Google has long stated that its main goal is to make all the information in the world accessible to everyone, and its latest step toward doing so has been to undertake an ambitious book digitization project that would eventually allow Google to sell digital copies of millions of books. However, this project, as well as a forthcoming U.S. legal settlement regarding the issue, has met staunch resistance from several groups throughout Europe for alleged copyright infringement.
 
So far, Google’s project has the support of several big-name European publishers, among them Oxford University Press and Bertselmann and Holtzbrinck, owners of Random House …read more

As one of the most omnipresent entities on the Internet, Google has faced a slew of allegations from industry experts and competitors alike about its purported monopoly of the search engine business. While it has not yet been found in violation of monopoly laws, Google has yet another battle to fight, this time regarding Google’s plans to make an online database of books. 
 
Google’s $125 million settlement with several book publishers concerning copyright issues has raised several eyebrows. Antitrust supporters worry that Google’s plans to make an online database of out-of-print books would make Google the only supplier of these books, …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
The other day a writing buddy of mine called. He was tempted to take a writing gig that paid way less than half of what she normally gets. True, it was a rather unique opportunity with a major trade publisher. If he did this job well he’d have an excellent contact which might lead to more lucrative work in the future. It wasn’t, however, a book, nor did it earn royalties. In my mind, the “might lead to more lucrative work” some day, some time down the road is, well, most often futile.
We’re close so I asked him what …read more

(www.thegoldenpencil.com)
Joe Wikert does it again, this time by pointing to a new blog called Self Publishing Today. The author is Ray Robinson who is with Dog Ear Publishing, a company that offers a variety of self-publishing services.
The blog looks good. For example, on August 25, Robinson posted Self Publishing Hits – The Lace Reader, Brunonia Barry and Lorna Page. He tells the story of self-published fiction that went mainstream with a 2 million dollar advance. But he does more than just report that fact. If you read the whole entry you’ll find all sorts of marketing hints.
On August 19th, …read more

Writer Mark Hurst, author of Bit Literacy which as he puts it, he ended up self-publishing, has a post over at Good Experience called Secrets of book publishing I wish I had known.
I found the post through Joe Wikert’s Publishing 2020 blog in an article called: An Author Shares His Secrets. It’s worth reading both. Mark is horribly unhappy with traditional publishing, and he spells out his reasons clearly. He’s also got some book marketing tips.
While Joe doesn’t exactly say that Mark is wrong, in fact he points to places Mark is right, Joe is far more comfortable with …read more

Hmmm. I thought the key phrase how to write would bring up a bunch of blogs that might fall under the rubric of getting the writing done. Not so. After 45 minutes of messing around, these three are the ones I found that make any sense at all.

ReadWriteWeb – not exactly about how to write, but lots of tech tips, many of which writers will find useful or interesting.
Writing to Done, professional writer Leo Babauta’s blog about writing. I like this one and have subscribed. And sometimes I think I understand the title
Keen To Write A Business Book? at Home …read more

Mary Emma Allen who blogs at HomeBizNotes is focusing July on how writing and publishing fits in as a home based business. She’s done considerable writing herself and I, for one, am going to keep an eye on her blog to see what she’s up to. I’m bound to learn something.
Today her post is titled: Thursday Thirteen – 13 Home Based Writing Businesses
I added commercial writing in the comment section… what else did the two of us miss?
Write well and often,

Two newsletters:
Abundant Freelance Writing – a resource for freelance writers including 3x a week job postings.
Writing With Vision – for …read more

Let’s see… no particular focus this morning, at least not at the moment.

Contract Worker, a b5media blog, almost always seems to have something relevant for freelance writers and editors. Take, for example: Why Self-Promotion is a Must

Copyblogger is another mainstay, even if you’re not writing copy. In fact, I can’t think of a genre that wouldn’t often benefit from this blog.
Georgianne Nienaber, investigative environmental writer is just flat amazing. Her work almost makes me which I’d become an investigative reporter.
Chris Garrett who writes about “The Business of Blogging and New Media.” often has interesting and valuable things to day to …read more

Just in case I haven’t been clear, if you want to be a freelance writer, go for it. Ignore the naysayers; it’s worked for me and it’s worked for others.
Liz Strauss over at Successful Blog has a two parter that demonstrates the point. The first, The power of survival stories, saying “damn it all” and tuning out the “no” noise by J.C. Hutchins is the story of how Hutchins turned his long, long science fiction novel into a series of free podcasts that resulted in a book contract with St. Martins Press. It’s an inspiring story and I’m starting to …read more

Hey Anne,
I’m writing a memoir. Some people know that, some don’t. I blog about it from time to time. Anyway, I spent a couple of hours last night with my nose buried in 2007 Writer’s Markets. Read up on literary agents, made note of those who represent memoirs, and studied the examples for good and bad nonfiction book queries.
My problem is, I don’t really understand the chain-of-command, so to speak. How it all works. Do I query a literary agent about my memoir, or a publisher? What about an editor – where …read more