Statement

Hi everyone. I have been saddened this past couple of days to have received several messages from 'followers' of another colouring blog, whom I won't name, alleging that I have 'stolen' the idea of reviewing colouring books. It was also phrased to me as 'stealing someone else's clientele'. I have found this bullying behaviour quite stressful, and frankly to have so much hostility directed towards me for doing something I love has been extremely upsetting.

I'd like to make a statement to those people who have messaged me, and the blog they have come from. 

Anyone can review any product, unless someone has obtained exclusive reviewing rights with an author or publisher. If this is the case, the publisher/author will inform the person of this fact when they make a request. Since I began this blog, I have been in contact with many, many different authors and publishers, NONE of whom have said they have given exclusive review rights to another party. The authors/publishers I have communicated with have gifted me review copies HAPPILY, many of them contacting me first. 


Let me reiterate: Unless an agreement has been made with an author/publisher,  NO ONE owns anyone else's work to say that they are THEIR products to review, or THEIR clientele alone.

Something I have been repeatedly accused of is liaising with the same publishers/authors as this other blog. The Adult Colouring book market is fairly new, and not saturated with vast amounts of books as other genres are. As bloggers for colouring, we are BOUND to come across the same publishers and books, and as long as we don't copy and paste each other's reviews and market them as our own, there's no harm in that! It's a perfectly standard procedure for an author/publisher to receive many requests for review copies of their work.

When a person has a product that is suitable for review, they want as many reviews as they can get. It's all publicity, it's all good! Unless those reviews are a carbon copy of someone else's words, there is no copyright infringement. To review the same book as someone else has reviewed is not copyright infringement. If it was, Amazon would only allow 1 review on their products, as would Goodreads! 

No one is ever going to be the only person reviewing a line of products, as nice as that might be, because no one owns the market. There is always going to be other blogs popping up- especially in this growing trend that is Adult Colouring. Here's the difference: I welcome it. I love reading other people's thoughts on books, and seeing their beautiful colouring. I'd love for Adult Colouring to have hundreds of blogs, getting the subject out there and sharing it with the world. I love chatting with other colourers and the community that is growing with it. After all, isn't this all supposed to be fun and enjoyable?

Another thing that's barely worth mentioning but has been directed at me a couple of times is that I 'stole' the phrase 'pen porn'! I had a good laugh about that one, especially as I checked the blog just out of curiosity and couldn't find the phrase anywhere- not that a phrase can be owned by anyone of course, unless you're some mega corporation!

I'd now like to mention the people who have been supportive of me in this venture, and the lovely comments I have received on my blog and Facebook page so far. Your continued support is helping keep a smile on my face and my spirits up, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you.