Ongoing plagiarism scandal; surviving AWP; River Styx relaunches; new children's mag; the future of African mags; advice for family members of writers; free class on submitting; jobs & more
Oh Reader magazine received a submission from John Kucera, but didn't accept any of "his" poems for publication. On investigation, the five poems that he submitted were plagiarized. Interestingly, when you run these poems through a plagiarism checker, they come up as "unique" or "not plagiarized." So, without any reliable way of checking, we editors are at the mercy of these fools.
There is something wicked in this very obvious and public plagiarism. It's up to the magazines who've been duped to get Submittable to ban this person. However, if he had plagiarized me, I would get a lawyer to contact Submittable, demand the offender's contact information, and sue his pants off. I am sure that the AG would be pleased to offer assistance. "John Kucera" needs to be taken to court for fraud and theft of intellectual property.
Regarding your “blacklist”, I’ve submitted to 4 of these in the past. Last Resort did respond, in about 3 months. Sterling Clack Clack, Juxtaprose did not. White Pine took a year to send their rejection. As far as Bangalore Review goes, I published with them 5 or 6 years ago, and nothing seemed sketchy at the time.
Beware of Submittable! It’s been hacked. My credit card was falsely charged for a “DatingService” after I submitted a nonfiction piece to several lit mags.
That is awful, Perle. Were these mags that charged a submission fee? Otherwise, why would your credit card number be available on Submittable? And I echo Liz's question: when did this happen?
Becky, this news summary is very helpful. I know some children who might be interested in the new magazine Wild Honey. I have a lot of great-nieces and great-nephews who are very creative, and I tutor a middle-school student who writes good fiction and poetry. Thank you for posting this! Best wishes for 2024! Janet
Some of the mags charged a fee. Several of these submissions were sent months ago; others went out fairly recently. As I noted in a previous comment, the credit card was compromised on Friday, January 26. The bank traced the credit card fraud to Submittable, so I assumed that Submittable was hacked.
Did John Kucera go to Harvard? Something tells me he might have. But why are we referring to him as “he”? Perhaps John Kucera is a woman using a pseudonym. My own suspicion is that he is “having one on,” as the Brits say. Probably tired of getting rejection notes and decided to do something about it. And shutting down his Submittable account won't do a thing. He's already had his fun.
I saw online that an alternate name was John Siepkes. It only took a very cursory google search to find the obituary of a Mary Ann Siepkes, maiden name Kucera, survived by a son, John Siepkes. Seems possible he just used his mother's maiden name when submitting work. He may be very well "having one on." But in the the (admittedly few) instances in which I have had work accepted for publication, I have signed a contract attesting that the work is my own. To the extent that he violated terms of contracts he may have signed, and accepted payment for work that was plagiarized, I would assume there is some legal recourse, should those affected wish to pursue it. Again, cursory google searches suggest he may have grown up in North Versailles, Pennsylvania. Perhaps on Angeline Dr. And if he attended his home school, may have attended East Allegheny Junior-Senior High School. He also claimed to have gone to Carlow University. If that is true, he might be traced through that connection. If I were someone whose work he stole, or someone who published his work under false pretenses, I'd be seeking legal recourse.
Did you see that he submitted a famous Ezra Pound poem (“In a Station of the Metro”) and got it accepted? Amazing that the lit mag didn’t recognize the poem, but he is clearly “having one on.”
Oh Reader magazine received a submission from John Kucera, but didn't accept any of "his" poems for publication. On investigation, the five poems that he submitted were plagiarized. Interestingly, when you run these poems through a plagiarism checker, they come up as "unique" or "not plagiarized." So, without any reliable way of checking, we editors are at the mercy of these fools.
After this latest lit mag news, I think I'm going to stop apologizing for being cynical.
There is something wicked in this very obvious and public plagiarism. It's up to the magazines who've been duped to get Submittable to ban this person. However, if he had plagiarized me, I would get a lawyer to contact Submittable, demand the offender's contact information, and sue his pants off. I am sure that the AG would be pleased to offer assistance. "John Kucera" needs to be taken to court for fraud and theft of intellectual property.
"people are strange when you're a lit mag!" made me laugh aloud thank u
Regarding your “blacklist”, I’ve submitted to 4 of these in the past. Last Resort did respond, in about 3 months. Sterling Clack Clack, Juxtaprose did not. White Pine took a year to send their rejection. As far as Bangalore Review goes, I published with them 5 or 6 years ago, and nothing seemed sketchy at the time.
Have lit mags ever thought of using plagiarism detection software? Teachers have been dealing with this problem for a long time.
Beware of Submittable! It’s been hacked. My credit card was falsely charged for a “DatingService” after I submitted a nonfiction piece to several lit mags.
That is awful, Perle. Were these mags that charged a submission fee? Otherwise, why would your credit card number be available on Submittable? And I echo Liz's question: when did this happen?
Oh, no!! When did this happen?
Becky, this news summary is very helpful. I know some children who might be interested in the new magazine Wild Honey. I have a lot of great-nieces and great-nephews who are very creative, and I tutor a middle-school student who writes good fiction and poetry. Thank you for posting this! Best wishes for 2024! Janet
Pathetic "poet"
Off topic but ... if submission fees are the only way a lit mag can remain in business maybe it shouldn't be in business.
Sorry, Friday, January 26th.
The credit card fraud was detected by my bank and traced to Submittable on Friday, January 25.
Some of the mags charged a fee. Several of these submissions were sent months ago; others went out fairly recently. As I noted in a previous comment, the credit card was compromised on Friday, January 26. The bank traced the credit card fraud to Submittable, so I assumed that Submittable was hacked.
Becky, I haven't taken my aged aching body to a hot yoga class for a few weeks. Now I feel motivated (shamed) by you to do so asap! Thanks.
Haha. Mission accomplished!
Friday, January 26, 2024.
Did John Kucera go to Harvard? Something tells me he might have. But why are we referring to him as “he”? Perhaps John Kucera is a woman using a pseudonym. My own suspicion is that he is “having one on,” as the Brits say. Probably tired of getting rejection notes and decided to do something about it. And shutting down his Submittable account won't do a thing. He's already had his fun.
I saw online that an alternate name was John Siepkes. It only took a very cursory google search to find the obituary of a Mary Ann Siepkes, maiden name Kucera, survived by a son, John Siepkes. Seems possible he just used his mother's maiden name when submitting work. He may be very well "having one on." But in the the (admittedly few) instances in which I have had work accepted for publication, I have signed a contract attesting that the work is my own. To the extent that he violated terms of contracts he may have signed, and accepted payment for work that was plagiarized, I would assume there is some legal recourse, should those affected wish to pursue it. Again, cursory google searches suggest he may have grown up in North Versailles, Pennsylvania. Perhaps on Angeline Dr. And if he attended his home school, may have attended East Allegheny Junior-Senior High School. He also claimed to have gone to Carlow University. If that is true, he might be traced through that connection. If I were someone whose work he stole, or someone who published his work under false pretenses, I'd be seeking legal recourse.
Did you see that he submitted a famous Ezra Pound poem (“In a Station of the Metro”) and got it accepted? Amazing that the lit mag didn’t recognize the poem, but he is clearly “having one on.”
Class action copyright infringement lawsuit, perhaps?