Here’s more interesting links I’ve found or been told about…
1) Fascinating article by the LA Times on the legal slugfest going on about THE SHACK. Get a load of this mess:
It wasn’t until Hachette came around that Windblown Media and Young even put their publishing agreement in writing….
The dueling lawsuits have left Hachette in an awkward position. If they pay Young additional royalties, Windblown might file suit to reverse that decision. But if they continue to pay Windblown according to the terms of the original contract, Young might also press on with additional litigation.
In the first quarter of 2010 alone, “The Shack” earned nearly $1 million in royalties, with more money accruing daily. So on May 11, Hachette filed its own lawsuit in federal court, stating in its filing that “as a result of disputes that have arisen … [Hachette has] a real and reasonable fear that distributing the funds would expose Hachette to multiple claims and liabilities.”
It’s well worth it to take the time to read the entire article.
Moral of the story–learn the business basics of publishing, and make sure you have a written contract with your business partners, or this could be YOU.
2) Maureen Johnson has written a Manifesto on her blog that is worth reading since it raises the question of how far to go in marketing oneself as a writer. Here’s a small snippet (go read the whole thing):
I hear this almost everywhere I go where there are people talking about social media, and I feel that it is time that I rise up against it. In fact, I did, right there and then. I grabbed the microphone from her grasp and said, “I am not a brand.”
3) Toni McGee Causey’s “How Do You Know When to Quit?” deals with the question most writers ask themselves at least once during their journey.
4) And there’s a handy tip on contract negotiations with publishers in this article by Marjorie Kehe, “How Greg Morteson Outsmarted His Publishers.”
