You wouldn’t believe the excitement! It had not been long since Abram had finished his first novel. It was called “Going! Going! Wait!” He had boasted about it online and then… WHAM! … a message came from a publisher:
WE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN HAVING A LOOK AT IT.
“I guess I just struck it lucky,” said Abram.
He sent a copy off to the publisher immediately, and waited…
…and waited …and waited. They never replied. He never heard back.
“I guess it’s not going to get published,” said Abram.
But what Abram didn’t know was that it had been published. It had been translated into Chinese under a different author and name – along with thousands of other Western novels. The “publisher” made a pretty penny, and still does to this day.
Weave a Web 
Mama Mia! Which means all my novels have been published in Chinese, Arabian and a zillion other scripts already?
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Although I made it up, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be true in reality!
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As a matter of fact, it has happened with me when I was much younger. The story I had sent to a children’s magazine was returned to me with a rejection slip but a barely modified version was run by the magazine under a different name shortly afterwards. I guess it happened circa 1979.
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Wow! I always joked that I’d be tickled pink if someone copied something I’d written. Now I think I’d get a bit annoyed, I had a story (on this blog when the blog was a success) that Google had as Number One for several years if you searched “family picnic”. It would have 20/30 hits a day. Goodness knows how many teens copied that story and handed it to their teacher. “Family Picnic” is a more than common essay writing topic set by teachers!
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Haha!
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I worked in South Korea, for five years, 1987-92. During that time, book piracy was treated as a joke by many. It would not be surprising, if this fiction mirrored reality.
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Ten years or so back – a Chinese translation company asked if I could send them a copy of my (unpublished) novel for consideration. I did so, and never heard again…
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This happens more often than you think. An author MUST investigate anyone he sends a manuscript to!
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I like to think that my novels are raging successes somewhere – never myself having found a publisher!
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Sure such things happen on a regular basis. O mensch.
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O mensch!…
Doch alle Lust will Ewigkeit –
– will tiefe, tiefe Ewigkeit!
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Und so ist es
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