Writer Beware

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

The publishing news of the week–maybe of the year–is the collapse of Borders, the USA’s second largest bookstore chain.

Authors, publishers and Google have filed a stipulation asking the Court to extend the deadline for filing claims to receive an upfront payment — a “Cash Payment” — in the Google Book Search settlement.

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

Today, author Marian Perera reviews a book I often recommend for writers who are interested in learning the basics of self-protection in the shark-infested waters of writing and publishing: The Street-Smart…

One of the important negotiation points for life-of-copyright publishing contracts is including provisions in the termination clause that oblige the publisher to take the work out of print when sales or royalties drop below a minimum level.

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware

Oprah. The mere mention of her name sets writers’ (and let’s face it, publishers’) hearts aflutter. Oprah, maker of best sellers. Oprah, whose most offhand endorsement can generate massive sales.

Many of you may already be familiar with the names in the title of this post. If you’re not, have a look at this Alert on the Writer Beware website, and at my September 2009 post about the Florida Attorney General’s civil lawsuit against Fletcher, his companies, and some of his business associates for deceptive business practices.

New language in the termination provision of the Harper’s boilerplate gives them the right to cancel a contract if “Author’s conduct evidences a lack of due regard for public conventions and morals, or if Author commits a crime or any other act that will tend to bring Author into serious contempt, and such behavior would materially damage the Work’s reputation or sales.”

I don’t often write posts like this, because it’s really like shooting fish in a barrel. And there are so many red flags here that savvy writers may wonder why I bother. But there are a lot of new writers searching for agents, many of whom are probably new to Writer Beware, and may not yet be clear on what to watch out for.

I’m behind the eight ball with this post, because home renovation insanity has kept me more or less offline for the past few days. Many other bloggers have beaten me to the punch with commentary on this contest, so there’s already quite a bit of information out there.

Received in email this morning via Google Alerts: this press release from an outfit called 3L Publishing, announcing publication of a book called Vanity Circus: A Smart Girl’s Guide to Avoid Publishing Crap.