Educational CyberPlayGround

Learn how to publish and sell your own E-books.

LEARN HOW TO MAKE MONEY AND PUBLISH YOUR BOOK

GET FREE E-BOOKS

RESOURCES

The Business of Writing Agents & Editors Literary Publicists

Before you put up your Free E-Books make sure you understand how your host will charge you for server time/usage. They may charge based on the ninth busiest hour in a month, at a rate that may cost as much as $15,000 for that level of usage (over 200 GB downloaded by more than 10,000 people). Will your host have any bandwidth limiters or warnings in place? Just because the dead tree edition of your book had poor sales doesn't mean the Free E-Book won't be in demand and have instant popularity.

Lightening Source

eBook has Geographic Restrictions. What's that?

E-Book Lending Practices
With DRM, you don't buy and own books, you merely rent them for as long as the retailer finds it convenient.

"Amazon in turn uses the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to take your books and privileges away if it finds you've been naughty."

According to Amazon's Kindle Store terms of use, "Kindle content is licensed, not sold". Should you attempt to break the DRM security block or transfer your purchase to another device, Amazon may legally "revoke your access to the Kindle Store and the Kindle Content without refund of any fees."

Under Amazon's rules, this type of action is barred, as the publisher seeks to control what content is read in which territory of the world.

It is legal to “share” digital copyrighted material with up to eight people.

Kindle book lending program

Dear Publisher,

We are excited to announce Kindle book lending http://www.amazon.com/kindle-lending. The Kindle Book Lending feature allows users to lend digital books they have purchased through the Kindle Store to their friends and family. Each book may be lent once for a duration of 14 days and will not be readable by the lender during the loan period.

All DTP titles are enrolled in lending by default. For titles in the 35% royalty option, you may choose to opt out of lending by deselecting the checkbox under “Kindle Book Lending,” in the “Rights and Pricing” section of the title upload/edit process. You may not choose to opt out a title if it is included in the lending program of another sales or distribution channel. For more details, see section 5.2.2 of the Term and Conditions.

For more info on how Kindle Book Lending works, see our FAQ here

Sincerely,
Amazon Digital Text Platform

CONTENT PROVIDERS


THE BUSINESS OF WRITING

The Copyright WebSite
Copyright Society (USA)
Law News Network
The Publishing Law Center
The Writer's Pocket Tax Guide

National Writers Union
UAW Local 1981/AFL-CIO Email Website National Office
West 337 - 17th Street, Suite 101 Oakland, CA 94612-3351
Phone (510) 839-0110 Fax (510) 839-6097
National Office East 113 University Place, 6th Floor New York, NY 10003-4527 Phone (212) 254-0279 Fax (212) 254-0673

The Authors Guild
National Writers Union
Pike's Peak Writers' Retreat
Writers.com
Writers write
Writer's Write Journal
BookWire from R.R.Bowker
 BookWeb - by American Booksellers Association
Publishers Weekly
Writers Weekly
Writers Digest
Small Press of North America
Publisher Catalogues
Netread - "the publishing portal"
Small Publishers Artists & Writers Network
Bookmarket - everything you need to know about marketing books
Extensive list of university presses

Scribd, Smashwords Partner to Put Indie Authors' Work in Subscription Service
Scribd publishing partners Smashwords - Smashword List , INscribed Digital, BookBaby or Draft2Digital and your work will be up on Scribd and available to our members. If you have further questions, please contact Scribd support for assistance.

EBOOK FORMATTERS to publish on Createspace



Publishers Weekly magazine For the BEA Show Daily. It said the deadline was extended until April 24, however, they will accept late-breaking plans until May 4. Don't know if their advertising deadline is the same. No e-mail addresses were given, just snail mail. Mark all packages "Show Daily" and send to Daisy Maryles (adult) or Diane Roback (children's), PW, 245 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011. Advertising inquiries go to Howard Katz, 212-463-6549.

AGENTS & EDITORS:

Writers who would like to find a literary agent.

