It’s been a season of surprises. Balmy breezes when there should’ve been icicles. Snowflakes falling on flowers. Winter socks in June. But it doesn’t end there. The twists and turns have crept into digital publishing with Amazon suing its own sellers, authors fighting what seems to be a losing battle against copyright infringement, the birth of a ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ website for books, and much more. Here’s the latest…
Amazon Starts Suing Its Own Sellers Over Fake Reviews
In its escalating fight against fake product reviews, Amazon has for the first time started suing its own sellers instead of just going after other websites that promise to write five-star recommendations for cash.
http://bit.ly/28ouhvG
Stealing Books in the Age of Self-Publishing
In the world of self-publishing, where anyone can put a document on Amazon and call it a book, many writers are seeing their work being appropriated without their permission. Some books are copied word-for-word while others are tinkered with just enough to make it tough for an automated plagiarism-checker to flag them.
http://theatln.tc/1r8QV9n
Hail and Farewell to the Google Books Case
“The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied. Justice Kagan took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.” With that two-sentence order, the Supreme Court brought the long-running Google Books case to a close on April 18. After ten years, two lawsuits, one failed settlement, a parallel case against Google’s library partners, and five landmark copyright decisions there is nothing more for the courts to say. Google Books is legal. Full stop.
http://bit.ly/1X9La7U
You May Soon Binge Books Just Like You Binge Netflix
Genre fiction, like TV, increasingly depends upon serialized long-arc storytelling; it’s rare these days to see a science-fiction or fantasy novel that isn’t part of a trilogy (or longer). Yet, the book world historically has been unable to match the comparatively rollicking pace of television. But publishing company Farrar Straus and Giroux believes the TV model can lend momentum to a book series.
http://bit.ly/24wbVUy
Major Publishers are Lowering E-book Prices
Major publishers are fed up with the constant decline of e-book sales and are doing something about it. They have lowered the price of a bestselling e-book by three dollars in most major markets and discounted debut authors to complete against indie authors.
http://bit.ly/22WIAUi