In a semi-olive branch move, Amazon offered last week to extend 100% of the sales price of Hachette titles to the authors themselves, in a conciliatory move meant to eradicate fears that Amazon's alleged "sanctions" against Hachette have hurt their authors. In an effort to avoid dragging the children into this while the grown-ups fight, Amazon offered to give the entire … [Read more...] about Amazon Offer Rejected by Hachette, Authors’ Organization
authors guild
Hugh Howey on Writers’ Unions: Who Really Speaks for Authors?
There are a few groups out there that claim to be the voice of advocacy and support for authors. Chief among them is the Author's Guild, an organization that actively works to block self-published authors from its inner sanctum by imposing hefty sales requirements before indie authors can join, thus making them a retailer's guild, rather than an author's guild. There's also the … [Read more...] about Hugh Howey on Writers’ Unions: Who Really Speaks for Authors?
Authors Guild, Authors Alliance Battle Over Speaking for Writers
A new dramatic battle is brewing in the publishing industry, this time over competing organizations that both claim to advocate and speak for authors but who have vastly different goals and ideals. The long-standing Authors Guild, often scoffed as a proud member of the gatekeepers club and a rather irrelevant entity that has yet to embrace the current publishing climate, … [Read more...] about Authors Guild, Authors Alliance Battle Over Speaking for Writers
Author’s Guild Elects SelfPublished Author CJ Lyons to Executive Council
In the ongoing world of us-against-them where traditional and self-publishing are concerned, there is possibly no greater source that fosters this antagonism than among authors themselves. Phrases like "real author" get thrown around among writers, and organizations, contests, and review opportunities specifically alienate self-published authors and their works. But one group … [Read more...] about Author’s Guild Elects SelfPublished Author CJ Lyons to Executive Council
The Battle is Not Over for Google’s Digitization Project
Eight years of legal battles to halt Google's digitization project have not produced the results that some organizations have wanted, and therefore, the litigation will continue. Only a matter of weeks ago, US Circuit Judge Denny Chin ruled that Google's massive digitization project fell within the reasonable bounds of copyright and fair use, throwing out the copyright … [Read more...] about The Battle is Not Over for Google’s Digitization Project
Judge Dismisses the Google Search Case
In a decision eight years in the making, a US District Court dismissed the case Authors Guild v. Google, upholding the status of the fair use doctrine brought up in the case. The decision has been hailed by libraries and their partner organizations, in light of Google's tireless efforts to establish a searchable book database through scanning of millions of titles, many of … [Read more...] about Judge Dismisses the Google Search Case
Penguin Random House Impact on Debut, Non-Fiction Authors
No one seems to like standing in the presence of a colossus. When Amazon bullied its way into being the book industry giant that it is today, critics were arguing that it was becoming a powerhouse player, a force to be reckoned with that stood to remove competition and fair negotiating from the industry. Now, authors, agents, and industry watchers are voicing their concerns … [Read more...] about Penguin Random House Impact on Debut, Non-Fiction Authors
Authors Guild Lawsuit Against Universities is Thrown Out of Court
The entire saga of lawsuits against Google's Book Scanning project may be over, in the near future. It stemmed from the Authors Guild filing a class action lawsuit against Google and many Universities that offered the books that were scanned. Today there is big news surrounding this court case. U.S. District Judge Harold Baer of New York dismissed an infringement lawsuit … [Read more...] about Authors Guild Lawsuit Against Universities is Thrown Out of Court
Authors Guild Asks Google for $750 for Each eBook It Digitized
There is a new chapter unfolding in the eight year lawsuit brought against Google for digitizing ebooks. Google proposed a settlement a few weeks ago and the Authors Guild had only a few months to accept or deny it. Today the president of the Authors Guild, Scott Thurow, urged the court to rule that Google's digitization project does not constitute "fair use" under copyright … [Read more...] about Authors Guild Asks Google for $750 for Each eBook It Digitized