Every Saturday I’ll be posting a Week In Review, looking back at what happened over the last seven days. Included will be news from Scribblerati and the publishing industry at large, things we writers on the edge should be informed of. Here you’ll get a taste of what you may have missed over the week while busy writing or living Real Life.
In Scribblerati news, Scribblers on the Edge gained an Editor in Chief (me!) and moved from Blogger to WordPress, allowing for a sleeker design and greater control. Don’t get me wrong, I love Blogger and use it myself, but with so many collaborators at the Edge and many more to join in future, WordPress was, in the end, the way to go.
Scribblerati has also stretched our wings into video via Vimeo. It’s a place to post book trailers, vlogs, or anything on your mind. Still in it’s fledgling state, it’s open for anyone who’s a member of Scribblerati.com. Check it out, post some videos, comment on others, and enjoy the written word in visual format.
In publishing news, the Authors Guild isn’t very happy with Random House regarding ebook editions of older contracts. The disagreement is essentially about contracts prior to 1994, which Random claims they own ebook rights for and the Guild argues otherwise, pointing out the Random-Rosetta Books dispute in 2001, which Random lost. These older contracts don’t expressly include ebooks, and yet Random House sites lines from the contracts “in book form” or “in all editions” does include them.
Why does this matter? Because of the precedence any potential legal battles could set. Random is basically stating a vague inclusionary phrase applies to formats that barely existed when the contract was drafted and signed. This dispute is something to keep an eye on, especially if you’re close to or have yet to sign contracts with publishers.
Google has been found guilty by a French court for copyright infringement by digitizing and posting excerpts online, and is ordered to pay $430K. Google is planning to appeal, claiming they had believed to have been in compliance with the French copyright laws.
In somewhat older news, Jodi Reamer, the agent for author Stephenie Meyer of Twilight fame, sold a three book deal to Penguin Young Readers for a whopping 7 figure deal. This was the end of a hot auction with seven other publishing houses for newcomer Ally Condie’s dystopian series likened to Brave New World and The Handmaid’s Tale. The article likens Reamer’s new client with Meyer, and it’s obvious both parties are expecting Condie’s books to sell as well or better than the Twilight series. Condie has books published in the national and LDS Young Adult markets.
There is also still much being said about publishing houses choosing to delay ebook copies for new releases by four months, if not more. Really, I could link you to a plethora of websites and blogs that take sides on the matter, but Nathan Bransford’s post is a good place to start, as is Booksquare’s look at the letter from Nat Sobel that sparked this move. There are strong supporters on both sides, obvious by the explosion of blogs and articles since the announcements. What say you?
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Thank you for this, Brittany! Very helpful to get a round-up with links at the end of the week when I tend to have a bit more time to sit and read them. What a great idea!
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