Pooper's Scoops

Who's Mocking Now?

Remember just over two years ago when the Absolute Write boards were taken down by the host, because Barbara Bauer threatened to sue them if her information was not removed? Remember the absolute wars that began? Remember the mocking, the cruel insults and the name calling the original site host owners endured? Remember how the "legal experts" at AW laughed at the stupidity of the host owners, posted their information and the harassment that resulted?

Here are some of the comments that are still around:

Stephanie (co-owner of the hosting company) had no more sense than to panic and shut down AW on an hour’s notice. I’m given to understand that some of AW’s message base was lost.

To extend what I’ve already said to Stephanie’s guy James, down in the comment thread, it looks bad for an ISP to pull the plug on a customer’s site for foolish reasons, and worse to do it for no reason at all, but it’s downright offputting to do it in the same week that you roll out a competing site of your own.

These comments are here, on Making Light.

The popular Miss Snark also had quite a bit to say on the subject.

One blogger even posted a link to the hosting company's response, peppered with sarcasm and mocking. She includes a list of several reasons the hosting company felt justified in removing AW, including this:

let s talk about the email issue with Ms. Bauer. The lady filed a complaint with us in writing; we needed to react in good faith to what we deemed as a possible legal issue for OUR business all that was asked was the email address be removed from the post. Seeing how Ms. Bauer was complaining about receiving spam and hate mail from AW members that commented on that post. At this time I was not sure if the abuse was true but removing the email address was not to much to ask I thought.

Barbara Bauer eventually filed a lawsuit and named pretty much everybody who posted the infamous list of the 20 worst literary agents, that included her name.  Bauer included Jenna Glatzer, then owner of Absolute Write and the well-known David Kuzminksi of Preditors and Editors in the suit, as well as Miss Snark and the Nielsen-Haydens who own Making Light.

She might not win, and the claim she filed against Wikipedia has already been tossed; Others are winding their way through the system. But, it still costs money to defend yourself, even against frivolous charges and Kuzminski is soliciting donation for a defense fund on the Preditors and Editors site.

I eventually removed most of my posts concerning the situation, but I still have to ask the same question I did then, did all those angry writers with pitchforks really believe the couple who were hosting the AW site should have been prepared to face a lawsuit on their behalf? And at that time I asked how likely it would be any of them would aid in such a defense fund on behalf of that hosting company. I still ask.

Here is my original post from Jun 5, 2006.

I'm not sure the links still work.

Absolute Write...AGAIN! and you're not gonna like me one bit

The boards are back up. Since I wasn't part of this community before, I'm not sure how different things are or if they've managed to save most of the data. I did find one thing of extreme interest, a post by Moondancer, otherwise knows as Stephanie, the ISP owner's wife. Yes, the ISP that pulled the plug on the site. That ISP. On May 22, at 5:25 pm, Moondancer Stephanie posted her concern over "the" agent's e-mail address being posted on the AW forums. She even included quotes from the fax she received. Clearly she was rattled by it and I'm not sure I blame her. If you're not used to dealing with lawyers, the threat of them can be intimidating. According to Moondancer, "I received a complaint from the person whose email has been posted. The complaint specifically states that she has been receiving spam."

Then Moondancer says, "I have contacted Jenna about this but if there's a mod or the poster around, I request that the email address be removed from the post." At which time James D. MacDonald steps in to offer Moondancer legal advice and assure her it's not illegal to post an e-mail address.

At 6:03 am on May 23, Moondancer Stephanie makes another post, sounding more upset over the threat of legal action by "the" agent. Several members chime in to tell her to ignore the threat and no one seems particularly sensitive to Moondancer Stephanie's concerns. Nor do they appreciate the unique situation she's in as the ISP owner.

Do we really expect her to depend on these people for legal advice? Do we believe for one minute AW or any of its members would start a fundraising drive for Moondancer Stephanie in the event her company was shut down or sued?

P.S. Even if the posting of the e-mail address is not a legal issue (I do not know if it is or not) wouldn't the fact that it was done so with malicious intent have some bearing on the matter?

Respected board member Dave Kuzminski of Preditors and Editors, says this on the same thread, "Even though there are folks who feel it is wrong to spam a scam, I still believe it is a useful and proper tool for use against them. After all, weeding out the spam from the marks is quite probably the only real work any of the scammers do."

Is encouraging people to spam okay? Did Dave's post prompt people to do so and give "the" agent valid reason to complain?

P.P.S. Jenna Glatzer wrote an e-mail explaining her side of the events.

Her main contentions are that 1. She believes her interpretation of the law should have put the ISP's concerns to rest and 2. She was told the site would not be taken down and then it was, with very little warning, making it impossible to backup the data and 3. She says the company kept changing its story while dealing with her.

The boards are back up. Since I wasn't part of this community before, I'm not sure how different things are or if they've managed to save most of the data. I did find one thing of extreme interest, a post by Moondancer, otherwise knows as Stephanie, the ISP owner's wife. Yes, the ISP that pulled the plug on the site. That ISP. On May 22, at 5:25 pm, Moondancer Stephanie posted her concern over "the" agent's e-mail address being posted on the AW forums. She even included quotes from the fax she received. Clearly she was rattled by it and I'm not sure I blame her. If you're not used to dealing with lawyers, the threat of them can be intimidating. According to Moondancer, "I received a complaint from the person whose email has been posted. The complaint specifically states that she has been receiving spam."

Then Moondancer says, "I have contacted Jenna about this but if there's a mod or the poster around, I request that the email address be removed from the post." At which time James D. MacDonald steps in to offer Moondancer legal advice and assure her it's not illegal to post an e-mail address.

At 6:03 am on May 23, Moondancer Stephanie makes another post, sounding more upset over the threat of legal action by "the" agent. Several members chime in to tell her to ignore the threat and no one seems particularly sensitive to Moondancer Stephanie's concerns. Nor do they appreciate the unique situation she's in as the ISP owner.

Do we really expect her to depend on these people for legal advice? Do we believe for one minute AW or any of its members would start a fundraising drive for Moondancer Stephanie in the event her company was shut down or sued?

P.S. Even if the posting of the e-mail address is not a legal issue (I do not know if it is or not) wouldn't the fact that it was done so with malicious intent have some bearing on the matter?

Respected board member Dave Kuzminski of Preditors and Editors, says this on the same thread, "Even though there are folks who feel it is wrong to spam a scam, I still believe it is a useful and proper tool for use against them. After all, weeding out the spam from the marks is quite probably the only real work any of the scammers do."

Is encouraging people to spam okay? Did Dave's post prompt people to do so and give "the" agent valid reason to complain?

P.P.S. Jenna Glatzer wrote an e-mail explaining her side of the events.

Her main contentions are that 1. She believes her interpretation of the law should have put the ISP's concerns to rest and 2. She was told the site would not be taken down and then it was, with very little warning, making it impossible to backup the data and 3. She says the company kept changing its story while dealing with her.

PODdyMouth (the low-rent, name ripoff) vanishes, BookPros pays slaves wages

PODdyMouth Vanishes When Reward Offered For Identity

It seems PODdyMouth (not the book reviewer everyone loved, but the POD reviewer who wrote with astounding inaccuracies according to some very credible industry insiders) deleted the entire blog within hours (perhaps minutes) after Angela Hoy of WritersWeekly.com and Booklocker.com offered a $500 reward for his or her identity. Buh-bye. Don't let the door hit you....

