method is proprietary.)

Theirs: p. 259, "I have a snag in my sweater. Pull the snag through to the inside. . . A needle and thread will do the trick. Put the eye-end of a threaded needle through the fabric from the inside. Wrap the thread on the end of the needle around the snag and pull the needle and thread and the attached snag to the inside of the garment. Don't clip the little loop -that would cause a hole. Mine: p. 120, "Insert the threaded, eye end of a needle from the wrong side of the garment through the base of the snag. Manipulate the snag into the loop formed by the eye end of the needle and the thread, then grasp both the needle and thread underneath, and pull the snag to the wrong side." (From an earlier paragraph on the same page about snags:) "Do not clip them, or you may end up with holes." (NOTE: the needle and thread method is proprietary.)

Theirs p.260, "My sweaters are looking fuzzy. . . . brush the fabric gently with a piece of extra-fine sandpaper. Mine: p. 141, "Use it (fine sandpaper) to remove pills from fuzzy fabrics. . . ."

Theirs: p. 260, "The buttons keep getting pulled off my sweater. Add a second button inside . . . .sew a small clear button on the back of the fabric. . . . Line up the holes on both buttons and stitch right through from bottom to top and back again." Mine: pp. 135-136, "Backer buttons are perfectly plain, typically clear plastic buttons. . . . . help strengthen and stabilize large buttons that take a great deal of stress on thick or easily torn materials. . ." (Process paragraph and illustration follows).

Theirs: p. 261, "I have a pull in my skirt. . . . the threads bunch up in an ugly line. . . Stroke the material with your fingernail. This will pull the thread back into position." Mine, p. 120, "Pulls on woven fabrics occur when one thread gets caught on something and forms what looks like a line across the fabric. You can often stroke them out with a fingernail."

Theirs: p.261, "The crease in my pants is gone. Press in fusible thread. . . . . Place a long length of the thread in the crease, on the inside of the fabric. Then press over the crease with an iron. The thread melts onto the fabric, creating a permanent crease. Getting a straight crease is tricky. . ." Mine: pp.60-61, "Cut a length of fusible thread. . . Slip the fusible inside the crease, and position it right on the crease line. This will require some touchy-feely fiddling. When you have it as close as possible to the inside of the crease line, press it in place." (NOTE: this method is proprietary.)

Theirs: pp.265-266, "I've struck oil, but it's on my clothing. . . . Cover the remaining spot with an absorbent powder. After about 30 minutes, brush the spot. . . . Coat the spot with a clear degreasing dish detergent . . . ." Mine: p. 116, "Sprinkle the (powdered) chalk over the oil spot, allow it to sit a while, and brush away the chalk. . . . I have had excellent results using a dishwashing detergent that is advertised to 'break up grease on contact!'" My suggestion to use Dawn in this manner is proprietary) Also discussed spot cleaning techniques during telephone conversation of 4/1/04; see notes.

Theirs: p. 266, "I have water spots on my dress. Dampen the area and press. . . . . The water didn't cause the mark. Rather, it's something in the fabric, such as dust, dirt, body oils, or even fabric softener. . . . Put an absorbent rag, such as an old gauze diaper or an artificial chamois, over the mark. Spray this covering material with a fine mist of water from a spray bottle until the material is damp. . . . Press the covering material . . . . The extra moisture will often disburse the ring, while the heat from the iron dries the sprayed area. Alternative: Dampen a small artist's paintbrush, lightly brush over the water spot, and use a pressing cloth to iron over the spot." Mine: p. 118, "Place an absorbent press cloth, such as an old gauze diaper, an artificial chamois . . . over the spot. Spray the press cloth with a fine mist from a utility sprayer and press. The extra moisture will often disburse the ring. . . . Paint the holes sparingly with water using a tiny paintbrush, then cover with a press cloth and press." (NOTE: use of a gauze diaper, artificial chamois, and paintbrush are all proprietary.) Also explained the causes of water spots and treatments during telephone conversation on 4/1/04; see notes. See also quote below from p.121 regarding causes of let down lines: RD author has confused causes of water spots with causes of letdown lines.

