Literary Plagiarism

Can you really copyright the ideas, themes, plot, characters of a novel? How about those of a nonfiction book? What about when a writer takes nonfiction ideas, real places, real events, real people, and weaves them together into an international best seller like The Da Vinci Code? Lawyer Jonathan James told a British court: "Dan Brown copied from The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and therefore the publication of the result by the defendant is in infringement of the copyright of my client in the United Kingdom." The books are both published by Random House, which is a participant in the courtroom battle. And this isn't the first time Brown's been sued for plagiarism. See Lewis Perdue's blog for his saga or his website for TMI. The Beeb (BBC) has good coverage of the current brouhaha.

Conan Chitman, a copyright specialist for Mishcon de Reya solicitors, said the case could have wide-ranging implications. "This case, if it goes in favour of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, could open a floodgate of litigation for people who have had their ideas, as they see it, stolen by more successful people," he said.

[plagiarism]

Digital Books Start A New Chapter

BusinessWeek Online sees a brighter future for ebooks in Digital Books Start A New Chapter. Don't miss the cute slide show.

Geeky? For now, maybe, but not for much longer. Many experts are convinced that digital books, after plenty of false starts, are finally ready for takeoff. 'Every other form of media has gone digital -- music, newspapers, movies,' says Joni Evans, a top literary agent who just left the William Morris Agency to start her own company that will focus on books and technology. 'We're the only industry that hasn't lived up to the pace of technology. A revolution is around the corner.'

[ebooks]

Blog Journalism

The International Herald Tribune describes how technology causes A new journalism takes root after riots:

Blogs, the free-form online journals that have gained wide popularity, are making inroads in the newsrooms of what bloggers sometimes derisively call the mainstream media. An increasing number of editors and reporters seem to accept that adopting this form of journalism is one way they can remain relevant as the digital era pushes media - and advertising money - in new directions.

In covering the riots in suburban France last year, the Swiss weekly L'Hebdo learned valuable lessons, invigorated a traditional news source, opened staffers' eyes to deeper reporting possibilities resulting in the establishment of a "school for blogs", and to complete an ironic circle, spawned a book (back to traditional media) about the experience. [blog journalism]

PageRanking Methods

Google Search Masters reveal: "In addition to using the PageRank algorithm, we automatically analyze the content of pages we crawl. This goes beyond scanning page-based text, which webmasters can easily manipulate through meta-tags. We also look at factors like fonts and the placement of words on a page. And we examine the content of neighboring pages, which can provide more clues as to whether the page we're looking at is trusted and will be relevant to users." [SEO]

PostSecret

"the real reason why i've never tried to write my novel is because i'm afraid to discover i have nothing to say." From everyone's little guilty secret read, PostSecret, now available in book form.

Writer Beware!

To protect yourself and keep up to date on the latest scams, check out the blog version of this popular service from the website of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. At Last! Writer Beware Blogs! A.C. Crispin and Victoria Strauss Reveal All! started up last fall. Their subtitle reads:

Want to know the innermost secrets of Writer Beware? Of course you do! Come and read about hunting down scam agents, and get information on writing and publishing from authors/scam hunters Victoria Strauss and A.C. Crispin. Got questions on how to avoid scams in the writing world? Ask the experts! Got questions on writing and publishing? Get the straight dope here.

They really, really like exclamation points, don't they?!!!
Currently Crispin echoes some of the opinions I've posted here and in fora on the Internet about Giving Your Work Away. Crispin explains in depth why it's not a good idea or career move to add your writing to websites for free. [writing]

Forbidden Library

The Forbidden Library: Banned and Challenged Books
begins with this CAUTION!
"This site features books some people consider "dangerous." Learn what people find offensive about:
Fahrenheit 451 - expurgated copies used in class...a book on censorship got censored!
James and the Giant Peach - promotes drugs and disobedience!
Where's Waldo - nudity!
1984 - "pro-communist"!
The Lorax - criminalizes the logging industry!
Zen Buddhism: Selected Writings - portrays Buddhism as appealing!
Slaughterhouse Five - foul language, "magic fingers," and mentions an almighty clothing fastener!"

I'd be tempted to warn others of the slow loading time for site pages, probably due to them being redirected to and from a University of Michigan server, where the website owner, Janet Yanosko, probably works. On the Q&A section of the FAQ page, she writes:

Q. I'm doing a report for school...can you give me information on why a specific book/author was censored?

A. This is a sticky subject. As a university librarian, my impulse is to teach people how to find the answers, not to provide them freely.