BookPros Pays Designers Slave Wages

All I can say to this is, "wow." Reports coming to this desk claim that BookPros has been contacting book cover designers and offering a whopping $150 for four cover design concepts. That's $37.50 each. I was unable to find out if the designers were also supposed to pay for image licensing, but even if the answer is "no," what would they be making? How long does it take to create a cover concept from locating artwork to choosing fonts? I'm going to go out on a limb and say three hours at least and please, any designers out there correct me if I'm wrong. That's $12.50 per hour. What does Tescos, Starbucks or  Wal-Mart pay these days? If this is the going rate for graphic design, I won't be steering my son in that direction.

Normally I wouldn't get too involved in this, because of course a designer can always say, "no thanks" except I happened upon Mark Levine's website, he being the author of the very popular book, The Fine Print, which compares the different POD publisher contracts. According to his review of BookPros, "Cover Design: Pricing includes custom design of the book’s front, rear, and spine; 2 reviews of the design; and 1 optional stock photo. Author must provide an author photo and 100–200 words of back cover content. Approximate cost attributed to cover design is $3,000." And he rates this one of the best companies! I guess he is looking out for the author and not anyone else.

Morgan James Publishing, The Rose Saga Continues, AuthorHouse Buys iUniverse

Morgan James Publishing and the Mystery of the Missing Books

Morgan James Publishing (MJP). That's a name being tossed around the office this week, mostly because someone there managed to flip off and insult a very skilled vendor in the self-publishing business. A vendor whose own company has approximately 800 self-publishing authors as clients. It's a safe bet none of that 800 will be referred to MJP anytime soon.

It was a slow news day, so we looked up Morgan James Publishing and discovered it's run by a David L. Hancock. It is a high-end vanity press, using the usual vendors such as LightningSource to produce their print-on-demand books. According to Hancock, MJP is the best choice for self-publishers because he's been traditionally published three times and  describes the experience in quite a negative light. "It literally was the worst experience of my life" and goes on to say that things hadn't improved a bit by his third book and describes how authors are "beat up by their publishers." The interviewer refers to author advances as a "bribes." You can find all of these statements and many more in this infomercial.

The only problem is, I cannot find any traditionally published books written by David L. Hancock. There is a list of books he's authored or co-authored here, but according to the time frame, at least two of the three books he refers to would have been published through Booksurge (formerly Digitz) and it doesn't get much more vanity than that. So, if he has published via traditional channels, I'd like to know by what company and the titles of the books.

None appear to have been professional designed.

Does Mr. Hancock believe Booksurge is a traditional press and did he receive a bribe...er, advance from them? Are there other books he's had published via traditional presses that we can't locate?

Rose DesRochers Strikes Again

Surprise, surprise, another competitor comes under the irrational fire of team DesRochers. Story can be found here.

AuthorHouse buys iUniverse

This one caught me off guard. Full story here.

More Micro-Publisher Meltdowns, Death Threats and Imaginary Oprah Interviews

Can't Get On Oprah? Just Lie About It

It would appear that's exactly what Provincetown author Bill Schneider did. Schneider, who wrote Crossed Paths, a story about two young men who meet and fall in love in the '70s, brought attention to his third book when he claimed it was chosen by Oprah's Book Club, even though it was self-published through iUniverse and no one ever seemed to have heard about it.

The author made the announcement on his website,  " "I am very honored that my new novelette, Crossed Paths, has been selected as an edition [sic] to Oprah's Book Club. This prestigious recognition paved the way to my appearance on Oprah in May 2007. Click here to view a copy of the transcript from the show." " and even went so far as to include a convincing transcript, according to The Weekly Dig, the site where the scam was first exposed.

A later story by Cape Cod Times quotes Schneider confessing to the ruse.

I'm not sure what this guy was thinking, but I bet the resulting exposure and embarrassment means he won't be in a hurry to pull another stunt like that any time soon. I'm willing to cut someone some slack for one major screw up. One. But I'll be watching you Bill Schneider.

Another Micro-Publisher Meltdown

This one complete with death threats! It seems Lulu.com micro-publisher slash writer slash editor slash anthologist, Nickolaus Pacione, doesn't take it well when people criticize his company, Lake Fossil Press.

You'll find death threats on Xanga.com, where Picione says, "Those books are not free downloads.   I will have your blog pulled.and will see to it someone kills you and burns your house down," after discovering he accidentally set his e-book price at $0 on Lulu.com.

He also goes haywire with the thinly veiled threats on his blog where he writes, "You say that you're not the devil but you helm a site that is devoted to destroying people maliciously. Let me ask this one, what if someone who has a gun you were slandering shows up at the convention they're doing with wanting to spill your blood -- and I won't be the person feeling sorry for you if that happens." That's possibly the most poorly written threat I've seen, but it sure smacks of a threat to me, although I had no idea you could slander a gun.

And then there's the computer virus threat, or a strongly worded "wish" perhaps, "I wish some really bad things happen to him, unspeakable things. And getting a virus on his computer will just be a start of it, I know who you are. I am going to press with all of it and you are going down."

He also has a really great, albeit vulgar, meltdown at WritingForums.com.

One of the most amazing statements I managed to dig out of his wreckage was this, "Authors who haven't got paid yet will get paid unless you actually slammed my company or the anthology you got published in." I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that's not legal.

Google for more giggles, or visit his blog.

He might be someone to watch now that the Rose Show is in reruns and Sam has been canceled.

Unprofessional Businesses and Copyrighting Lists

Since BlogCatalog.com seemed like a well-designed, professional site, I was a little dismayed to learn  one of the site's administrators forwarded private (and copyright protected) e-mail to Rose DesRochers. Rose, who I suspect has been plotting a major flame war against BlogCatalog since day one (BlogCatalog is a direct competitor of another site owned by the DesRochers), wasted little time in telling the world.

I give two scoops of poop to BlogCatalog for what they did. No matter what someone writes (assuming it's not a death threat) all businesses have a responsibility to behave in a professional manner and maintain the confidentiality of clients.

I also noticed Rose has written a blog on copyrighting lists. For someone who claims to be a writer, she doesn't waste a lot of time checking her facts. Lists are not copyright protected.

"What Is Not Protected by Copyright? ... Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents or other common sources)."

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wnp (American). Since Rose is citing "fair use" which is a term  used in American Copyright laws, not Canadian, I guess she is having this imaginary battle with an American.

For anyone new to the site who wonders why I'm even discussing this woman, I'll explain. Rose DesRochers has become something of an online celebrity, not unlike those on YouTube, for her flames, irrational comments and wild claims of being a professional writer, in spite of the fact grammar, word usage and obviously research, are things she feels are beneath her. Rose, along with husband Shawn, specialize in administering public humiliation to anyone who disagrees with them, and competitors. Many people will recall the Hall of Shame, and the war with another poetry site that ended with Rose stalking the woman and actually calling her employer.

Here's some vintage Rose:

http://jameslandrith.com/content/view/2755/79/

http://www.virushead.net/vhrandom/2005/07/16/drama-at-the-poetry-forum/

http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewtopic.php?t=4120

http://www.scamfraudalert.com/f9/todays-woman-net-aka-rose-desrochers-shawn-desrochers-2146/

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=524&page=182%20-%20115k

http://www.icq.com/boards/view_messages.php?tid=339&topic_id=364441

http://www.icq.com/boards/view_messages.php?topic_id=371515&tid=338

http://www.searchen.com/forum/t129-angeleyes-banned---.html

And here are a list of names Rose uses on the Internet (and feel free to copy it, lists aren't protected by copyright). If your board thrives on flame wars and controversy, then you might invite her to join, otherwise, I would recommend avoiding her at all costs:

BubblesR
Swtdesrose
hotheadedbrunette
PoetryWatchDog
DesertRose
WomanOnTop
AngeleEyes
SwtRose
BeautifulSmile
desertrosedreams
PSPAddict

Rose often claims people are picking on her and I don't think those so-called friends of hers are doing her any favors by supporting her victim mentality. It's not even possible one person could run into so many problems on so many other sites (there are at least two dozen others I didn't list) unless the problem was person.

