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Category Archives: Publishing
Publisher Sues Prison Chief Over Book Ban
Prison Legal News, a nonprofit publisher, is suing the Massachusetts Department of Correction Commissioner over a prison book policy that allows “only approved vendors to send books to prisoners.” The publisher is not on the list and believes the list is unconstitutional. I think prisons ought to have tight controls on inmate reading, even though that could lead to problems like this perhaps or a subtle indoctrination of another kind.
Back2Press Books For Failed Authors
The Wicked Witch of Publishing, herself a three-time author, has launched a publishing company aimed at putting out of print books back on the shelf. Back2Press Books invites authors to join “THE 100,000+ CLUB” if they own the rights to their already published book and that book sold over 100k while in print.
“The problem is that publishing companies are content, even ecstatic, if a book sells more than 10,000 copies, let alone 100,000. Rarely do they continue to promote a proven bestseller at the expense of the newer books currently in the pipeline. After months or even years of helping to fill the publisher’s coffers, the 100,000+ bestseller eventually dies an unnatural death from negligent homicide,” says Scanlon [WWP].
WWP is the author of a book on the cure for jet lag, which appears to be the real deal and is available again at a discount prior to the official publishing release.
Hoopla!
I’m delighted to report that I have received verbal (actually e-mail) acceptance of one of my novels by a new publisher.
I’m going to be discreet about naming names at this point, before a contract has actually been signed. I’ll say that the publisher is a newish Christian house, and that I will be their first fiction author.
The novel is West Oversea, the third volume in The Saga of Erling Skjalgsson.
Knock, Knock. I’ve Come to Burgle Something.
Spliting Up Over Plagiarism
A romance author and her publisher are divorcing after “irreconcilable editorial differences” developed over the last few months. At first the publisher defended the writer, saying copied passages from resource material was acceptably or fairly used, but they have since changed their minds.
Author Nora Roberts commented, “By my definition, copying another’s work and passing it as your own equals plagiarism.”
New Imprint Will Reject Booksellers Returns
A new imprint from HarperCollins plans to publish 25 “short” books a year at competitive prices with “nonreturnable shipments to stores and lowered money to authors up front in exchange for increased profit sharing.”
Robert S. Miller will lead this initiative which has yet to be named. He said, “Our goal will be to effectively publish books that might not otherwise emerge in an increasingly ‘big book’ environment, an environment in which established authors are under enormous pressure to top their previous successes, while new authors are finding it harder and harder to be published at all.”
Miller hopes to convince booksellers they need to take on more risk for the books they order instead of leaving the risk entirely to publishers. The rate of return is “around 40 percent.” Sounds like Miller has an uphill battle to fight. (via Books, Inq)
More on this from writer Roger Simon.
Changes at Relief
Bertrand points out changes at Relief Journal. He writes, “By the way, if you don’t subscribe to Relief Journal, you should. It’s an ambitious magazine that’s already managed to publish some amazing work, and it gets better and better. Follow the link and find out for yourself. And if you’re planning to attend the Calvin Festival next month, be sure to stop by the Relief booth and say hello!”
I am uncultured swine, because I have allowed my subscription to lapse. I’ll rectify that soon. I wanted to go to the Calvin Fest too, until I learned how much it would cost me to attend. I’m just a poor graphic designer, relatively speaking–too poor to stay in Grand Rapids for a few days.
Should Older Books be Modernized?
No, not modernizing The Count of Monte Cristo or Oliver Twist, if that were possible. The question is should pop lit books from several years ago be modernized for today’s readers with no sense of history. Speaking of Sweet Valley High, BuzzSugar says, “It’s as though Random House sat down with the ’80s editions and thought, ‘huh, these unrealistic expectations just aren’t quite unrealistic enough!'”
In other bad news, Madonna apparently wants to remake Casablanca and set it in Iraq. This is a rumor, but the article quotes an unnamed source: “She and her representatives have been touting around a project which is a remake of Casablanca. The reception has been lukewarm to say the least.”
Blogger Bags Book Deal
I learned about the blog “Stuff White People Like” from Jared at Thinklings. Can’t say I would have clicked on a link to this blog if I had seen it in a list of 10 popular or interesting blogs from some reputable site, but I saw in the NY Times that the writer has received a book deal at $300k. The writer, Christian Lander, comments on this deal:
The combination of white people and books has been a pretty solid combo for the past few hundred years. So whenever a white person is given a chance to write a book, it’s considered a pretty big deal. This is especially true when it happens to someone who started a blog that they never expected to reach more than 100 people.
I gather this is site is inline with the white mascot joke seen in this remarkable line of products, though maybe it’s the reverse of that. Either way, Random House thinks Lander has something going for him, so bully for him.