It’s been a year since I first blogged about serial plagiarist “Iron” Dave Boyer (among many other names), whose prolific pilfering of other writers’ words has become something of an Internet legend, especially in the horror community, where he concentrates his efforts.
Some of you may be aware that for the past few months, a group calling itself The Write Agenda has been attempting to wage a disinformation campaign against Writer Beware and other anti-scam activists.
I get a lot of questions about publishing contracts, and many requests to review them. I’m not a lawyer, but I do have a fair knowledge of publishing contract boilerplate, as well as a good grasp of the issues that writers need to look out for, and I’m always willing to provide experience-based feedback.
To all appearances, Colorado-based Aspen Mountain Press is an active and problem-free publisher. According to its Submissions page, it is currently seeking new fiction, and it recently launched a SF/fantasy imprint.
On Tuesday I posted about PUBSLUSH Press, a new crowdfunding venture for books. I found it an interesting idea (rather than just donating cash to worthy projects, PUBSLUSH supporters actually pledge to buy books…
I’m sure you all remember the notorious J.K. Rowling Incident, in which PublishAmerica tied Rowling’s name to one of its numerous author promotions.
Who is PUBSLUSH Press? What experience does PS’s staff have with publishing? There’s no information whatever at the website. You thus have no assurance that your book will be competently edited, published, distributed, or marketed.
The Google Books lawsuit, which generated a widely hailed and criticized settlement that was ultimately rejected by the court, will go to trial–although the parties in the case say that they are still in talks.
In the wake of the failed Google Book Settlement and the still-unresolved lawsuit that produced it, the Authors Guild, two international writers’ groups, and several individual authors have filed suit against a number of major US universities that have combined unauthorized scans of in-copyright books into a repository called HathiTrust…
How many times have you tuned into a murder mystery television show, such as Murder, She Wrote, and within the first 10 minutes, been able to ID whodunit…sometimes even before the murder occurs?
They are the last survivors of the settlers of the moon Sturnus, forty children rescued by the benevolent people of the planet Janus. Except Bear is starting to remember, and what he remembers is nothing like what he and the others have been told.
Harold R. Thompson’s first science fiction novel, Orphans of Sturnus, was released in 2024. He is also the author of many science fiction and fantasy short stories. He lives in Nova Scotia and, when not writing, works for Parks Canada.