To make matters worse, the couple are now offering hosting services at visionthishosting.com. Can you imagine entrusting your website and possibly confidential data and personal information to these people? I wonder if the new site has been around long enough for Rose to have gotten into a fight with a client and if she deleted the client's site in revenge? It is my opinion that it's only a matter of time until we start hearing the stories. And of course, she'll probably read any personal correspondence she can, that is available on her servers, because Rose is a firm believer in reading private messages and she has defended that notion on the record.

Sam Vargo — an observation

Just popped on to Sam's blog again and read this, "I'm going to take the blog down soon. Actually, the people I've been slamming on the blog are right: I should have never started a literary agency. Letting this mistake stagger on and on like some weekend wino at Key West isn't going to happen. The critics have been brutal, though. I probably would have gone out of business sooner or later anyhow. They didn't need to be so scathing in their remarks on their directory sites."

How does he fail to see the irony? His own scathing, unprofessional letters to potential clients and online attacks were what started the problem in the first place, yet he actually mentions critics being brutal to him and that "they didn't need to be so scathing in their remarks...".

As Mrs. English would say, "payback's a beach."

When Agents Go Off The Edge

I've criticized the AbsoluteWrite.com (AW) format in the past because it's possible for any anonymous jerk with a keyboard and a grudge to go on there and trash a small business. You can say anything, it doesn't have to be true, in fact it doesn't have to really say anything; Posting, "does anyone know anything about this company," will most likely yield a dozen responses insulting the company's website, micro-editing of every page and posts from those with an insatiable need to confirm that indeed, the company does not seem "professional" and should be avoided. Proof isn't important, it's the speculation that gets the attention.

I get a chuckle when they talk about the professionalism of the sites in question, because I don't think anyone could accuse the AW site of looking polished or well-organized. If we were to go on first impressions alone, AW would become a victim of its own standards. Fortunately, most people don't do that and once you get past the look, you'll find a community filled with educated, intelligent, helpful writers.

And there are times those boards have done the job I hope they were intended to do, and that is to expose creeps out to take advantage of writers.

Enter Sam Vargo. I first learned about Sam Vargo on Victoria Strauss's Writer Beware Blog post a few days ago. Sam owns something called the Circle Literary Agency and that name showed up on the AW boards a year ago. If you follow the posts, it reads like a soap opera, and not a bad one, at that.

On the AW discussion, you'll find members have shared letters they received from Sam that include amazing little nuggets of cheap entertainment such as, "Well through half the ms., I still was undecided on what type of genre this thing should fall into - is it a military novel or a sci-fi novel?" I'll leave you to ponder why he had gotten to the middle of a manuscript if it was so bad. Don't most agents toss them after a few pages?

He later accuses another writer of tracking down the publishing house he had submitted her manuscript to (she didn't) and goes off on what can only be described as a tantrum any toddler would be envious to have presented. That writer, using the handle Bexromo on AW, also says Sam wrote, "It's a damned shame to see someone so self-loathing that they need constant validation. I mean emails every other day? Get a life. Get a pen pal." It's like the guy is role playing or something, but stumbled into the wrong forum.

Sam claims to have a masters degree in English, (note, he used "they" when he should have used a singular pronoun in the last quote) from Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. He was also a staff writer at The Times West Virgina if you want to believe everything you read on the Internet.

I found a small list of other respectable writing credits in his name and it appears he could have simply lived his life working towards his dream of being a recognized writer (if that is his dream), had it not been for this: http://circletheenemies.blogspot.com/ The blog has no name today, but it had several names during the past week. What you'll find there though is an almost heart-wrenching downward spiral into mental illness; A man feeling so wronged and so impotent, that he seeks justice in his own rambling, nearly incomprehensible writings day after day after day, exposing an obsession he can't seem to get beyond.

Bow your heads in prayer, light a candle or dance naked under the full moon, because this man does not deserve our scorn, but rather our pity.

Booklocker Author Hits Big Time, Sad Farewells, McGraw Hill Not Playing Nice

Self-Publisher Gets Traditional Book Deals!

I just heard tonight that Natalie Collins, who published her book SisterWife through Booklocker years ago, now has two books out by St. Martin's. Congratulations Natalie.

Girl On Demand (a.k.a. POD-dy Mouth) Closes Doors

It was sad to see this happen, she had such a keen eye for the good stuff, but on March 13, 2007, POD-dy Mouth made her last blog entry. I'm sure she'll be sadly missed. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Miss Snark said her last goodbyes a few weeks ago, on May 20.

McGraw Hill Not Playing Nice

For an interesting read check out this story at WritersWeekly.com. It seems a writer's article was published by them and the writer never paid. When questioned about it, the company went into full runaround mode.

Violent Acres Where Are You?

by George's Better Looking (and Smarter) Half

Where is ViolentAcres.com (VA)? I love that blog. It was the focus of much criticism from the mommy bloggers, but surely it didn't deserve to be shut down. My one major complaint about VA was the blogger's numerous references to race when they weren't necessary. She describes a cop as being black when he could have been green for all it mattered and there were other instances I saw. This blogger, http://quadhome.livejournal.com/66971.html posts about it and specifically mentioned Violent Acres.

But, while NAMBLA and blogs where fully grown men discuss their attraction to children thrive, they shut down V, a woman who was merely discussing her life and writing parodies about family blogs?

ViolentAcresTalk.com is up, but there is a post there asking about the Violent Acres site.

From what I've found, their host is, http://apisnetworks.com/. Let's contact them and see what's up.

Here are some opinions about Violent Acres at Stumble Upon. Violent Acres was often discussed on Digg.com as well as being the focus of attention elsewhere, and those who were less than impressed shared their opinions at Troll-Baby.com.

V, where are you?

Creative Cons

Since sticking my big toe into the waters of freelancing, I've become very aware of the number of people out there who have no problem ripping off freelancers. I wrote an article about it in the WritersWeekly.com newletter that ran last August. I'm going to post the article below, but was hoping to get a discussion going about the sorts of cons pulled on freelancers and ways we can deal with them. Share your stories in the comments section.

First Published Aug. 2, 2005 at,

http://www.writersweekly.com/this_weeks_article/003558_08022006.html

(this might have been edited a bit).

by George English

Freelancers get ripped off every day. Sites like WritersWeekly.com are filled with stories and warnings about people who simply don't pay for writing or editing or graphic design work. Sometimes the check just never arrives, but quite often these crooks are more creative and more sinister. Some have honed their skills over many years, and if you were to look into their backgrounds, you'd probably be entertained for weeks just reading about their various scams and deceptions: You'll find a mechanics' lien on the family station wagon; cell phones listed because land lines were cut off for non-payment; and frequent relocations in an attempt to keep ahead of creditors. Mittens, the family cat, has been living at the vet's office for the last two years because the check bounced. Their entire lives are designed around dodging bill collectors.

