Whispers And Warnings For June 18th

Links to the stories below can be found here:
https://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9374
THIS WASN’T A SURPRISE
Gossip site wins appeal of cheerleader’s libel lawsuit
“A former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader should not have been allowed to sue an Arizona-based gossip website over online posts about her sexual history, an appeals court ruled Monday in a case watched closely by Internet giants including Google and Facebook.”
WHEN DMCA TAKEDOWN NOTICES ARE ABUSED
Wordpress hits false DMCA takedown with demand for $10k
“One area where we’ve seen a number of problems is the censoring of criticism through abuse of copyright law…. A common form of censorship by copyright stems from improper use of legal creations called DMCA takedown notices. The DMCA system works pretty well, but has a few overlooked flaws that have made it too easy to abuse.” – Wordpress general counsel Paul Sieminski
LINKEDIN SUED FOR THEIR UNRELENTING “SPAMVITATIONS”
Email Invites From LinkedIn Criticized As Sp*m, Lawsuit Filed
“The complaint is based on the LinkedIn feature that invites new users to ‘Connect with people you know’ as well as to existing users to ‘See who you already know.’ It makes matches based on users’ email address books and then emails the contacts with automated emails – and worse, it follows up twice!”
CAN WE ALL JUST GET ALONG, AND MOVE ON?
Apple, States Settle E-Book Damages Phase
“In a major turn of events, attorneys for the plaintiff states and consumer class informed Judge Denise Cote on Monday that they have reached a tentative settlement with Apple on monetary damages.”
INTERESTING THAT IT’S ILLEGAL FOR GROUPS TO LIE DURING POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS…BUT POLITICIANS GET AWAY WITH IT ON A DAILY BASIS.
Supreme Court Delivers Key Free Speech Decision
“This decision affirms the principle that a person, organization or business should not have to risk prosecution to challenge the constitutionality of a law,” said David Horowitz, executive director of Media Coalition…
Links to the stories above can be found here:
https://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9374
RELATED:
Archived Whispers and Warnings are HERE.

Matt And Sarah Were Here!!

Many of you remember Matt, our (unofficially) adopted son who came to live with us many years ago. He worked for BookLocker and WritersWeekly for years and he still does ebook conversion work for us on the side. After college, he moved to New York to attend Columbia for his Master’s. He then landed a super job in Boston doing actuarial work, which has always been his dream (yes, we don’t understand that level of attraction to math, either, but he’s happy!).
Matt and his fiance, Sarah, who we also adore, were here over the weekend and we all had a blast…

Top 10 Mistakes New Authors Make When Contacting Libraries

Top 10 Mistakes New Authors Make When Contacting Libraries

I just finished reading your article on the mistakes authors make trying to get their books into libraries. I thought all of the points were spot on. I would like to add that many libraries are always interested in hearing from local authors. In fact, my hometown library has a special collection devoted to this very thing. They try to make an effort to purchase titles by local authors or, in some cases, the authors themselves donate copies. Either way, authors should try to reach out to their local library (if they haven’t already), or even libraries in their region or home state.
Another idea is to perhaps offer to do a book talk at the library. In this case, you may be able to sell your book on site (depending on the library policy) or the library may wish to purchase copies in order to support your presentation.
I think the opportunities are there for authors, especially since more and more authors are going the self-publishing route. The relationship does not necessarily have to be antagonistic on either end.
-a librarian
RELATED:
Top 10 Mistakes New Authors Make When Contacting Libraries
How to Market Your Book to Libraries
What Has Your Library Done for You Lately?
Library “Gifts” And Copyright Harvesting – AUTHOR BEWARE
Whoo-Whee! Now, That’s One Snotty Librarian!

WritersWeekly Has Blacklisted Another Publication That Charges Reading Fees

Could you be a bit too hasty to blacklist small publishers over fees?
That most recent one was being overwhelmed by online submissions. The only work an ‘author’ had to do was hit send. The receiver had a lot of work to do to separate out the sewerage and sludge to even reach the slush. Couldn’t the authors still send it in by snail mail the old fashioned way and NOT pay a fee?
Additionally, university presses traditionally charge fees due to the low demand academic oriented work they publish.
This cooperative/subsidy publishing is a long established norm in the university world and the only way such work would get published.
It is not the traditional vanity press as the work is vetted. But you recently blacklisted a university publication for the fee issue.
Now you are certainly free to blacklist anyone you want, I wonder if you are really doing it to help people more than you enjoy doing it…

From Giving Free Advice To Leading A Successful Workshop By Ann Goldberg

As an active member of several writers’ forums, I often answer questions from new writers. I know how lonely the life of a freelance writer can be, and how much difference getting some advice, a helping hand, and sympathetic ear can make.
However, when people started contacting me off the forum, asking longer questions, wanting marketing advice, and asking me to critique their work, I realized that this had gone beyond a helping hand and I was in danger of spending half my working time writing for no pay…

Whispers And Warnings For June 11th

Links to the stories below can be found here:
https://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9373
ANOTHER CONTENT MILL BITES THE DUST. (GOOD RIDDANCE!)
Writing Life: Goodbye, Helium
“Helium announced it’s own demise recently, hardly surprising to hundreds of excellent writers who had already left in droves.”
THE SLOW DEMISE OF TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING
Hachette Book Group lays off 3% of its staff.
“Hachette says the layoffs were planned before its recent standoff with Amazon.com.”
AMAZON WON’T STOP UNTIL MILLIONS OF CUSTOMERS REVOLT
Colbert assails Amazon over delayed book shipments
“Saying that he’s not just mad at Amazon, but ‘mad prime,’ Colbert assailed the online retailer on his Comedy Central program Wednesday night.”
WALMART…AND THE WALMART OF THE INTERNET (AMAZON)
Walmart Cashes In On Amazon’s Feud With French Publisher Hachette
“As a result of discounted titles filling the vacuum left by Amazon, Walmart has reported an increase of 70 percent in sales as of Tuesday. Other booksellers are following suite.”
THE GOVERNMENT SUES A BLOGGER SO HE GETS FIRED FROM HIS GOVERNMENT JOB
Singapore blogger sued by PM for libel fired from job
“A Singaporean blogger sued by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong for libel has been fired from his job as a healthcare worker (for a government-run hospital) for ‘improper public conduct’, his employer said Tuesday.”
IT’S ABOUT TIME!
Twenty Years Later, Landmark Digital Lawsuit Concludes
“Judge George Daniels yesterday approved a revised $18 million settlement in In Re Literary Works in Electronic Databases, culminating 20 years of litigation that began with the landmark Tasini vs. New York Times case.”
WE ARE WITNESSING THE THE DISSOLUTION OF COPYRIGHTS
Second Circuit Upholds HathiTrust Verdict
“In its decision Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit upheld Baer’s fair use analysis, holding that the scanning of entire works for the purpose of creating a full-text searchable database is ‘a quintessentially transformative use.’ The court also held that scanning entire works-and, indeed creating multiple copies of those works-was also permissible.”
Links to the stories above can be found here:
https://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9373
RELATED:
Whispers and Warnings Archives

Getting and Giving a Second Chance By Christine Laws

A friend had recommended me to a curriculum publisher. Could I revise workbooks for fifth-grade science? I said that I would give it a try, and soon a big box appeared on my porch.
I eagerly delved into the materials: course samples, manuals on how to design curriculum, workbooks to revise, and the fifth-grade science textbook. The cover art featured a wise-looking owl. Was I wise enough to rewrite ten science workbooks?