Okay, that is an intentionally provocative question. Rather than tease you any more, I will tell you that plagiarism is okay when you are plagiarizing yourself. This subject came up as I began to write the introduction for my forthcoming book, Serious Doubts (working title). The structure of Serious Doubts is very similar to the structure of my most recent book, So Why Have You Been Married? Both books are based on primary research, which includes an online survey and multiple one-on-one interviews.
The introduction of my most recent book has a certain structure to it also, which includes explaining the methodology of my research and sharing some of the research results. The structure of that introduction makes perfect sense for my forthcoming book too, so why change things? I made the creative decision to keep most of the dialogue from the introduction of my last book and use it in my next book, in essence, plagiarizing myself.
When it is complete, if someone were to read my new book immediately after my previous book there is no doubt they would see the similarity in the introductions, and may even become a little suspicious. That isn’t likely to happen because the markets for the two books are so different. But ultimately, who cares? The real content of the book is what happens after the introduction. And if by plagiarizing myself I finish the new book that much sooner, and the consumer gets to read it that much quicker, then it is worth it. How do you feel about this? Do you think it is okay to plagiarize yourself? Let me hear from you.
