[Vision2020] A question for the lovely and talented Joan aka Auntieor any other writing type people on this forum

[joanopyr at earthlink.net]

Tim Rigsby asks:

"Ms. Joan or any other authors on this forum, Bill London included:

I noticed that Moscow's favorite Neo-Con Christian author is re-releasing
his book (can't italicize of underline here) Southern Slavery as it Was
that he co-authored/edited.  I see that he has changed the title from
Southern Slavery to either Black and Tan or Regenerate but Unreconstructed.
Is this a common thing for a writer to do when they re-release a second
edition of a book?  I know that with college textbooks, when they change
editions, the title generally stays the same.

Could you provide some insight from a well-versed writer on the norm of a
new edition of a book like Southern Slavery?"

Well, Tim, I'm only now publishing my first book, but I know the answer to
your question.  I worked in library acquisitions for many years, and I have
been a writer/editor for nearly twenty years.  (I was also a book reviewer
for the Raleigh News and Observer in the late 80s, early 90s.)  Doug is not
publishing a new edition of Southern Slavery As It Was; he's publishing a
new book.  Hence, the new title.  All of the plagiarized pieces of Southern
Slavery As It Was will have been edited out, leaving him with . . . hell, I
don't know, three pages and an index?  Calling Degenerate and Unredeemed
(or whatever the title is) a new edition of Southern Slavery As It Was is a
face-saving ploy.  The book was originally published in 1996.  Nearly nine
years later, Doug has finally admitted to the plagiarism (sort of).  After
World magazine published an investigative piece critical of Doug's work, he
posted a mea culpa to his blog.  This was last week, I believe.  It would
also seem that Canon, Doug's vanity press, has been obliged to issue a
letter of apology to the authors of Time on the Cross, Fogel and Engermann,
for quoting from that work so freely and without proper attribution.   

Were you living in Moscow last year when the Credenda Agenda "history"
conference blew up in Mr. Wilson's face?  I remember the scene fondly -- it
was like a pie fight in a Three Stooges movie.  I refer you and any other
interested Visionaries to an interview Doug gave to the Daily News sometime
in late November/early December 2002 in which he asserted that he never
backed down and he never apologized; in short, he implied that he was never
wrong.  His hubris notwithstanding, it wasn't long after that that he
pulled Southern Slavery As It Was from the Canon Press shelves and
announced that he would be writing and publishing a "new edition."  New
editions do not typically have new titles.  Neither, of course, is it
typical for an author to have to retract fully one-third of his or her book.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment

PS: Drop me a line, Tim, and we'll meet for coffee.  Let's be sure to
announce the time and the place publicly in case Doug wants to come along
and give us autographed copies of his new book.  I'm ready and willing to
review it for New West magazine.  Doug's history makes for better fantasy
fiction than Harry Potter.