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Godwin's Law: ""As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches"
~ Mike Godwin, creator of Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies, fearing glib use of the term will dilute the meaning of "Never Again"

I'll figure out what I'm doing wrong with those tags after I make a little more progress on my current manuscript!

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Writers and Editors (Pat McNees's blog)

Amazon, Macmillan and the struggle for control of e-book pricing

February 1, 2010

Tags: e-books, book publishing, Amazon Kindle, iPad

Publishers Lunch Deluxe reported to its subscribers Friday (Jan. 29) that Amazon had removed all buy buttons from Macmillan titles, including titles on customers' personal wish lists, in a power struggle with Macmillan over who could set the prices on Macmillan e-books. This was the "first shot across the
purchasing bow in big publishers' efforts to reset ebook pricing above the loss-leader $9.99 (more…)

Seeking Venue for Book That Requires Reader Participation

February 1, 2010

Tags: interactive

A writer asks: "I have an idea for a book that requires reader participation. I thought I had found the ideal venue, only to discover that people found it difficult to access. Is there a site that is easy to access for people wanting to participate in this project?" Can you, dear reader, suggest something?

Donating for Haiti? Give to an established charity

January 29, 2010

Tags: charities, nonprofits

Want to donate to relief for survivors of Haiti's earthquake? Do so by March 1 and you can deduct the gift on your 2009 taxes. Charity Navigator provides a list of 3- and 4-star charities working in Haiti. CNN's list of charities (more…)

Nominate your candidates for best and worst use of plain language

January 22, 2010

The Center for Plain English is inviting nominations for its ClearMark Awards (for best) and its WonderMark Awards (for worst) documents and websites in plain English. Deadline February 15.

In 2010, the Center for Plain Language is launching its
* ClearMark awards to the (more…)

The Paris Review Interviews

January 19, 2010

Tags: author interviews

Asked in his Paris Review interview if the young writer today works at a greater disadvantage than writers in an earlier generation, William Styron responded, "Hell no, I don't. Writers ever since writing began have had problems, and the main problem narrows down to just one word— (more…)

Predictions about the future of book publishing ( a roundup)

January 8, 2010

Tags: book publishing

"[T]his whole notion that trashy books subsidized quality books is, if it were ever true, certainly not true now," says Michael Nash in a Galley Cat interview. "In fact, publishers typically overbid for big trashy books, because they need volume, they need hits. In fact, the quality backlist is subsidizing the frontlist. And while they are still (more…)

Lynn Chu: Agent Unplugged (on e-rights and more)

December 21, 2009

Literary agent Lynn Chu's analysis of what authors should know about their e-rights in book publishing's electronic age is as helpful as any I've read. It starts on p. 6 of the public section of the January 2010 issue of ASJA Monthly (the confidential section (more…)

Gift Books for Writers or People Who Want to Be Writers

December 18, 2009

· The ASJA Guide to Freelance Writing, ed. Tim Harper for ASJA (a guide to the business, for nonfiction writers)
· Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott (inspirational, to get and keep you going) (more…)

Gift Books for Editors and Proofreaders

December 18, 2009

Looking for a gift for the editor (or would-be editor) in your family? Here's a basic booklist:
• AP Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law (an essential style guide for magazine and newspaper writing and editing, but absolutely not okay for editing books) (more…)

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