One of the things I've noticed is that, while we are all wary of the new business or stranger who wants to hire us, sometimes people and businesses we know and trust are the culprits. It's difficult to protect yourself, but before taking on a new client, freelancers should take a look at the client's projects and websites and see if there has obviously been a string of different creative hands involved.

Another way freelancers can protect themselves is by never sending out work that has not been paid for; Instead, send watermarked proofs. If it's an article and you've agreed to a pay-on-publication contract, do as much research as possible to see if there are any negative reports about the publisher online, and contact the potential client's local Better Business Bureau. Make sure you have the correct name and an ISP e-mail address for whoever hires you. People writing you as "The Editor" from a free e-mail account aren't running a professional business, so be cautious. There are many types of crooks out there waiting to take advantage of freelancers. Some of these you might recognize:

The Rusher — Everything needs to be done yesterday. He promises he'll FedEx the check overnight. His printer or webmaster is waiting. His last freelancer just vanished after being paid in full, in advance. He's a victim. He needs your help. So, you work all night, send the copy and never hear from the client again.

The Conversationalist —- "I can't really describe what I want in an e-mail, I need to do it by phone." The problem is, unless you have everything in writing, the client can say you promised anything on the phone and refuse to pay based on the fact you did not deliver. Phone conversations tend to get casual, we agree to do things a little differently when engaging a real person, while writing allows us to filter our thoughts. If you do work with clients on the phone, make sure you e-mail a detailed summary of the conversation to the client and that he acknowledges the e-mail. And, insist on a signed contract that specifies the agreed-to terms.

The Blackmailer — He wants extra work for free. It's that simple. And if you don't spend many more hours fixing his errors and making changes that were not part of the original agreement, he's going to give you a bad review on freelancesuckers.com, post comments about you on his blog, and more.

The Micromanager — This gal (or guy) has no real background in writing or publishing and will slowly, one change at a time, take your professional, polished creation and turn it into something you don't recognize. You won't get paid for the overtime or the unreasonable number of changes, but you'll get the blame when other people give this client an honest appraisal of the work.

The Sensitive Person — who's "shocked" you want more money, even though it's clearly in the contract, because he thought you were friends and you understood him, and he's not rich, and he plans to promote you to all of his friends (all broke too, no doubt).

The Confused Banker (a close cousin of The Rusher) — who doesn't understand why the electronic transfer didn't go through. He uses them all the time and has hundreds of thousands of dollars in that account. Well, if you wouldn't mind, could you just send the file to the printer or designer while he gets the banking straightened out? If you don't get the file off in 10 minutes, he'll miss his deadline, be out $40,000 and Mittens the cat will surely die.

The Nice Guy — he knows he was suppose to pay you, but would rather give you something more valuable - a link on his website that's ranked # 4,998,905 on Google right now.

The Cheap Ego (close cousin to The Sensitive Person and The Nice Guy) — I know a young designer whose early experiences as a freelancer were dampened by involvement with this sort of client. She was fresh out of design school so eager to get work. After countless hours designing a book cover that included custom images and artwork, she asked the publisher how she'd like to be invoiced. The publisher wrote her a scathing response, expressing utter shock and confusion over being expected to pay. After all, she was the publisher and for merely having her name associated with the publisher, which included a link on the publisher's website, the designer should be dropping to her knees and thanking the cosmic forces. The designer was never paid. The book was never published and the publisher eventually removed the link to the designer's site.

Fresh Looks at Old News

Lawyer Turned Author Sues Booksurge

Remember Leon R. Koziol, the lawyer who was suing Booksurge because he spent US $10,000 for 1,000 books that were filled with errors? Many people don't realize he also ran for the New York State Senate (he didn't win). I can't find any updated news on his Booksurge lawsuit. His book is for sale on Amazon.

Absolute Write vs Barbara Bauer

Pooper's Scoops was on Google's Blogger at the time and it got so nasty we decided not to transfer some of the posts because the comments turned into a huge flame war. Just recently, Barbara Bauer filed a lawsuit naming an entire list of people she claims prevented her from earning a living. She even named Wikimedia in the suit. No one has received papers yet.

Mega Publisher Threatens to Sue Photographer Over Image They Used Without His Permission

The French magazine Shock, used photographer Micheale Yon's photo without permission for their publication's premier edition, on the front cover, then threatened to sue the photographer when he complained. A settlement was eventually reached.

Reuters Staffer Making Death Threats

Certainly one of the most shocking stories I heard of, in no small part because a huge chunk of my life has been spent in newsrooms. At one point the news agency claims that the threats did come from someone on their staff,

Following your email regarding the posting of an offensive message that was sent from a Reuters IP address, I can confirm that an employee has been suspended pending further investigation. The individual was not an employee of Reuters’ news division.Yours sincerely, Ed Williams.

You'll need to read the entire drama to see if you can make sense of it.

Airleaf Publishing

After a dust up with Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware Blogs, this company set up a revenge rebuttal site which has since been taken down. The saga continued on Writer Beware.

Random House Picks Up Free Book

MCM, the blogger who wrote The Pig and the Box, had it translated into several languages, and gave it away under a creative commons license, ended up getting a book deal from none other than Random House and they are working with Warner Brothers to turn it into a feature film. The print edition is called The Pig and the Box, Special Edition.

Sex E-mailer Identified, Story Vanishes

The infamous sex e-mailer, who was the talk of many writers' forums last year was eventually outed by a member of the Bed and Soots Writer's Guild. Site owner Linda Oness promptly removed the posts with the evidence without explanation and I'm told that the man who discovered the e-mailer's identity is no longer able to log into his account on that site.

Josh Wolf Free

Josh Wolf, who was jailed after refusing to hand over videotape of a demonstration where a copper was injured was eventually freed. There was a huge outpouring of support for him.

When the judge came to realize the support for my cause was growing and that I was unlikely to waver anytime soon, he ordered both parties to meet with a magistrate judge in the hopes we could reach a solution amenable to everyone. After two rather strenuous sessions of mediation, we at last came to an agreement that not only leaves my ethics intact but actively serves the role of a free press in our so-called free society.

Another Blogger Being Sued, Mom/ACLU Sues School Over Photo, Playboy Being Sued Over Use Of Image

Blogger being sued over image use

As LA Times writer Robin Acarian says, "the owners of one L.A. photo agency are so frustrated with what they consider to be blatant theft by self-styled "gossip gangsta" Perez Hilton that they've decided to make a federal case of it," and so the games begin.

It seems gossip (gossip? who would ever engage in such a frivolous waste of time? — ed.) blog PerezHilton.com has finally pushed a photography agency called X17, known for it's less-than-moderate pursuit of celebrities, a little too far. On Nov. 30, 2006, X17 filed suit against PerezHilton.com for unauthorized use of numerous images owned by them.

In the Times interview X17 co-owner Brandy Navarre was quoted as saying, "we've had trouble with a lot of bloggers....But he's the biggest, and the most arrogant and pigheaded about it, frankly."

School being sued over yearbook image

In other image news, the American Civil Liberties Union is taking up the cause for a Rhode Island mother by filing a lawsuit against her son's school because they will not allow a photo he submitted of himself to be published in the school's year book.

Seventeen-year-old student Patrick Agin, belongs to the Society for Creative Anachronism, an international organization that researches and recreates medieval history. He submitted the photo of himself wearing a costume and carrying a sword, to the Portsmouth High School yearbook committee in Sept., 2006, as his senior portrait, but the school principal nixed the photo, citing a violation of the policy against weapons and violence in schools.

