6/22/10 Writing and Publishing News

How can you protect your ideas before submitting? Should you sign a one-book or multi-book deal? How did Amazon almost put an indie publisher out of business? Are the British courts trying to fix libel law? When will the Google decision issue? Does age matter in Hollywood? These and other stories are in this week’s Write Report.


Where the law and literature meet:

Amazon nearly causes indie bookstore to shut down after it cuts off online store over customer satisfaction levels: http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2072859_amazon_cutoff_left_bookshop_out_of_pocket

Amazon to give fewer services to distributors and publishers who pay less: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/43488-new-amazon-program-spurs-complaints.html

Court gives no indication of when Google settlement decision will issue: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-20008346-265.html

Tales from the Shakespeare book thief trial: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/7844716/Librarians-heart-sank-on-seeing-damaged-Shakespeare-first-edition.html

British court raises standard for bringing libel claims in landmark ruling: http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=45595&c=1

12 most bizarre comedian lawsuits: http://comedy.com/2010/06/21/12-most-bizarre-comedian-lawsuits/

Writers Guild asks IMDB to remove ages from listings because, surprise, Hollywood discriminates based on age: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2010/06/writers-guild-pressures-imdb-to-remove-age-info.html

Attorney answers how you can protect your ideas before submitting: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/publishing/ask_a_lawyer_how_do_i_keep_them_from_stealing_my_idea_164032.asp

Hong Kong publisher halts Tiananmen Square book over copyright concerns: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jTDwszLhsGMN1NQAicjbOwjm5qCgD9GEP7J80

Agent talks about advantages of one book vs. multi-book contracts: http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2010/06/one-book-or-two-maybe-three.html



More headlines:

Very silly things heard at bookshops: http://www.responsesource.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=57303

Ebooks: Royalties vs. respect: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/06/21/ebooks-self-publishing-luminato.html

Geoffrey Hill wins Oxford Professor of Poetry slot in a landslide: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jun/18/oxford-professor-poetry-geoffrey-hill

How gadgets are affecting your brain: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html?scp=1&sq=brain%20computer&st=cse

Here’s a poll on which craze will be the new vampires in YA lit: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/22/the-new-vampires-9-possib_n_620202.html