In the website, however, she does provide information on the difference between being banned and condemned, and what others generally find offensive in the many books listed by title or by author (but not a searchable database). [books]

Research Newsletter

Some of the activities of the Pew Research Center:

people-press.org -- Pew Research Center for the People & the Press
stateline.org -- Stateline.org
pewinternet.org -- Pew Internet & American Life Project
pewforum.org -- Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
pewhispanic.org -- Pew Hispanic Center
pewglobal.org -- Pew Global Attitudes Project

Sign up for their new newsletter covering many projects. From it, you can find leads for stories. Because I already received releases from the Internet & American Life Project, I also received the first New @ PewResearch.org.

Each week, it will highlight never-before-released findings and analysis from pewresearch.org along with a roundup of recent reports from the Pew Internet & American Life Project and from the five other projects that make up the Center.

The first issue contains these provocative titles:

*Not Looking for Love: Romance in America
*Midterm Match Up: Party Tide vs. Safe Seats
*States, Flush with Cash, Still Face Tough Issues
*Are We Happy Yet?
*$300: Wages of Mexican Migrants

[research]

E-Book Week

From Read An E-Book Week:

Book lovers world wide have used their mouse buttons to send e-book sales soaring. Steve Potash, CEO of OverDrive, Inc. and director of International Digital Publishing Forum, the trade and standards association for the digital publishing industry, stated: "eBooks represent the fastest growing segment of the publishing industry."

Read An E-Book Week (March 5-11th, 2006) was created four years ago to educate readers about the advantages of electronic books and to promote the fledgling industry. In 2002 publishers were struggling with low sales and libraries reluctant to consider their books. Today many libraries carry e-books and even provide e-book readers to their patrons. E-book topics now range from dance instruction to science fiction, and from repair manuals to romance novels. [e-books]

Trite

Trite Words & Phrases

* Listed in order from worst to least worst.

* Your suggestions for additions to the Trite Words & Phrases Poll are welcome.

says inimitable author Robert Ringer, who wrote two of the books listed by The New York Times as the 15 bestselling motivational books of all time, Winning by Intimidation and Looking Out for #1.

Writers Graphics

And now for some weekend visual fun, visit When Graphic Designers Get Bored. I thought this image appropriate for writers, considering how often we think of our productions as crappy. I wish I were a tenth as skilled as the artists whose work is displayed in this designers' blog. I'm still struggling to create a decent 3-D image of a book cover.

The Mechanic & the Muse

Today I'm suggesting you drop in to visit The Mechanic & the Muse. It's subtitled An owner's manual for writers, and it's by Chip Scanlon of the Poynter Institute. He's a very veteran journalist and a font full of tips and good guidance for writers-in-the-making. Welcome to the blogosphere, Chip!

Update at 2:13 PM Just found Scanlon's "Why I Blog" at Poynter Online. Worth reading, too, on how one writer dealt with depression and writer's block. [writing]

Radio Interviews

You do not have to hire a publicist or advertise through a booking service to promote your books on talk radio. My friend Stephen Schochet and I have been scheduling our own radio appearances for several years. Working independently, we have, between us, logged over 1,000 interviews, and we continue to sell our books, CDs, and audiotapes year in and year out

This is some of the advice you'll find on William Gordon's website. He's is a full-time author and publisher who, after hiring publicists and using guest book services, discovered he was able to get himself on radio more often simply by contacting the shows himself. He has now done over 500 radio interviews for three of his four books. Not only for book hookers, any writer seeking self-publicity can use the talk radio circuit to promote a cause and get attention. [publicity]

Ezine Directories

I wrote about an ezine database, Amazines last fall. It's now up to 144 listings under "writing". More sources are the Ezine Directory and Zines, E-Zines, Fanzines : The Book of Zines : Directory. I mention these only as a resource for hobby writers who want to see their work "in print" in the worst way. It's worst because the screen is no place to be displaying writing intended to be printed, the author probably will not be paid, and the credit is minimally useful. [ezines]

Valentine Wish

It's that day again, and a surprise Valentine email arrived from my websites' registrar:

Dear Georganna Hancock,

It's February 14, and love (along with roses, chocolates and sparkling jewels) is in the air. GoDaddy.com wishes you the best as you celebrate Valentine's Day in your own unique way.