According to the article, "the lawsuit seeks an order that would prevent the yearbook from being published without Agin's senior portrait."

Playboy Magazine being sued over use of yearbook photo

Playboy Magazine is also involved in lawsuit over a yearbook photo it ran of Colleen Shannon. Photographer Carla Calkins, who took the photo that was submitted to the magazine by Shannon, says they had no permission to use it.

Playboy says they do not need permission as the image falls under the "fair use" statute that allows materials to be published and used without permission for purposes of illustration or comment.

Snap Preview Fun For Blogs

You might have noticed that if you hold your cursor over links on my site now you will get a preview of the linked site before you click. I just downloaded that great program for free from Snap.com.

New Contest Similar to the Sobol Award?

The Sobol Award keeps getting more interesting. The contest costs US $85 to enter and is open to all unpublished writers who do not have a literary agent. First prize is US $100,000. Publisher's Weekly ran a story on it in Sept., 2006.

Things took an interesting turn on Dec. 6, 2006,  when it was announced in a news release by Simon and Schuster, that winners will also be published by Touchstone, an imprint of that company, and will receive a significant advance from them. A more detailed analysis of Sobol can be found on the Writer Beware blogs owned by A. C. Crispin and Victoria Strauss, who reports, "the organization has entered into an agreement with Touchstone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, to publish all three award finalists. ... Touchstone will pay hefty advances--$100,000 for world rights, or $50,000 for US rights only. (This is in addition to the prize money Sobol will give out: $100,000 for the winner, $25,000 and $10,000 for the second and third place finalists respectively.) "

Strauss says she sees some potential problems with the contest including, "the fact that the ten finalists must agree to literary representation by Sobol (whose literary agency doesn't even exist at this point)...". She also points out in the article that, "they've received fewer submissions than they expected, forcing them to extend the contest deadline to March 31, 2007."

Miss Snark was a little less diplomatic when she referred to Sobol as "a crock of shit" back in July.

Now, there is a new contest called Make Your Mark 2007 (MYM), which Strauss posts about today. While it appears similar to the Sobol in many ways, Strauss does note significant differences, the least of not being that they believe they'll get 45,000 entries in five weeks.

A quick look at the MYM site shows they entered the game a little more organized and a little more polished than Sobol did when it first announced its contest. MYM has sponsors. They also have nine categories, unlike Sobol which is exclusively for novelists. And, first prize in the various categories is US $150,000, with total prize allotments of US $2,250,000.

Sobol has been a topic of interest on AbsoluteWrite.com and the discussion there is worth reading as is the MYM discussion on that same site.

The Sobol Award site can be found at, http://www.sobolaward.com/ and the Make Your Mark 2007 site is at, http://www.makeyourmark2007.com/.

Blogging Fun, Great Video Feed

Blogging Fun

I was reading Miss Begotten, whose blog is at http://www.missbegotten.blogspot.com/ when I found a link to free cartoons designed especially for...who else? Bloggers! On the cartoon site, you have to scroll down, at least if you're using IE because there's a peg-leg problem with the layout. Oh, I feel his pain on that.

You'll also find several posts on Miss Begotten  with "twisted linguistics" that have been spotted on the web. Since I'm prone to making some noteworthy bloopers, I always enjoy seeing the works of others.

Wildlife Live Feed

Our entire family is hooked on this site, which is a live feed to an African watering hole. We've seen so many wild animals and unbelievable interactions. We're big fans of the giraffes and zebras.

Have A Kidney To Spare?

Or money or just time to say a prayer?

Last night I read an article about a person whose life was saved thanks to the generous donation of a kidney — from a complete stranger! The donor read about the recipient on a site called, Save One Person.

The stories vary from the questionable, "I'm broke send cash" to a heart wrenching plea for a kidney to save the life of a five-year-old girl, "Minneapolis Girl Needs Kidney To Survive: Parents Searching for Compatible Donor The parents of an Israeli child born with a sole, malfunctioning kidney are in a desperate race against time to find a compatible donor who can save their five year-old child’s life. Chana Bogatz was already critically ill when she was born."

Reading through the more than 400 stories is difficult, but after five minutes, you'll never have appreciated your life more.

Role Playing Site For Writers

A great part of writing fiction is the ability to assume the role of your characters and express your thoughts, feelings and actions as those of other people. That's one of the reasons a group of writers decided to form Trompe l'Oeil, where members assume the roles of their favorite authors and discuss issues, ideas and even participate in arguments, from their points of view.

The group's fourteen members include Emily Bronte, Friedrich Nietzsche, EE Cummings, Thomas Jefferson and Edgar Allen Poe. As in writing, some characters are played with more skill than others, but if you ever wanted to read Bronte telling Nietzsche, "If only I had the time to devote, so that I could listen endlessly to your sexist rants on how women resemble spiders...", then this is the site for you.

Trompe l'oeil is a french term that means deception of the eye. Traditionally, the word is used to describe paintings so photographically realistic that they appear to be real. One of the best examples of this type of art is Pere Borrell del Caso's 1864 work titled, Escaping Criticism (shown).

UPDATE — Video Journalist Free During Appeal Process

A federal court released freelance video journalist, Josh Wolf, from prison Sept. 1, 2006,  while he continues to appeal demands to hand over his video footage of a protest in which a police officer was seriously assaulted.

As I reported earlier on this blog, Wolf was placed in custody Aug. 1, and could have been detained until the summer of 2007. Comments on this blog showed little sympathy for Wolf.

Fortunately, this oppinion is not shared by everyone. According to EditorandPublisher.com, "The American Civil Liberties Union said federal authorities are disregarding California's shield law, which generally allows journalists to decline to divulge unpublished material to state authorities. That shield, however, does not attach to federal investigations."

Although it was a San Fransisco police officer who was assaulted, it has attracted interest at the federal level because of claims that damaged property was funded by federal sources.

The Society for Protection of Journalists president, Christine Tatum, supports Wolf's cause saying, "We are grateful to Josh for taking a firm stand at tremendous personal cost on an issue that affects all journalists...". The Society has been acting on Wolf's behalf and has promised to pay US $30,000 toward his legal defense. They also negotiated with his lawyers, convincing them to put a US $60,000 cap on defense fees.

Heliographica Press Says Good-Bye

"Dear author, We regret to inform you that Heliographica will be discontinuing its operations.This is an official notice that your title will only be in print through Ingram/BT until late August 2006. ..." The letter can be read in its entirety on AbsoluteWrite.com.

Heliographica was a relative newcomer on the vanity press scene and like many such companies, had its share of supporters; Unfortunately, there were also a lot of complaints.

Heliographica is owned by Variocity Corporation, which also appears to be closing its doors. Using Google's cache, I found one of the remaining Variocity pages stated: "Variocity Corporation is an independent retailer selling Nurit products." A cache page of Heliographica further confirmed the relationship between the two companies,"...Heliographica/Heliographica Press, an imprint of Variocity Corporation., a California corporation with principal offices at 2261 Market St #504, San Francisco, CA 94114...."

Baby Expert Considers Suing Site For Moms

This post on Mumsnet.com pretty much explains it all, but many people are expressing surprise at the hardball approach well known baby-care author, Gina Ford, has taken in an effort to have unfavourable comments about her removed from the parenting website.

After reading the posts, and not getting the satisfaction she sought from the site's owners, Ford had her lawyers contact Mumsnet on April 5, 2006, with five demands, to which all but one were met (Mumsnet refused to pay Ford damages or for her legal costs). However, other uncomplimentary comments later showed up on the board, and were dealt with immediately. This time though, Ford upped the ante and her legal team quickly fired off a letter to the site's host, DSC, demanding they "disable the website with immediate effect."

