“After two years of painstaking DNA research, experts have determined that none of the remains billed as those of Schiller belong to the German writer, who died in Weimar in 1805.”
Category: publishing
New York Passes New Libel Protections for Writers
“The Libel Terrorism Protection Act prohibits the enforcement of a foreign libel judgment unless a New York court determines that it satisfies the free speech and free press protections guaranteed by the First Amendment and the New York State Constitution.”
When Writers Use Their Private Lives For Their Writing
“Annie Proulx, Uzodinma Iweala, and Michael Ondaatje — talk about the role of privacy in the public world of literature and the media. Is it ever right to tell private stories for the public good?”
Scottish Arts Council Cuts £100,000 From Lit Funding
Gavin Wallace, head of literature at SAC, today explained that the organisation had been forced to identify “efficiency savings” following a revised settlement from the Scottish government.
Fictional Account (Based On…)
Just who are the real-life writers who might be portrayed in the book All the Sad Young Literary Men? The book describes writers in the 1990s, and the game is on to spot the real world versions…
Share A Book, Save A Tree
“One Canadian spruce produces just 24 books, which means that if you get through one book every two weeks your reading habits destroy almost one large tree every year.” Something better?
Self-Published Book Wins Major Canadian Prize
Toronto author Terry Falls self-published his work after he couldn’t interest an agent or a Canadian publisher. Now the book has won the $10,000 2008 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.
Publishers Fight Oregon Censorship Law
Publishers are challenging “a new Oregon law that criminalizes the dissemination of sexually explicit material to anyone under age 13, or the dissemination to anyone under age 18 of any material with the intent to sexually arouse the recipient or the provider. The new statute makes no provision for judging the material as a whole, nor for considering its serious literary, artistic or scientific value.”
A Post-Oprah Tale (James Frey Returns)
“An investigation by Vanity Fair suggests that the story is significantly more complicated than Man Cons World. There were no fake Web sites, no wigs worn, no relatives pretending to be spokesmen for nonexistent corporations. It is the story, first, of a literary genre in which publishers thought they had found the surefire recipe for success, but one with such dangerously combustible ingredients that it could explode at any moment.”
The LA Bookstore Scam
Scammers are hitting Los Angeles area bookstores claiming to be authors in need of cash. The stories are pretty convincing…