LITERARY PUBLICISTS

JOHN TASSINI

Tassini Win Landmark Lawsuit
From: NWU National Office West <nwu@nwu.org>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2000 Contact: Jonathan Tasini: 212-254-0279

NEW YORK, NY: In another significant victory for writers and all creators, the U.S. Court of Appeals has unanimously denied publishers a rehearing of the landmark electronic rights decision in a case brought by freelance writers.

The defendant-publishers had petitioned the 2nd Circuit for a full court review (ìen bancî hearing) of the three-judge panelís landmark ruling in the lawsuit, Tasini, et al v. The New York Times, et al ., Nos. 97-9181, 97-9650 (2nd Cir. Sep. 24, 1999). The ruling last Fall made clear that it is copyright infringement for a publisher to put a freelancerís work on-line or otherwise reuse or resell it without explicit written permission.

"I am not surprised by the denial because the Appeals Court decision was a one-sided, unshakeable, lucid affirmation of the rights of freelance writers," said Jonathan Tasini, lead plaintiff and president of the National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981). "It is now time for the defendants to stop stalling and using legal maneuvers to deny writers and all creators' their fair share. While they stall, the enormous liabilities the defendants admitted they face will grow, as do the liabilities for all media companies who have stolen the work of creators. The New York Times and the other defendants would be wise to turn off their perpetual infringement operations, which are continuing to this day. We now proceed with vigor to the damages phase of the trial.

The April 6th, 2000 order denying the rehearing, Tasini said, would further undermine the publishers' public relations argument to financial investors that they face no liabilities from the landmark ruling. Recently, New York City Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who oversees $100 billion in pension funds, wrote to 36 media companies, expressing concern about the "potential liability of media companies" because of the landmark decision. "As Comptroller Hevesi and others have suggested, we urge the industry to accept the NWUís proposed solution the Publication Rights Clearinghouse to restore financial certainty to their businesses," said Tasini. The union has also asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate statements made by The New York Times in official SEC filings.

For full details of the lawsuit, the pension fund actions and the SEC complaint, visit the NWU's website

The National Writers Union has 6,000 members nationwide, representing journalists, book authors, technical writers and poets. It is the only union dedicated solely to advancing the interests of freelance writers. The NWU is affiliated with the United Auto Workers

The Bad News 2000
PRESS CLIPS BY CYNTHIA COTTS Times Co. to Freelancers: Sign, or Else! The Boston T-1 Party
 Boston Globe/Times e-rights grab
This article describes the current stand-off between the Boston Globe Freelance Association and the Globe. There's also interesting financial data on the value of Web rights -- and excellent reasons why writers ought not to sign the Globe's contract.
" On April 6, just after the new contract arrived, a federal appeals court affirmed Tasini v. The New York Times, the 1999 decision that supports peons' rights. Siding with Jonathan Tasini, president of the National Writers Union, the Second Circuit found that the Times Co. violates copyright law every time it reprints freelance work electronically without obtaining permission to do so. But rather than face what its own lawyers call "enormous potential liability," the Times Co. has chosen to fight. This month, after the Second Circuit denied their request for a rehearing, Times Co. lawyers filed a motion to appeal Tasini to the Supreme Court."

Legal Tips

Any uses of quoted material have to be examined on a case by case basis, not only to determine whether or not the material is in the public domain but also, if not pd, whether a given use is "fair use" within the meaning of the US copyright law. This means that the context has to be examined. And if licenses are to be sought, which is the preferred approach if any doubt exists, then you need to get permission from the source and not from the book in which the quotes appear. Further, the licenses must be examined carefully as well. Read, among other articles, "Look Before You Sign: Restrictive Licenses" and "The Need for Vision" on my site. Click on "Articles for Writers and Publishers." IVAN HOFFMAN, B.A., J.D. Attorney At Law Lawyering With Integrity (sm) Internet Law, Writing and Publishing Law, Web Design Contracts and Law, Copyrights, Trademarks, Business Plans, Web Site Audits, Recording and Music Law. *A Four Times Award-Winning Site.* http://www.ivanhoffman.com

The latest development in Ukita's division is arguably the first successful attempt at a proper electronic book with a display that approximates the look of traditional paper. The ebook reader (the Librie EBR-1000EP) launches in Japan on Saturday, and we met with Sony in Tokyo for a sneak preview. Source 2004