In her own online statement, published Aug. 9, Ford mentions one of the troubling comments, "...mumsnet published an item which compared me with terrorists in the middle east." and describes other remarks as a "...defamatory campaign waged against me as a person in which I have been described in the most vile and disgusting terms."

She later goes on to contradict herself concerning the accusation she wanted the site taken down by saying, "It is true that my solicitors asked for the mumsnet website to be removed but as the host persuaded mumsnet to delete the publication, it was, of course, not necessary to pursue the matter further." and in the next paragraph says, "Any suggestion that I am trying to close down the mumsnet website is completely untrue."

Demanding a site be removed is the same as closing down the site, in my books.

I also wonder why Ford will not capitalize Mumsnet, making it a proper noun? I've left her quotes intact here, and this grammatic peculiarity is consistent throughout her statement.

The Mumsnet article raises some interesting and valid points about freedom of speech and message boards in general.

Mumsnet forum is owned by Justine Roberts, Carrie Longton and Rachel Foster and receives up to 10,000 postings a day.

PART II

It seems Gina Ford is discussed in unfavourable terms quite frequently. Here on expatsingapore.com, she's compared to a Nazi and in this book review for Sue Gerhardt's book Why Love Matters, Ford is again compared to a Nazi. And several people reviewing Ford's own, The Contented Little Baby Book, made similar comments.

In Feb., 2005, the BBC planned a "Big Brother" style reality show for babies, featuring the author, but that fell through and Gina Ford's Baby School was canceled.

Writers' Work Search

There's no lack of sites and newsletters that list jobs for freelancers and permanent writing positions, and we all have our favourites, so I thought I'd share a few of mine with you. Unless the site or newsletter offers something really outstanding, I usually don't like to sign up for anything, I just want to search and view. I also like screened jobs, not just lists of every piece of scammer's bait on the net. On to the list!

Mediabistro Job Listings

PublishersMarketplace Jobs

Sunoasis Jobs

JustTechWriterJobs

JournalismJobs

Copy Editor Job Board

Freelance Writing Jobs — this is actually part of Deborah Ng's blog and there's some great stuff on there for freelancers.

Writers' Weekly Freelance Jobs and Paying Markets

Words In Crisis and Blogilepsy

I was visiting the sites of some of the posters who have commented here and found two little gems. First is the Words In Crisis board at Cher2, a Proboards' site. Once there, click on the "Over the Rainbow" forum and then scroll down until you find Words In Crisis.

The findings of this group, who note word misuse from all media, include the words payed, probubly, definately, confussion, supposenly, Rushia, fesible,  corrisondence and the phrase "for all intensive purposes."

The second little gem I found was a new forum called The Town of Blogilepsy. The Blogilepsy site is offering a free banner ad to new members for a limited time. Ads will run seven days. It's a very attractive site, I'd argue one of the nicest I've seen, and so far I've heard no reports of people turned away for no apparent reason, moderators who read PMs or moderators sending e-mails so they can get the IP numbers of people to ban them before they ever visit the site. And while I'd love to say the last three snarks were just that — snarks, they're not. I guess that's just the mindset of those in guilded towers who never get to smell the roses. A free sock to the first person who reports my faux pas on Words In Crisis!

AuthorHouse Author Suing Clay Aiken

First she writes a 564 page unauthorized biography about him and his family, which was published by vanity publisher AuthorHouse.com (formerly FirstBooks.com). Now Jeannie Holleman is suing well-known American Idol singer, Clay Aiken, because she claims his negative comments have hurt sales for Out of the Blue, which she promotes with such descriptive phrases as, "Once upon a time in Raleigh, North Carolina, there lived a geeky little momma’s boy with curly hair, thick glasses, and a voice that could bring the angels to tears."

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 4, 2006, in Wake Co., Superior Court, claims "Aiken and his mother defamed (Holleman) and depressed her book sales by denying that they were acquainted with her, branding her stories as lies and bashing her work on fan Websites," according to a report on eonline.com, Aug. 7. The author also says she was "manhandled" by one of the singer's bodyguards.

Holleman is suing for US $260,000 in damages, a retraction of his criticisms about the book, or failing that, she'd like Aiken to endorse it on his official Website, write a positive introduction to the book and sell it at his concerts for the next five years.

In short, if he'd just do all her bidding, she'll forget he was annoyed she insulted him and sought to make money off his name by publishing unflattering hearsay about him and those he cares about. How magnanimous of her.

You know, I'm very tempted to say there's a certain faction of self-publishers who seem to fit a particular personality profile.

Hackers Go After Booksurge, AOL Searches Not So Private and Forget Oprah, Check Out POD-dy Mouth

Hackers Do Damage at Booksurge

Booksurge, one of the largest of the vanity publishers, seems to have had a bad night. This morning, many of their current and former clients received an e-mail informing them that the Booksurge servers had been hacked and that there is the possibility some confidential information, including credit card details, was compromised.

Angela Hoy received one and posted it to her site at WritersWeekly.com.

Booksurge's site has been down most of the day.

AOL Search Data Not So Private

A few days ago I posted about Google reading e-mail "electronically" and yesterday, AOL apologized after "releasing the search requests of hundreds of thousands of its customers."

It released the data as part of a tool for researches and along with information about people searching their own names, neighbourhood information and other personal data, "one of its customers had searched for "how to kill your wife", "dead people" and "car crashes"."

Tom Kyte did a great blog about the incident here that goes into much detail.

Forget Oprah, If You Have A Self-Published Book and Want a Great Agent, Get a Thumbs-Up From POD-dy Mouth

The introductory paragraph for POD-dy's blog today, says it all, "In less than one week, three of the five authors of the POD-dy Picks profiled in the Entertainment Weekly piece have been offered representation--by excellent agents, too. Holy cow. And one of the five has been tapped for the movie rights for his book. Holy cow again."

Blogger Jailed

Many people assume there are laws in America that protect journalists from being forced to reveal their sources, and handing over their notes, or in this case, videotape, and there are – at the State level. No such law exists to protect journalists at the Federal level and that fact has landed San Fransisco blogger and freelance journalist, Josh Wolf,  in jail.

Wolf was placed in custody after a hearing in front of Federal District Court Judge William Alsup, Aug. 1, and found in contempt. He is being held at a federal prison in Dublin, California. Wolf can be detained until the summer of 2007, says his lawyer, Jose Luis Fuentes, as reported by News.com.

Wolf's troubles began when he videotaped a demonstration in the Mission District, July 8, 2005.  At one point during the protest, a San Francisco police officer sustained a fractured skull. Authorities demanded the videotape, but accordning to News.com, Wolf refused, citing his right as a journalist to shield his sources.

According to the News.com article, Wolf posted portions of the  video on his website, www.joshwolf.net, and sold some of it to local TV stations.  However, Wolf refused to give the tapes to investigators when they demanded the raw, unedited version. He is arguing that he has the right as a journalist to shield his sources.

The link to Wolf's site takes you on a redirect to his blog, which is being updated by his mother.

Google Peeks at Subscibers' Private e-Mails

It was just a little peek. Nothing to get too concerned about.

As part of the recent class action lawsuit it was involved in, Google attempted to contact 75,000 e-mail subscribers. Problem was, such an e-mail would probably be regarded as spam by the system and sent directly to the users' junk folders, and not their in-boxes. To confirm their suspicions, Google algorithmically peeked into all of the accounts to see if the e-mail was marked spam or not.

