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Frederic S. Durbin. Author of Dragonfly (Arkham House/Ace). Short fiction in Cricket, CICADA, and Fantasy & Science Fiction. fredericsdurbin.com.
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Genetically engineered Apollo is five humans who think as one, created to be a starship pilot, only there are forces at work that have other plans for Apollo.
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Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
Tags: Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | No Comments »
Friday, March 12th, 2010
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
A content mill, if you aren't familiar with the term, is a website that aggregates huge numbers of articles on a constantly-updated basis, written by freelancers who are paid by page views or ad clicks rather than wages or fees. A few examples: Examiner, Suite101, eHow, Triond, Associated Content, Helium.
I've written on this blog about a number of content mills, focusing mainly on their Terms and Conditions and the implications for writers of the legal language contained therein. But are content mills worth writing for? Can you make money? Will they help you start or build a freelance writing career?
This week I'm hosting two guest posts that address these questions (both originally posted at The WM Freelance Writers Connection). The first is by journalist Carol Tice, who argues that content mills are not a good way for aspiring writers to establish a sustainable writing career.
As many WM readers and readers of my Make a Living Writing Blog may already know, I am not a fan of content mills. I advise the writers I mentor to avoid them, and many of my mentees approach me with the specific goal of kicking their mill-writing habit. (more...)
Tags: content mill, Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | No Comments »
Friday, March 5th, 2010
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
Did you know for only $24.95 a month, you can subscribe to a service that gives you access to a database of thousands of articles you can turn into ebooks?
If you're too lazy or too clueless to write a real book, now you slap your name on another person's work and get rich in the process. Or, so parasitic "Private Label Rights" services are leading an ever-growing number of suckers to believe. (more...) Tags: Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
Today, by unanimous decision, the US Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that tossed out a settlement reached in a landmark case involving electronic rights and copyright.
In 1999, the National Writers' Union filed suit against the New York Times and LexisNexis, among others, alleging copyright infringement due to the companies' re-use of printed articles and photographs in electronic databases (New York Times Co. v Tasini et al). The Times and other publishers argued that the right of reproduction and distribution included in collective copyrights gave them the right to digitize content without permission or payment to the authors. The NWU argued that electronic rights were separate and distinct, and that, since their contracts had not included a grant of e-rights, the Times and other publishers had violated their copyrights.
Tags: Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
The 2010 Creative Spirit Awards™ Celebrating the Creative Spirit in Books, Film, and Music!The March 1st Early Bird Deadline is approaching fast! If you haven’t already submitted, we invite you to submit today!
It's every Author, Musician and Filmmaker’s desire to generate notoriety, credibility and buzz about their work, and winning this significant award is the vehicle in which to make your creation stand out as the exemplary work it is. To further help winners achieve this recognition, following the close of the competition, press releases with information on the Creative Spirit Award™ Winners will be sent to key book sellers, film and music distributors, and other sales and marketing entities. Being a Creative Spirit Award™ winner will inspire confidence in buyers, distributors, readers and prospective clients that Creative Spirit Award™ winning productions are of high quality and worthy of their attention. The Creative Spirit Awards™ celebrate the individual artist as well as their work through a panel of judges who have excelled in their respective fields. As such, awards are only presented to those filmmakers, musicians and authors who create fresh, standout, and exemplary creations in their field. Each work is judged solely on its own merits and not in competition with other submissions. The Creative Spirit Awards™ honors its winners with Platinum, Gold, or Silver Awards.Googling "Creative Spirit Awards" reveals that many blogs and websites have posted this announcement, some with approving commentary. But a visit to the Creative Spirit website turns up a number of red flags. (more...)
Tags: Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
Tags: Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
by Victoria Strauss
Here's an email solicitation currently doing the rounds, from Linda Joy, President and Founder of Aspire Media Inc., and Publisher and Editor of Aspire Magazine:Will 2010 be YOUR year to embrace your wisdom, step forward and claim your dream of being a published author? If you answered YES then YOU may be one of the over 40 co-authors that I, along with my team of experts, will be working with this spring to bring your collective wisdom to the world!... Now, in a personal project of mine I will bring the same passion and commitment that I've brought to Aspire, to bring YOUR story, wisdom and insights as a co-author in my upcoming anthology: A Juicy, Joyful Life: Inspiration from Women who have Found the Sweetness in Every DayThe email includes a link, the clicking of which takes you to Inspired Living Publishing, publisher of the above-referenced anthology, first in the Inspired Living series. Here, "inspired, engaged entrepreneur[s]" who are "ready to move forward with the vision for your business and your desire to be a published author" can sign up for "updates on this exciting new opportunity." (more...)
Tags: Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | No Comments »
Friday, February 12th, 2010
Earlier this week, I received an email from a company called MyFreeRead.com, enticingly titled, "Authors: We Want Your e-Books & Articles!"
Dear Authors, We want your e-books -- and we'll pay you for them!! * e-Books * Newsletters * Excerpts from books * Self-Published Articles Now, there's a new idea... actually get paid for writing your e-books and articles! We're launching a brand new website, where visitors can download free e-books on everything from running a business to fixing a car... and WE PAY OUR AUTHORS US $0.20 every time an e-book is successfully downloaded!Gee, 20 cents a download--who could resist? Me, for one. I might have written this off as just one more random spam--but then I began hearing from writers who'd gotten the very same email offer. The volume of questions began to suggest a sizeable spam campaign, which always gets my Writer Beware radar twitching. (more...)
Tags: victoria strauss, Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
Tags: Google Book Settlement, Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 5th, 2010
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware
Hey, Published Authors: Feeling artistically discouraged? Critically devalued? Culturally marginalized? Alternatively, are you just so full of self-admiration and self-confidence that you could absolutely pop?
A Customized Author Plaque from ZLS Publishing (“The Authorpreneurial Publisher”) might be just the thing. (more…)
Tags: Writer Beware
Posted in SFWA Blog, Writer Beware | 1 Comment »