Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

Writer Beware

MWA Weighs In On Harlequin Horizons

Today, Mystery Writers of America (a sponsor of Writer Beware, along with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) issued this announcement to its members:

Tags: Harlequin, MWA, Mystery Writers of America, Writer Beware

Harlequin Horizons: Another Major Publisher Adds A Self-Publishing Division

Writer Beware’s Victoria Strauss analyzes Harlequin Horizons and the trouble it presents for authors.

Tags: Harlequin, victoria strauss, Writer Beware

Agent Inbox

Yesterday, PW reported on the launch of AgentInbox, a new service from collaborative writing website WEbook.

“AgentInbox is a service that connects publication-ready authors with reputable, vetted literary agents,” says the service’s FAQ for writers. Writers enter their book’s “vital stats,” including title, genre, query letter, and all or part of the manuscript (there are several tutorials to help with the polishing process). They can then check AgentInbox’s roster of participating agents and choose which ones they’d like their submission to go to. WEbook staff pre-screens submissions, then forwards them on to the agents chosen.

Tags: agents, submissions, victoria strauss, Writer Beware

Revised Google Book Search Settlement Filed

On Friday, Google, the Association of American Publishers, and the Authors Guild filed a revised version of the Google Book Search Settlement. It’s now up to Judge Denny Chin to set dates for a notice period, an objection hearing, and the final Fairness Hearing.

Tags: victoria strauss, Writer Beware

Wanna Be a Virtual Author’s Assistant?…Maybe Not

As readers of this blog know, I’m fascinated by the strange phenomena that flourish at the fringes of the publishing world. So I was thrilled recently to discover yet another example: an online course that teaches people how to become Virtual Author’s Assistants.

Tags: Publishing, victoria strauss, Writer Beware

Blog Post/Article Roundup

Some blog posts and articles of interest from agents around the web.

Tags: Writer Beware

Rights and Copyright

Copyright, literally, is “the right to copy.” It guarantees the authors of creative works–including books, artworks, films, recordings, photographs–the exclusive right for a set period of time to allow other people to copy and distribute the work, by whatever means and in whatever media currently exist. It also prohibits copying and distributing without the author’s permission. You own copyright by law, automatically, as soon your work is fixed in tangible form–i.e., the minute you write down the words.

Tags: copyright, Publishing, victoria strauss, Writer Beware

Author Mills and a Request for Contact

Unlike commercial or trade publishers, whose business model is based on book volume (selling as many books as possible from a limited number of authors), author mills’ business model is based on author volume (selling a limited number of books from as many authors as possible). The most famous example of an author mill is PublishAmerica, but there are others, such as VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller, an academic author mill.

Tags: self-publishing, victoria strauss, Writer Beware

Why Referral Fees Present Ethical Problems

This is a followup to my post on Thomas Nelson’s new self-publishing division, West Bow Press–specifically, on Nelson’s plans to pay referral fees to agents and others who refer writers to West Bow.

Tags: self-publishing, Writer Beware

Thomas Nelson Adds Self-Publishing Imprint

As reported today in the Wall Street Journal, Thomas Nelson, a major independent Christian publisher, is adding a self-publishing line to its business.

Tags: self-publishing, Writer Beware

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