Caught with it's pants down does Google apologize? Feel remorse? Think this was wrong? Heck, no! Their lawyers practically bragged about it, read page 13 of this PDF.

This blogger explains the story in far more detail, if you're interested.

Google snooping is nothing new. In 2002, there was a public outcry when it was discovered Google planned to scan e-mails to assist advertisers in targeting potential customers.

At that time, Google assured us that the process is automated and no people ever see the content of e-mails. Never mind the fact that Google admitted "residual copies of email may remain on our systems, even after you have deleted them from your mailbox or after the termination of your account."

Man Arrested for Taking Photo With Cell Phone

Thinking of taking an image with your cell phone? Think again!

Twenty-one-year old Philadelphia resident, Neftaly Cruz, was arrested after he took a picture with his cell phone of police arresting a man.

According to an article by NBC10,  Cruz says, " 'They threatened to charge me with conspiracy, impeding an investigation, obstruction of a investigation. … They said, 'You were impeding this investigation.' (I asked,) "By doing what?' (The officer said,) 'By taking a picture of the police officers with a camera phone...' "

An explanation by police contradicts Cruz's statments and those of several witnesses. The ACLU is now involved.

Blogger Gives Creative Finger to... well, read the post

When I first read this story, I thought the author was an English bloke, but today I tracked down his blog and he's Canadian. See honey, all Canadians aren't looney. (My daughter was beginning to worry about that).

A blogger, who describes himself as a  writer, producer and programmer, and goes by the initials MCM, wrote and illustrated his own children's story book, available in several languages, with more being added every day, it seems. The book is available free in PDF and offered through a Creative Commons license.

On his blog the author  says, "I made the book after hearing how the entertainment industry in Canada is keen on teaching young kids about how to "respect" copyright. That was a bit heavy-handed, I thought, and otherwise despicable. Preying on small kids, brainwashing them so they believe what you're doing is honourable and good... Feh."

The book itself is "about a pig who finds a magic box that can replicate anything you put into it. The pig becomes so protective of it, and so suspicious of anyone that wants to use it, that he makes people take their copied items home in special buckets that act as... well, they're basically DRM. It's like a fable, except the moral of the story is very modern in tone."

The book is not without controversy though, as the author admits his own daughter demanded her name be removed from the dedication page. I love daughters. Never a boring moment once you get one, I promise.

It's really quite good. And it's free. In fact, the entire blog is really good so I'll post a full link to it here, http://dustrunners.blogspot.com

PODs—You Really Gotta Read That Fine Print and Self-Publisher Sued on Judge Judy

I won't name the company, because this story is coming out tomorrow in the WritersWeekly.com newsletter, but one of the popular POD companies offers services such as editing and design, which is convenient for authors. What many people do not know is that if you leave the company before you've been with them for three years or more, it will cost you an additional US $750 to take your book cover design with you and another US $750 for the interior files.

If you leave after the three-year mark, it costs US $150 per.

Self-Publisher Sued on Judge Judy

American TV show, Judge Judy, where people can air their dirty laundry on national television for judgments up to US $5,000, featured a case involving a photographer and a self-published author who was accused of using the photographer's picture without paying him and without giving him credit.

I watched the show, and then read a statement from the defendant, Jennifer Tom,  on her website which was at this link until a few days ago: jennifertom.com/DoveNewsletter, but can now be read in the Google cache. The details Tom describes did not coincide with what I saw on the show, which I believe was originally aired in Jan., 2006.

The photographer (whose name I'll leave out of this, he's suffered enough, I'm sure), won the case and was awarded US $2,500 and the defendant was ordered to credit him for the photo. The litigant pointed out that Tom was also using the image on other merchandise, but Judge Judy didn't address that issue and told the defendant she could use the image once the photographer was paid, and as long as he was credited.

Who Types Amongst Us?

Surf around the various writers' boards long enough and you'll probably end up needing therapy. A casual observer might not notice it, but the ongoing discourse between some members reads like a soap opera, complete with multiple login names, flame wars, revenge-reviews on Amazon and people leaving to start their own boards, just so they can freely insult those they do not like. As a gossip connoisseur  - I LOVE IT!!

But, those who behave like that are in the minority. Others are struggling writers and poets and some actually make a living at this craft. I decided to surf around and see just who's out there and was quite impressed. Board members have several published authors in their midst.

I found Zolah at www.absolutewrite.com (AW). At 24, this amazing woman will have her first book published this summer. Read more about Zolah (Zoe) at her website, www.zoemarriott.com. Her book is titled The Swan Kingdom.

Walking With Lazarus, by T.L. Hines, will be released in July by Bethany House. T.L. is a regular at AW, who posts under that name. T.L. can also be found at, www.tlhines.com.

And www.writers.net (WN) poster, Sara Gruen, recently had her book, Water For Elephants, reach the 15th spot for hardcover fiction on the NYT best sellers' list. Pretty darn hard to top that!

And of course, A.C. Crispin can be found regularly at AW and WN. A.C. has a whole list of books to her credit. Check them out for yourself at, www.accrispin.com/.

A.C.'s partner in crime, Victoria Strauss, also has an impressive collection of publishing credits. Read about her at, www.victoriastrauss.com.

Poster Cathy C, a.k.a. Cathy Clamp, has been published by Tor books, along with co-author C.T. Adams. Cathy C can be found at WN, AW and less frequently at the WritersWeekly forums. The author has a detailed website.

Popular WN poster Mya Bell has at least four, mainstream fiction books to her credit, although I can't verify that fact, as she publishes under a top-secret pen name she won't share with anyone except her publicist. Visit Mya's website at www.myabell.com.

Another WN poster, Jena Grace, will have her book published by Bloomsbury US, Children's division in 2007.

If I've missed someone who deserves a mention, let me know - especially if it's you.

Lots of News

Please be patient as I move to the new location. There's a queue of new stories already in draft mode. If only I had 10 more fingers.

This will be Pooper's permanent home and we'll be able to put more links in the side bar, something I was unable to do at Blogger. So, please link to Pooper's, tell all your friends.

Contests for Writers

There never seems to be any lack of bogus contests designed to separate writers from their money, but there are a few honest ones out there.

Every month, www.WritersWeekly.com has a short story contest. Participation is limited to 500 people and the top three prizes include cash awards of US $300, $250 and $200, plus more than 80 other prizes. It costs $5 to enter. For more information go to WritersWeekly.

A regular poster at the Bed and Soot's Writer's Guild just told me about a writing contest they are running. I believe it's a one-time deal, but first prize is US $500.

Beware of fake contests. For more information on how to protect yourself from those visit, SFWA.

Who's Self-Publishing, Who's Winning?

Alan Thicke, who some readers will remember as the dad on the TV sitcom, Growing Pains, has become an iUniverse author. His book, How to Raise Kids Who Won't Hate You, was released in April, 2006. He's currently featured on the front of their site, www.iuniverse.com.

iUniverse is no stranger to celebrity authors. Amy Fisher, whose name became a household word in 1992 when she shot her older boyfriend's wife, used them to publish her book, If I Knew Then. Some reports claim the book was not actually published print-on-demand (POD), but was an experiment by iUniverse in traditional publishing. Perhaps it worked well and that's why Thicke is using them. Does anyone know the answer?