Happy Valentine's Day,

Bob Parsons
President
GoDaddy.com

I couldn't say it better, so I'll pass this wish along to you.

Name Calling

From the FrogBody's blog, Carson McComas' thoughts on Mind Control Language, Politics and Me (FrogBlog):

Someone, somewhere starts a talking points memo with the kind of language that should be used to convey certain ideas, and they begin to spread. I caught a speech Howard Dean gave the other day and he focused his whole speech to his party on what language they should use to convey their ideas. Language that wouldn't alienate the 'Christian Right' but that would represent their values. It wasn't the views or their stance he wanted to change, just the language they used to communicate it so that it was more palatable ...

Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Is "counter-terrorism surveillance" easier to inhale than "domestic spying"?

[language]

Book Stickers

I love the pseudo book stickers dreamed up by Smoking Gun's co-founder, Barbara Glauber for the NY Times web page Judge a Book by Its Cover. Of course, for James Frey, there may be no sequel, as he has lost his agent and probably his publisher: "Riverhead announced after the Oprah show that it was reconsidering a contract with Frey for two additional books." [writing quaity]

Travel Writing

Writing in the Columbia Journalism Review, Robert D. Kaplan suggests Cultivating Loneliness for journalism to "return to terrain, to the kind of firsthand, solitary discovery of local knowledge best associated with old-fashioned travel writing."

Travel writing emphasizes solitariness. The best writing, literary or journalistic, occurs under the loneliest of circumstances, when a writer encounters the evidence firsthand without anyone of his social, economic, or professional group nearby to help him filter it, or otherwise condition his opinions.

For more on travel writing per se read Travel's Long, Strange Odyssey by Suzanne Mantell at Publishers Weekly.

[writing]

Marketplace Poynters

News from Para Publishing Web Site: Newsletter:

A couple of months ago, self-publishing guru, Dan Poynter, separated Publishing Poynters Marketplace from his immensely popular regular newsletter. The new pub (same newsletter sign up) is for people who want their books reviewed on Amazon.com, B&N.com, etc. There's no charge for listing your book. You must be willing to send a book and promotional materials (review-book package) to readers who contact you, and your book should already be listed at Amazon.com. Dan says:

Just send your request and description to DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com. Draft your request so that I do not have to edit it. Make it SHORT (100 words max), no italics or bold type. Just describe the book in a few words; don't send a lengthy review of it. Lengthy submissions will be returned for rewriting or ruthlessly cut. Reviewers only need enough information to see if they have expertise and an interest in your category. Supply your email contact address. Write the draft as it should appear so that I do not have to do more than Copy\Paste.

[book marketing]

Laptop Laughs

For several months I've been sporadically watching a blogger in Bangalore develop into a humorist. The English is still a bit dodgy, but this post on laptops is pretty funny. See what Golden Words has to say about the Top 10 things one should not do while buying a laptop.

When you're through laughing, you might want to visit Writer Edge's new sponsor, BizRate, to do some comparison shopping for laptops and other items useful to writers. The company's rep, Teresa, is a kind and patient person. When she first contacted me about advertising here, I thought the email was a joke! I hadn't a clue as to what she was talking about. She finally convinced me that BizRate's quality matched that of Writer's Edge, and here we are.

Da Vinci Code

With the upcoming premier of the film version of The Da Vinci Code soon slated for Cannes, I'll break my self-imposed embargo on mentioning Brown's book. John Ezard, writing for the Guardian Unlimited reveals Da Vinci novel breaks code for success:

winning books had three common features; they had metaphorical, or figurative titles instead of literal ones; the first word was a pronoun, a verb, an adjective or a greeting; and their grammar patterns took the form either of a possessive case with a noun, or of an adjective and noun or of the words The ... of ...

