Posted on March 13, 2023 at 9:43 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

For years, the publishing industry was plagued by a scammer who acquired manuscripts of books, yet never seemed to try to profit off of them.

Once Filippo Bernardini emerged as first a suspect and then the admitted culprit, some mystery to the crime remained: Why did he do it?

The Guardian reports that Bernardini — a rights coordinator for Simon & Schuster — explained, in court papers, that he envied the manuscript swapping he saw within the industry.

He began impersonating agents and publishers over email to obtain manuscripts and took joy in his early and limited access to them, he said.

Bernardini pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, relating to the theft of over a thousand manuscripts, in January; he'll be sentenced April 5.

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Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Publishing, The Guardian

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