In 2001, Dr. Sean Kenniff, the wildly popular neurosurgeon from the original Survivor, self-published his book Mad through Booklocker. Other celebrity authors who have chosen Booklocker are erotica writer Susie Bright, and Jenna Galtzer of AbsoluteWrite Water Cooler fame who self-published Sell The Fun Stuff, in 2002. Booklocker owner, Angela Hoy (who is about to give birth as I type), has herself made a successful career out of self-publishing, electronic publishing and traditional publishing.

Booksurge.com, which was once called Digitz, proved it has at least one rising star on their client list, despite numerous complaints about the company and a recent lawsuit initiated by a former client, when Kathleen McGowan, author of The Expected One, was picked up by Simon & Schuster.

Publish America (PA) author Benjamin Frazier will see his book, Shelly’s Diary, become a feature film staring Stella Parton (Dolly’s sister) and Traci Dinwiddie (Dawson’s Cree, The Notebook). PA is one of the most notorious of the "we're not a vanity press" organizations out there and the constant focus of writers' advocates who warn people to stay clear of them. In fact, one of the biggest drawing cards of the Absolute Write forums is the never ending saga of this company and its exploits, on this board.

Before embarking on a self-publishing venture, do your homework. Make sure you fully understand what you're getting into and check around the internet to see what other people have to say about particular companies. A good place to start is Clea Saal's www.booksandtales.com.

Breaking News

An informant in Maine tells me Angela Hoy is enroute to an area hospital and expected to give birth shortly to Mason, baby number five! Hope all goes well and as pain-free as possible. Angela made several posts on her www.WritersWeekly.com forums this evening and you can watch there for more up-to-date news as the action continues.

Copyright Fees to Increase

The U.S. Copyright Office plans to increase basic registration fees to $45 per application effective July 1, 2006. For more details visit their site.

Has Miss Snark Been Outed?

The snippy, snappy, always snarky blogger we all know and love as Miss Snark and found at http://www.misssnark.com/ has naturally become the focus of speculation amongst writers. Theories about her true identity have filled more than one thread on various writers' boards, and I must confess that I've done my own seeking.

The most convincing guess to date, in my opinion, has been voiced by an Absolute Write member, whose post includes some circumstantial evidence that Miss Snark is indeed Janet Reid of http://jetreidliterary.com/

Poster Samuel L. Bronkowitz makes a few interesting comparisons that include, "...Reid takes most types of fiction and nonfiction, but no science fiction. Get out your stamps: she accepts pitches by snail mail only. Miss Snark loves mystery, sells to small publishers, does not take sci-fi, and no e-queries. "...Janet Reid has 27 clients and works by herself. So does Miss Snark. Janet Reid lives in Brooklyn with an artist roommate. So does Miss Snark."

Pretty good detective work. Some posters expressed concern that outing Snarky's true identity would ruin the fun, but I don't think the evidence is conclusive. So the game continues.

MJ Rose eBay Auction

Although the high bid was US $500, the reserve was not met, so no one walked away with a customized love letter, penned by MJ Rose (a.k.a. Melisse Shapiro).

Most of us in the industry know MJ Rose to be one of the pioneers in electronic publishing and Time Magazine once dubbed her "the poster girl of epublishing." Her book, Lip Service, was first published electronically and then picked up by Doubleday Book Club and Literary Guild and eventually published by Pocket Books in Aug., 1999.

On eBay, the innovative Rose offered "... a 2,000-word story to your specifications and deliver it within six weeks -- and will donate her writing fee to Reading is Fundamental. That means you get the erotica you've been craving AND you give to a worthy cause. What could be better? " And it's a dang shame it didn't work. Hopefully, she won't give up and will try again with a new approach. Perhaps the reserve amount was a little too rich for people's blood and Rose could create a "poor man's version." Maybe a 200 word, hand-written letter, lightly scented, on customized paper?

But, now that she has once again cut a trail, maybe some of us imaginative freelancers could auction off services on eBay? Hey, Valentine's Day is only eight months away!

Blogger Beware

I posted a while ago about a blogger being sued (the case was later dropped), and there have been a series of articles on the net about people losing their jobs because of their blogs. But the list continues to grow.

One man in Germany posted about his bad experiences with a company and was promptly served. It turns out that it was more an issue of incompetent legal advice given to the litigant. Read more details about that story here.

Another German blogger received a cease and desist because his blog appeared on Google's search engine, which is discussed in more detail on this blog. This story is rather amusing because of the way other bloggers joined in to help.

One of the most interesting cases started last August, when Aaron Wall faced a lawsuit over comments posted to his blog. defendant Aaron Wall told the world the case was thrown out of court earlier this year - on his blog, of course.

In Canada, things went smoothly for one blogger when his apology, via blog, resulted in a lawsuit being dropped. Get your scoop here.

No matter which way you look at it, it seems about the worst thing you can do to stop a blogger is attempt to shut him up.

Is Your Blog Copy Being Stolen?

Hey, I Already Said That

Back on May 24, I blogged about Booksurge being sued and it wasn't fresh news then.

Yesterday, Miss Snark mentioned it and now half the writers' boards I find have threads about it. Maybe I'll be as popular as Snarky, one day. I feel like one of those tabloids "we reported it first."

Booksurge requires authors to sign a non-disclosure agreement. The copy I have is dated 10-02-05 at the bottom, at least I'm assuming that's the creation date, so the NDA wasn't the result of the current lawsuit.

Is Your Blog Copy Being Stolen?

Here are some of the readers' comments from a women's site I heard about today:

"You’ve got to be the worst example of a net thief I’ve seen in a long time. No class, no original content, no more hits from this surfer. Bat netizen! No Biscuit! I hope they shut you down."

"It would be great if you could steal content that had coherent, grammatical titles, eh?"

It seems this site is simply taking articles from other people's blogs. The site owner, Vyacheslav Kaushan said what he was doing was permissable under the Creative Common's license. You can get the full scoop at ConsumerAffairs.com, but here's a snippet:

Creative Commons' general counsel, Mia Garlick, disagreed. She weighed in on behalf of the bloggers, saying Kaushan's actions were an abuse of the license...

Kaushan soon deleted the stolen blog entries, as well as pages of comments lambasting him for stealing the work. But the site continues to link to others' work, seeming to imply endorsement.

Kaushan began showing up on other blogs, claiming that American copyright law didn't apply to him, as he was a citizen of the Ukraine.

Bookstores Unimpressed With Article

A few days ago I mentioned the fact that bookstores were charging major dollars (pounds and Euros) for various recommendations programs and placements within the stores.

It seems the bookstores took strong exception to this article. Some snips from the link to follow:

Lucy Avery, National Press Officer for Waterstone’s, said that this was completely untrue. “Any book that’s in a promotion is picked on its merits. It isn’t selected because a publisher has offered us money. It goes through quite an extensive selection process, and we pick the best book. We told the Sunday Times this, but obviously they felt it made a better story the way that they had it.”

Jon Howells, Press and Communications Manager at Ottakar’s, wondered why the paper was revisiting such an old story, and criticised the selectivity of its reporting. “The supermarkets don’t get a mention, or Amazon, and the extra discount the publishers give them is far more expensive than paying a few quid for a bookstore promotion.

Read the full story.

Bookstores Charging Publishers Big $$

This is a quote from the actual story. It's well worth reading, giving authors insight into the business we may not otherwise have.

BRITAIN’S biggest bookseller is demanding payments of £50,000 a week from publishers to get books on its supposedly impartial list of “recommended” reads in the run-up to Christmas this year...

...Borders also charges fees for a range