[titles]

Common Hooks

In Performancing, the website for blogs and blogging bloggers who blog in them, Nick Wilson writes about hooks in The Art of Linkbaiting. Hooks are attention grabbing elements for both fiction and nonfiction writing, and they're not without a certain charm for sprucing up a website. Wilson suggests five types: News, Contrary, Attack, Resource, and humor. [writing]

Four Meme

Ian Glendinning tagged me at Psybertron Asks on January 31, 2006, in the The Four "Meme"

Four jobs I've had:
1. Babysitter
2. Secretary/office assistant
3. News reporter/staff writer
4. Evaluation Analyst

Four movies I can watch repeatedly:
1. Original Dune
2. Lord of Illusions
3. Hellraiser series
4. The Prophecy series

Four places I have lived:
1. Portsmouth, NH
2. Ft. Lauderdale, FL
3. Indianapolis, IN
4. Newark, DE

Four TV shows I like to watch:
1. All CSI
2. The Simpsons
3. Supernatural
4. King of the Hill

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Heron Island, Australia
2. Roatan, Honduras
3. Paris
4. Tahiti

Four favourite dishes:
1. Any fried dough
2. Milk chocolate
3. Lobster
4. Apricots

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Writer's Edge
2. Writer's Digest Forum
3. Google Search
4. Google Adwords

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Heron Island, AU
2. St. Thomas, VI
3. Cancun, MX
4. Rio

Four people to tag:
1. Paula
2. Bradley
3. Melly
4. Vikk

Orphan Works

About a year ago I alerted you to a proposed change to U.S. copyright laws concerning orphans--orphan copyrights, that is. At that time they said:

The Copyright Office seeks to examine the issues raised by 'orphan works,' i.e., copyrighted works whose owners are difficult or even impossible to locate. Concerns have been raised that the uncertainty surrounding ownership of such works might needlessly discourage subsequent creators and users from incorporating such works in new creative efforts or making such works available to the public.

The results of that study, including reports, audio recordings, and even an RSS feed, are now available. Unfortunately, the page does not indicate if any changes, positive or negative, are in the offing. Perhaps one of our alert readers will know more and comment. [copyrights]

Blog Idea

Media Orchard interviewed Regret the Error blog creator, Craig Silverman who compiles published corrections and offers insights into how reporters and editors can improve their accuracy. We looked at the blog's own mistakes earlier. In this interview, Silverman explains:

The initial idea came to me when I found myself reading more and more blogs and thinking about how I could start one that would be a useful addition. I wasn't interested in sharing what I ate for breakfast that day, nor did I think anyone would care ... The idea was to raise the issue, highlight the best/worst corrections, start a dialogue about how the media can be more accurate, and investigate whether the correction actually works.

Novel Sale

The happy news of Paula Offutt's debut novel sale showed up on her blog, Thought Patterns. I must have missed the memo! WTG, Paula! Wish I could say I helped, unless relentless rants about good grammar, spelling, and punctuation count. Regal Crest Enterprises picked up Paula's Butch Girls Can Fix Anything for their Yellow Rose line, a lesbian romance imprint, with a tentative date of February 05, 2007. Most impressive are the facts that Paula started this project for the 2004 NaNoWriMo and didn't have an agent! You can read more about the journey on her dedicated page.

Trustworthy Websites

In the second issue of Google Librarian Newsletter, the saintly search engine people tackled an issue occasionally mentioned here: Beyond Algorithms: A Librarian's Guide to Finding Web Sites You Can Trust. OK, unwieldy title but Karen G. Schneider, Director of Librarians' Internet Index lists points for finding authoritative sites to use when you're researching material for writing.

Whether we're selecting new web sites for our newsletter or deciding whether to toss or keep sites already in our collection, we rely primarily on what we call the "big five show-stoppers": availability, credibility, authorship, external links and legality.

She offers a couple of paragraphs [grafs in journalese-speak] and then one or more shortcuts you can apply to evaluate each point. I especially like the one for determining authorship: If you think a web site has more than the average number of typos, copy a representative page and dump it into a Word document for a spell-check. Apparently real librarians think real writers write right. Don't miss the "Digging Deeper" box at the end of the article. [research]

Oil Addiction

Photo taken about 1973. Boy in line with gasoline can.

Scribble by City Editor, Fort Pierce News Tribune

In the late 1960's I ranted to blank stares against the "new" plastic/paper diapers, plastic baby bottles, plastic in general, and then polyester clothes--all made from oil. "It's not a renewable resource!" I'd explain impatiently. Little did I know I was already battling a societal addiction. In the 1970's came the gasoline shortages, resulting in one of my best "human interest" photos. By the 1980's I was able to fully indulge my preferences for organic foods and clothing made of cotton, silk, and wool. Never in all those campaigns did I realize I was also battling the rise of militant Islam, as Thomas Friedman explains in The World is Flat.

[journalism]