A (local) man decided to do an anthology with the proceeds going to a charity. I submitted a poem and it was accepted with a small, simple contract offered. Everything was fine until the anthology came out and the man had listed himself and his wife as the authors of the book. Now, individual poems were listed by author but the cover / title page and back of title page showed the couple as authors.
One of the reasons I am employed as a writer is because I talk to people — in the check-out line, the doctor’s office, the vet, the post office, the nail salon, to name a few — because I want people to know who I am and what I do, just in case they’re ever in need of one. How often have you been at a party to hear someone bellow, “Is there a writer in the house?” How about never? Gab, and you shall be rewarded. It doesn’t pay to be shy under any circumstances.
PublishAmerica / PublishAmerica.com – Class action lawsuit filed by authors.
VTi Group / publisher Shawna Vercher – Must pay author $1.3 MILLION for “breach of contract, conspiracy to commit civil theft, civil theft, intentional infliction of emotional distress and tortious interference with business relations.”
We had a humdinger of a storm last weekend. We were first alerted when the news flashed a warning that there was a waterspout offshore and that the front of the storm would arrive in exactly 17 minutes. After chuckling about our first waterspout, we put made sure everything was secure outside and then I put helmets on Max and Mason and gave one to Frank (age 19) in case he needed one, too. Laugh all you want but I keep their bike helmets handy after reading THIS STORY.
For the past six weeks, we’ve spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of entries submitted for the Spring, 2012 24-Hour Short Story Contest. In case you’re not familiar with our quarterly contest, this is how it works. On the date of the contest, at start-time, we send out the topic for that specific contest to all registered entrants, while also posting it online. Entrants then have 24 hours to write and submit their stories. The stories “must deal with the topic in some way to qualify” and they must not exceed the pre-assigned word count.
After reading the entries for each contest, we can see how difficult it is to come up with a unique plot when working with an assigned topic. But, inevitably, a few writers do manage to successfully break away from the pack.
So, today, taste the salt on your lips and feel the sun baking your skin…
I am not a rock star. And yet, when Examiner.com hired me in their first wave a few years back, that’s what they promised. What I was, I think, was a shill. After a couple of years, and with no way to even review horrific ad hominem attacks before they were appended to one’s columns–and hard on the heels of an Examiner.com editor bowing to pressure from a single reader who didn’t like something I had written and telling me to write otherwise–I quit. I was writing on ethics, by the way, and the editor in question was acting, in my opinion, highly unethically, especially for a so-called news outlet.
Two years ago, I quit my full-time job as a marketing professional to follow my dream and become a freelance writer. Eager to escape the gray cubicle walls that confined me, I conjured images of myself lounging on the sofa in my pajamas, my laptop resting on my knees as I methodically tapped out story after story. I enjoyed my new wardrobe – happy to have ditched the high-heels and pencil skirts – and relished the freedom to make my own schedule, but was shocked to find that I missed the office. Well, not the office exactly, but the daily jaunts to the coffee shop downstairs, chatting with co-workers in the office kitchen and team meetings that I’d previously found tedious and futile that now seemed welcome distractions to the loneliness I faced in my new life as a writer.
I was referred to you by a friend. I just found an article I wrote, that was published in March, also published in April in a completely different magazine. I had no idea it was being published in April, have never heard of the publication, and received no payment.
I am trying to figure out the best way to handle this… is this not copyright infringement?
In May of 2012, my first feature cover story in a print magazine was published. It seemed almost surreal to see that magazine cover and realize that people would be turning the pages to read what I had to say about the stunning young entertainment star on the glossy cover. It all began with replying to an ad for departmental writers for HerLife Magazine, back in the spring of 2011.
Times-Picayune – Being pressured by New Orleans civic leaders to “reverse its decision to reduce print publication to three days a week”
VTi Group / publisher Shawna Vercher – “Gambling NBA ref says his book publisher never paid him”
Philadelphia Magazine – Indie blogger has accused them of trying to get her fired
Joseph Farah, CEO and editor-in-chief of WorldNetDaily.com – Loses lawsuit against Esquire Magazine. Judge rules post was satire.
