Friday, September 21, 2012

Publishing Industry News

Publishing industry news and helpful blogs for 9/7-9/21.


Industry News

Don't be a stalker. Don't be creepy. Don't assault the agent that rejected you. I'd think that would go without saying, wouldn't you? Apparently not.

Wal-Mart will no longer sell Kindles. Apparently they're tired of the competition pressure from Amazon, too, following in Target's footsteps after the other retailer stopped carrying Kindles.

Apple, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Livre, and Germany's branch of Macmillan have settled with the European Commission in the EU e-book pricing-fixing inquiry. Penguin Group did not settle. This case is the European version of, but is not the same case as, the American Apple and Big Publishers vs the DOJ.

In another lawsuit, an American one parallel to but again not the same as the DOJ lawsuit, the States vs. Publishers settlement is on track towards its final hearing. There will be a public hearing in February, but anyone wanting to voice an opposition must apply to do so by December 12.

HarperCollins, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster settled with the DOJ; HarperCollins begins to fill their terms in the settlement.

Bob Kohn, music industry attorney, files a stay for the settlement in hopes of obtaining an appeal. Both the DOJ and the settling publishers urge the courts to deny the stay. Meanwhile, Penguin and Apple prepare to go to trial. Their strategy appears to be to put Amazon on trial. They try to subpoena Amazon, and Amazon resists.

In the Authors Guild vs Google case, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals grants a stay until it rules on whether or not to allow the Authors Guild to have class status.

Hachette will be raising the prices of their e-books to libraries. The American Library Association is not pleased.

Back in May, the courts ruled that Georgia State University did not violate copyright laws by allowing professors to grant electronic access to students to copyrighted works. Publishers are now appealing the ruling.

In cased you missed the post on Monday, Harper Voyager will be accepting unagented manuscripts from Oct. 1- Oct. 14.


Industry Blogs

QueryTracker's Publishing Pulse for 9/14 and 9/21.

On QueryTracker, Danyelle Leafty offers an assortment of online writing resources from grammar sites to industry news to author writing pages. Stina Lindenblatt advises you to watch what you say-- don't criticize other people out of jealousy for their success, or value their success only if you have similar success, or promote yourself into spam.

Lindenblatt also posts a Cool Links Friday.

If an agent is asking about your publishing credentials, but you're a debut author, what can you do? Rachelle Gardner suggests you pitch your potential. Make your ideas new and exciting, have a list of ideas for possible projects, mention your social media and social networking abilities, and be an terrific writer in every part of the process.

Gardner also gives advice on the secrets of a great query. Make sure you include your name, your genre, your publishing history if you have one, and the name of your book. Start with your plot catalyst.

If  you have a question you think a literary agent could answer, ask New Leaf Literary & Media has a place you can ask.

On the Editor's Blog, you're told to remember to use senses other than sight.

Advice on how to write a one-page synopsis at the Publishing Crawl.

And Spunk on a Stick offers a timeline for promoting your book.

Self-published authors share the one way they got the most promotion, and the one thing they wished they knew before they began.

GalleyCat offers advice for writers' profiles following the recent Twitter update.


What publishing industry news have you encountered over the past two weeks?

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