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AIRLEAF UPDATE I've posted previously about Airleaf, a fraudulent vanity publisher that's currently the focus of a civil suit by the Indiana Attorney General. Recently, on her Airleaf Victims Blog , anti-scam crusader Bonnie Kaye reported that former Airleaf CEO Carl Lau is still out there looking for other people's money. Lau's profile at GoBig Network (which, according to its FAQ , "allows professionals to connect with small businesses, entrepreneurs, investors, customers, vendors, employees and advisors") reveals that he is seeking investors for 2nd Century Films, which he describes as "A startup company with lots of projects to put into movies, Hollywood likes the screenplays and we have the right actors and directors to produce. Great investment for the long term or short term investor." Hopefully none of those projects belong to Airleaf authors. I'm reminded of vanity press scammer and fake literary agent Martha Ivery (currently doing t...

I've been getting some questions about a new publisher called AbandonedNovel.com . At AbandonedNovel.com, we're seeking the greatest stories never finished. We want the best beginnings to your unfinished novels to publish in a new book with other stories that never found their conclusion. The book will be called Beginnings - A Novel , and will feature "ten selections of the best opening chapters of abandoned novels." Most genres are acceptable (though erotica, romance, and children's books are excluded). The deadline for submission is November 30, 2008. AbandonedNovel's parent company is Teton River Productions , whose press release about the venture can be seen here . Tempted? I can understand why you might be. Most writers have manuscripts they've given up on--books they had great hopes for but never finished, books they finished and submitted without success, books that didn't work out as planned or that had insoluble plot or character problems. (My...

If you're a writer and have a pulse, you probably have seen this news story (or this one or this one ) about Lorna Page, the 93-year-old British author who hit it big with her debut novel, and with the proceeds bought a large house in Devon so that her elderly friends could live with her rather than in a nursing home. Despite some discrepancies (some of the news stories report that Ms. Page received "a significant advance" for her novel; others just mention sales proceeds) this heartwarming tale is getting huge press coverage. If you type "Lorna Page" into Google News, you'll see articles in half a dozen languages from news sources all over the world. However, there's something odd about this story. Ms. Page's book, A Dangerous Weakness , is published by AuthorHouse . As I'm sure all Writer Beware's readers--unlike, apparently, much of the press--are aware, AuthorHouse is a self-publishing service, which not only doesn't pay advances, b...

Items that piqued my interest over the past few weeks: Contract changes for Random House UK UK authors, agents, and authors' groups are up in arms about a pair of recent changes to Random House UK's contract boilerplate. The Bookseller reports that Random House is attempting to re-work its out of print clause in much the same way that Simon & Schuster did a year ago . Apparently, the new language allows rights reversion "only if the publisher cannot supply a physical or electronic copy of a book within a month, or if there have been no royalty earnings for a year." So as long as your book sells just one copy a year, Random House can refuse to declare the book out of print, and you cannot get your rights back. As I noted in a previous post on the importance of rights reversion, "in print forever" is not a good thing. Why should publishers have control over books they aren't marketing and selling? If your book's availability is limited (for instan...

Book blurbs--those pithy statements on book covers extolling the wonderfulness of the book--are ubiquitous in the publishing biz. The hope is that a quote from your favorite author, or from a respected expert or pundit, will make you more interested in picking up a book, and possibly actually purchasing it. Book blurbs are generally acquired well prior to a book's publication date, as part of the pre-publication marketing process. Manuscripts or galleys are sent by the publisher to a list of people whose complimentary words would be desirable. Often, the author has input into the list; sometimes the publisher or the author's agent calls in a favor or two. Many of the people approached for blurbs never do provide one, but usually at least a few blurbs result. Blurbs are used not just on book covers, but in the publisher's catalogs and other marketing materials. And of course, you, the author, can proudly display them on your website, Facebook page, etc. Do book blurbs work? ...