Intellectual Property Issues

Thursday Midday Links: Thinking of Buying a Dorchester Book?

Barnes and Noble is going to be selling the nook in Wal-mart stores next to the iPad starting October 24, 2010. The wifi iPad will also be offered in Verizon stores beginning October 28. Be careful of the “packages” that Verizon is offering because there doesn’t seem to be much of a savings. BN has(…)

Originality in Genre Fiction – An Oxymoron?

Originality in Genre Fiction – An Oxymoron?

Genre fiction rides a thin line between consistent recognizability and appealing freshness. Often referred to as "a narrative archetype," the form of genre fiction is often denigrated as "formulaic" and derivative (Pam Regis, A Natural History of The Romance Novel, 23). In truth, there has to be something fundamental and formalistic that binds a group(…)

Wednesday Midday News:  Update on the Agony/Ecstasy Anthology

Wednesday Midday News: Update on the Agony/Ecstasy Anthology

China has quickly become the second largest consumer of digital books. The India Times reports last year, e-book sales reached 3.82m in China and accounted for more than 20% of the world’s total in the first half of this year. Allowing readers globally to have a legitimate path to purchase is really important in these(…)

Tuesday Midday Links: It’s Banned Book Week & October New Releases

Tuesday Midday Links: It’s Banned Book Week & October New Releases

This week is banned book week, a week that celebrates literature and reminds us all to remain vigilant against efforts to remove books from our libraries. The books challenged aren’t on how to make a dirty bomb or how to organize your own chapter of the KKK but books that have dirty language in them(…)

What’s the Future of DRM?

Disclaimer:   While I am an attorney, the following should not be construed as legal advice. Each case, the application of law to that case, and each client and lawyer are unique to that particular case.   If you feel like this is an issue which may affect you, please   seek professional help. On Mike Cane’s blog,(…)

Tuesday Morning Links:  Real Life Romance

Tuesday Morning Links: Real Life Romance

Borders opens its ebook store to the public. It sells epubbed books using the standard epub encryption. Borders ebooks can be read on all devices that read epub. It is fulfilled by Kobo and thus has some backlist title problems which will hopefully be resolved over time. I’m not sure that Borders can gain 17%(…)

Thursday Midday Links: Pubs Use POD for Backlist Titles

Thursday Midday Links: Pubs Use POD for Backlist Titles

First off, I have some personal but semi blog related news to share. I have been asked by Berkley to put together an erotica/erotic romance collection of shorts which will then be published in a flip book. The flip book has two covers: one on the front and one on the back. Each cover is(…)

Could Compulsory Licensing Work for Fiction?

Could Compulsory Licensing Work for Fiction?

I’m a big fan of twitter (@jane_l and @dearauthor folks). One of the best benefits of twitter is that I get to see the links to the hottest news and viral memes as they become part of the internet collective consciousness. This means that when my brother emails me in two months asking me if(…)

Thursday Midday Links: Can a “no issues” book truly be no issues?

Booksmugglers (one of my favorite blogs) reviewed Daniel Ehrenhaft’s book “Friend Is Not a Verb” and because of a multitude of issues, Ana was not able to grade the book, but the review and following comments are a fascinating and thought-provoking read. That is, to what extent should authors being including provocative elements without addressing(…)

Thursday Midday Links: I Worry About Apple’s Propensity for Censorship, Do You?

One of the most attractive things about the iPhone/iTouch and soon to be iPad is the robust App community that offers everything from the ridiculous (fart apps) to the sublime (Stanza). But Apple rules the App store like Tomas de Torquemada (Inquisitor-General of the Spanish Inquisition). It’s a reign of terror and uncertainty for app(…)

Thursday Midday Links: Take a Cowboy Home

Harlequin has posted a behind the scenes look at a cover shoot for the upcoming trilogy by Linda Lael Miller: They obviously put a lot of thought and time into the covers. You know who I think romanticized cowboys for me? Louis L’Amour. I remember devouring his Sackett series as a teen. Sa-wooon. Anyhoo, Harlequin(…)

Friday Midday News Roundup

[nggallery id=48] I ordered a bunch of Harlequin Stationary goods that feature the vintage covers.   The stationary goods include little matchbook notepads, bound composition notebooks and address books. I liked the address books the least. They have a spiral binding and I found them to be a little too bulky.   My favorites are the little(…)

Readers Have Copyright Rights Too

Readers Have Copyright Rights Too

Yesterday, there was an article in the New York Times about ebooks and the increase of ebook reading and possible dangers. The plus takeaway was that Kindle readers purchase more books than most heavy book purchasers. Amazon for example, says that people with Kindles now buy 3.1 times as many books as they did before(…)

Thursday Midday Links: Thank God It’s October

September seemed to drag on forever. Finally October is here and with it, hopefully, a wonderful set of days. Don’t harsh on my new month buzz. I have a copyright rant below. Authors might want to look away lest it ruin your new month buzz. Blogger Arachne Jericho points out that the main cost of(…)

Friday News Roundup: Positivity in the face of poor quality is cruelty of its own

In testimony before the House Judiciary, Google announced that it would allow other retailers to sell access to the out of print books (the infamous “orphan works”). This was a policy Google had in place regarding its in print books available through the Partners Program. The North Carolina Literary Festival is starting today with a(…)