Theirs: p. 268, "I lengthened my dress, but the old hem's crease still shows. Dampen with vinegar solution and iron. . . . . Sponge the crease with equal parts of white vinegar and water and then iron. . . . If there's a mark, as opposed to a crease, where the original hem was, use a spot remover to erase it. Or hide the mark by adding a decorative row of trim." Mine: p.121, "Use a water and white vinegar spray as described on p. 114. . . . Launder or dry-clean the entire garment or spot clean it. Be sure to pre-treat the letdown line and press after laundering. Since letdown lines are often more of an accumulation of body oils, fuzz, and debris than just a crease, sometimes laundering alone will do the trick. . . . . If all else fails, cover the line with trim. . . ." (also on p.144: described use of water/vinegar solution to set and remove creases.)

Theirs: p. 269, "I scorched my favorite dress with the iron. Use peroxide on thin fabric. . . . place the garment on a folded white towel. Then mix a 50-50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and water and pour it on the mark. Leave the solution on for several minutes; then blot with a clean towel." Mine: p. 112, "For woolens, you can also try a solution of one-half hydrogen peroxide and one-half water on the scorch. . . ." (This method for woolens is proprietary.) I discussed spot cleaning techniques, fiber contents, and bleach agents on pp. 116, in back matter, and during several telephone conversations.

Theirs: p. 269, "Use sandpaper on thick wool. . . . . On a thick, fuzzy wool fabric, . . . use extra-fine sandpaper. Very lightly abrade the surface of the scorched fiber until you see undamaged fabric beneath the surface." Mine: p. 112, "Sand it. Use fine sandpaper. If a scorch is on a thick and fuzzy woolen, you can sometimes use fine sandpaper to lightly and carefully abrade the upper layers of scorched fibers away to reveal undamaged fabric underneath." (This use of sandpaper is proprietary.)

Theirs: p. 269, "My iron left unwanted lines on my clothing. Press them out. You went a little heavy on the ironing, and one of your favorite garments now has ridge lines and smashed-looking fibers or unwanted creases. . . . Place a press cloth over the area and see whether the heat of the iron will fix the problem. The press cloth can be a white tea towel, anything made of muslin, or an old diaper.. . . try steam. Don't put the iron right on the cloth, though. Hold the iron just above the fabric and let the steam spray. Then use your fingers or a brush to fluff the area. . . . Try misting the press cloth with water, then pressing.. . . . Mist the press cloth with a half-and-half solution of water and white vinegar; then press . . . ." Mine: pp. 113-114, "When press marks happen. Overly enthusiastic pressing will leave ridge lines, smashed-looking threads and fibers, and other unwanted creases and marks on garments. . . . . Use steam only and brush the area with your fingers or a clothes brush. The steam will fluff up the area and usually eliminate the marks. . . . Using water in a utility sprayer, dampen the area, gently massage it with your fingers, and lightly re-press. . . . You can also try spraying the crease with one-half white vinegar and one-half water. . . and pressing." (See reference to old diaper, p. 118) Also discussed during telephone conversation on 4/1/04.

As you can see from the examples above the plagiarism is flagrant, of the sort that would get any college freshman in a Composition 101 class flunked fast and hard. Unfortunately, however, plagiarism is not illegal. It is immoral, lazy, unprofessional, and utterly reprehensible, but it is not illegal.

According to my publisher, it would have cost $100,000 just to walk into a courtroom to sue Readers Digest for copyright infringement, and subsequent research on my part has taught me that even if I did take them to court I probably would not win. Copyright violations are difficult to prove, and corporations like Readers Digest know it. This is why they make millions from kindling like Five Minute Fixes; plagiarizing my book and no doubt plagiarizing dozens or even hundreds of other authors whom the "research assistant" interviewed is like swatting a fly, a very minor inconvenience.

Now, there is a very slight possibility that either the research assistant or the author requested a standard citation and it was nixed by Readers Digest, but I doubt it. A letter from Reader's Digest's attorney to me said that Benwell denied promising me any citation, so either Benwell lied to Reader's Digest's attorney regarding her promises to me or the attorney lied to me about what she said to him. Those lies aside, plagiarism is plagiarism, and it is easily and routinely avoided by competant and respectable researchers, authors, and publishers by merely citing sources. The author has never contacted me. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt. It is part of a crass coorporate ploy to enhance profits.

Someone once said that plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery, but I don't feel flattered; I feel had. Chumphood is the price authors pay for being in the public eye, and I have hereby paid in full. So be it. The book is burning on the barbie; the year is new; and I am looking forward to better days.

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