Does anybody know a politician who cares about books?  Authors and publishers could sure use a lobbyist, but it looks like the movie and music industries have more money and clout to spend closing down illegal file-sharing websites.

That’s the impression you get from reading a New York Times report about a shutdown by the Federal government of  websites that facilitate facilitating illegal filesharing of music and movies.

Oddly, the government office that seized the sites is Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Department of Homeland Security. The reason Immigration and Customs get involved is that some of the most flagrant sources of copyright larceny take place abroad.  “American business is under assault from counterfeiters and pirates every day, seven days a week,” an executive with the enforcement agency said.  “Criminals are stealing American ideas and products and distributing them over the Internet.”

To tell you the truth, we don’t much care if it’s the American Battle Monuments Commission, we just want someone in our government to kick book pirates in the ass. Ben Sisario of the Times tells us that “Some Among the domains seized were torrent-finder.com and those of three sites that specialized in music: onsmash.com, rapgodfathers.com and dajaz1.com. TorrentFreak, a news blog about BitTorrent — a file-sharing system that has tended to elude the authorities because it is decentralized — said that at least 70 other addresses had been seized, most belonging to sites related to counterfeit clothing, DVDs and other goods.”  But some of these sites carry e-books too, and besides, the same torrent file-sharing techniques used by music and movie pirates are used to steal book content, too.

Aside from hiding in remote locations abroad, often under the protection of foreign governments, many sites steer just clear of the law by “fencing” – that is, serving simply as links to pirate sites. Kind of like head shops that sell drug paraphernalia but not the drugs themselves.  Fileshare sites  also reconstitute themselves as quickly as they’re taken down, challenging lawmakers to whac-a-mole them, as we recently described in Freebie Booksite Taken Down by Google Reappears One Hour Later. Indeed, not long after the government shut his site down, one operator had it up at a different address.

So? How about it, Congressperson? You want my vote?  Shut down the book-torrent sites.And while you’re at it, find a way to regulate fences.

For a complete archive of E-Reads postings on piracy visit Pirate Central.

Richard Curtis

Every Blogger owes a debt of gratitude to newspapers and magazines. This posting relies on original research and reporting performed by The New York Times.

“The ultimate effect of Google eBooks, if Google knows what’s good for it, will be the creation of an ad-supported publishing model,” says blogger James McQuivey of Forrester, the prestigious technology and market research company. That’s a pretty unequivocal statement, but McQuivey is as certain about it as he is that there are two O’s in Google.

He knows he’s playing with fire, too, because if there is one article of faith that authors swear by it’s NO ADS IN MY BOOK! But he’s done his homework, and it looks like authors may have to start swearing by the next article of faith on their list, because McQuivey has marshaled some pretty persuasive arguments:

First, books are the only medium left not significantly sponsored by advertising. From the Android Angry Birds game app to Pandora music streams to Hulu.com to the venerable NYT.com, advertising is essential to the success of nearly all media — analog and digital. The only reason book advertising has not happened is that the economics of distributing books have required that people pay for them — in a way they have never paid for the newspaper, magazines, or even music, where a majority of listening has always been radio-based. If you make people pay the full price of a book’s creation and distribution, you can hardly expect them to endure advertising. Plus, books last for such a long time that an ad placed twenty five years ago in my copy of The Hunt For Red October would be laughably irrelevant today.

That has all changed now. Since Google intends to provide its books from the cloud, it can deliver ads that are timely and targeted. And the economics of publishing are swiftly moving away from an analog production model…which means that soon, we will no longer need to force the entire cost of a book on the buyer of the book, but instead can extract value from the reader of the book, in direct proportion to the value they get from it. In other words, the more pages they read (the more value they get), the more ads they see and the more value the publisher and author receive.

And that’s just his openers. “I have a hundred more justifications for why this is the next logical step for the industry, why Google is perfectly poised to do it,” he declares.

Are ads in e-books one of those laws of unexpected consequences? If you believe that you also believe there is only one O in Google.

Read Google eBooks Paves The Way For Ad-Supported Publishing, then start sketching the ad campaign for your Google eBook.

Richard Curtis

After Dorchester Publishing came close to the rocks a few months ago the Mystery Writers of America delisted it from its roster of markets approved for submission by MWA members. That also meant that Dorchester titles would no longer be eligible for Edgar® Award consideration nor would its authors be eligible for Active Status membership for any books published after October 6, 2010. The board made it clear to Dorchester that it is welcome to re-apply once these problems have been cleared up.

The company’s CEO left and things were looking fairly bleak. However, the new CEO, Robert Anthony, has been working hard and visibly to rehabilitate the company and its reputation. (See New Dorchester CEO Vows Strong Comeback)

That’s the background for this memo from the head of another writers organization. John Scalzi, President of the Science Fiction Writers of America, circulated a memo to its members informing them that SFWA has put Dorchester on probation for a year, placing the publisher on its list of qualified markets for members of the organization. However, “fiction published by Dorchester may not be used to apply for membership until after the probation is completed.”

