Author victory over Google

There's money coming your way...

Similar to Amazon's 'search inside the book feature,' the ambitious people at Google have been busy making electronic copies of OUR books, and making them available for full online searching. It's part of their very aggressive program of digitizing all the print content, from the British Library Archives, to Harvard, to our books. Having Google creep toward becoming THE repository of all printed matter makes many of us uncomfortable, but now the courts agree they owe us something for the rights they "borrow" to our works.

This from ASJA.org
"Some of the books were in the public domain but many others were not. Google digitized the lot, without so much as a nod to authors' copyright protections. The Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers and several individuals filed suit to stop this blatant piracy.

Yesterday the parties announced a settlement that will serve both writers and Google. Terms of the settlement still have to be approved by the court, but assuming it happens, writers who own the rights to scanned books should get at least $60 per work, depending on how many authors make claims. (The total settlement amount is $45 million.)"

Details on how authors can file claims will be available in a few months. In the meantime, it's all good news for us.

National Novel Writing Month is upon us

The fun never stops over at nanowrimo.org - that's the home of National Novel Writing Month and that's where you should be if you really want to write. The month of November is dedicated to helping writers write, by logging your daily production and racing through the month. Can you write 50,000 words by the end of November?

While the goal is to write a nove, you can use it anyway you wish - an article a day? outline for a non-fiction book? character development? It's waiting for you ... Give it a try... Release your writing!

Does your book need a "do-over" for 2009?

One advantage of print-on-demand (POD) is that you can change your book if you wish. You might want to issue a new edition, correct a serious problem, or re-do the cover. POD offers you that flexibility. Depending on the firm you use, you may incur a new set-up charge, and of course, you'd pay a small fee for a new cover layout. But if you feel you're missing your target audience, it's better to spruce up the book than have regrets. By using POD you're not locked into a 2,500 copy print-run, or sitting on a lifetime supply of a book that doesn't address the market's needs.

Keep in mind, your book was issued with an ISBN, the number which makes it a unique registered object. So you can not alter these features under the same ISBN:

title
binding size
trim color
interior color

Also, if you change text, move or replace chapters, or change the cover, it is considered a new edition requiring a new ISBN. With most POD firms, the cost of the new ISBN is included in the set-up fee.