After dealing with one plagiarism flare-up over its new book, Strong for a Moment Like This: The Daily Devotions of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Rev. Bill Shillady, Abingdon Press is pulling the title from shelves. The publisher conducted an “extensive review” of the content and discovered that additional passages had not been properly attributed by the author.
The book, which features a collection of 365 devotions written by Shillady and 20 others and sent to Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign, initially fell under fire just days before its publication on August 15. CNN broke the news that Shillady had included material originally written by Rev. Matthew Deuel without attribution.
After the CNN story broke, Shillady issued an apology and Abingdon received permission from Deuel to use the passages. The press also announced plans to reissue all future editions of Strong for a Moment Like This, with correct citations naming Deuel.
A spokesperson for Abingdon said that the amount of unattributed content discovered during the recent review was “significant enough to make this difficult decision." Although Abingdon is pulling the book, there is a chance it could be reissued; the spokesperson noted that no decision has been made about reissuing Strong for a Moment Like This with correct attributions.
In a statement, Abingdon's president and publisher, Rev. Brian K. Milford, said the house's discovery has led it to "discontinue sales, remove existing copies from all sales outlets, and have them destroyed along with our existing inventory." He went on: "We are contacting all writers and contributors involved; we deeply appreciate their time and understanding, as well as the cooperation of our valued trade partners.”
Milford added that Abingdon authors are under a contractual guarantee that their uncited material is original to them, and that the press is “thoroughly examining our internal verification processes.”
Strong for a Moment Like This has sold about 3,000 copies since its Aug. 15 publication, according to NPD BookScan.