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Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware This post has been updated. A class action lawsuit against Author Solutions Inc. has been settled and discontinued. Filed in April 2013 by law firm Giskan Solotaroff Anderson & Stewart, LLP against ASI and its parent company, Penguin Group, the suit alleged breach of contract, unjust enrichment, various violations of the California Business and Professional Code, and violation of New York General Business Law. Penguin was later dismissed from the case, along with some--but not all--of the claims against ASI . The case proceeded to discovery, and in February of this year Giskan Solotaroff filed for class certification. On July 1, Judge Denise Cote denied certification . The parties then proceeded to settlement, which apparently has been reached, because on August 12, Judge Cote ordered the case to be discontinued . It having been reported to the Court that this case has been settled, it is hereby ORDERED that the above-captioned action ...

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware This week I've got another great guest post for you, from marketing expert Chris Syme. We writers have all heard that we "have" to be on social media, which is presented to us--both by experts and the not-so-expert--as the Holy Grail of marketing and self-promotion. But apart from the thorny questions of which platforms to use (Twitter? Facebook? Pinterest? Some of them? All of them?), and how to use them (How often should we post? What's the proper mix of friendly interaction and self-promotion?), there's the problem of "services" that want to exploit our confusion to rip us off. Read on for solid advice on how to separate the worthwhile from the worthless, and warnings about some common social media scams. ---------- Social Media Snake Oil Comes In All Shapes And Sizes by  Chris Syme Authors want to sell books. But most indie authors know very little about how to promote their books. And when it comes to ...

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware As I explained in my last post, I'm still mostly M.I.A., but I've lined up some terrific guest posts that will appear over the next few weeks. Today's guest post comes from author and writing teacher Barbara Baig, who reveals how the path to productive writing may sometimes be, paradoxically, to put your writing on hold for a while. # Want to Become a Better Writer? Stop Writing.  by Barbara Baig These days, aspiring writers are told constantly that, to attract the attention of agents and editors, they must develop a platform and learn to promote themselves. But just about every article or post offering such advice also includes this reminder: First, you must write an excellent book. But how do writers achieve this excellence? Certainly not by following another piece of writing advice, very prevalent these days: Just keep writing, you’ll get better. Really? Can you imagine a hitting coach saying to a kid who wants to be a prof...