We’re not aware that Mystery Writers of America has modified its position on Dorchester.

Here’s is the complete release from SFWA Scalzi:

*************************

Dear SFWA members:

As many of you are aware, over the last year, Dorchester Publishing Co, inc, which publishes books by several SFWA members, has been undergoing a number of changes to its business and in how it publishes its authors. The board of SFWA has been following the developments as they’ve occurred, and had asked members with Dorchester contracts to make us aware of if there were any improprieties involving payment or regarding their rights.

In the course of this inquiry, we became aware of several instances in which Dorchester acted against the contractual and legal interest of authors, specifically by not paying royalties when contractually specified, or distributing books in a medium for which it had not legally secured rights.

Dorchester does not dispute these events, and when it became aware of our inquiry, it contacted SFWA to offer us information and background to help answer our questions.

We feel this cooperation has been a positive first step by Dorchester and we look forward to its continuing efforts to rebuild their brand and their business, and to do well by our members and other writers with whom it works. That said, we cannot overlook the troubles the company has had, which have adversely affected our members.

Thus, by vote of the board, Dorchester Publishing is on probation as a qualified Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America market for a period of one year, December 10, 2010 – December 10, 2011.

In this case, “probation” means that although Dorchester would remain on our official list of qualified SFWA markets, during the term of probation, fiction published by Dorchester may not be used to apply for membership until after the probation is completed.

If Dorchester successfully completes its one-year probation, fiction contracted during that term will be viewed as acceptable for qualification for SFWA membership. If it does not SFWA will remove it from the list of approved markets.

Fiction contracted and paid for (by initial advance payment) before the term of probation will not be affected by Dorchester’s probationary status.

After a conversation between the Board of Directors and Dorchester, SFWA asked Dorchester to meet a series of benchmarks as a measure of a good faith effort to return to a solid standing. During the period of probation, SFWA expects the following from Dorchester in order for it to remain on the qualifying list after its probation period:

1. That it fulfills its contractual and financial obligations to the authors it has already published, including full and accurate accounting of royalties per contract, with scheduled payment of any royalties outstanding;
2. That it examine its catalog to ensure it is no longer offering fiction in formats for which it has not contracted rights, and makes whole those authors whose rights it has violated;
3. That there are no instances of contractual violations on the part of Dorchester against authors signed to publishing deals after the start of the probationary period;
4. That Dorchester assist those authors wishing to revert rights, consistent with the company’s existing policies regarding rights reversion.

During the probationary period, and depending on member participation, SFWA will be in contact with its members known to have outstanding Dorchester contracts to assure Dorchester is fulfilling its contractual obligations to them, or is actively and affirmatively working to correct previous violations. If you have any concerns during this time, please let the board know by emailing dorchester@sfwa.org or by emailing me directly (president@sfwa.org). Confidentiality is assured for any member who requests it.

While SFWA may act at any time to deal with a member complaint against Dorchester, at or near the six month mark of the probationary period it will perform a formal review of Dorchester’s progress on tasks above, with the results to be provided to the members of SFWA via our normal means of member communication.

Dorchester has pledged to work with SFWA during this probationary period. Dorchester Senior Editor Chris Keeslar has informed us that his company is “working to clean up every mistake that has been made, and we categorically affirm our desire to meet the criteria SFWA lists.”

This pledge from Dorchester to improve its practices and to work with SFWA for the benefit of our members strongly encourages us that writers, our members among them, will soon once again find Dorchester a congenial market for their work.

We look forward to working with them to make it so, and are hopeful that in a year’s time we will be able to retain Dorchester as a SFWA qualifying market.

Yours,
John Scalzi
President, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

***************

NOTE: In my original posting I mixed MWA and SFWA up, and I thank SFWA’s Vice President Mary Robinette Kowal for straightening me out. I apologize for my confusion.

Speculation has been running at fever pitch: What’s this year’s theme of literary agent Richard Curtis’s end-of-year poem? And which publishing executives has he singled out for poetic immortality?

For seven or eight years in the mid 1980s and early ’90s Publisher’s Weekly ran Curtis’s annual summary, in tongue-in-cheek verse, of the highlights and lowlights of the year in the publishing industry. The annual rhymes carried such titles as, “Merger, He Wrote,” (1986), “Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Industry of Mine” (1989) and “Stop the Millennium, I Want to Get Off” (1990).

After a hiatus of some fifteen years, the verse-atile agent returned to PW in 2007 with “The Year of the Platform,” which boasted such lines as

Are our values turning asswards
When opening books requires passwords?

2008′s effusion, “The Coming of the POD People,” had this memorable doggerel:

Agents now submit their schlock
By means of email as dot-doc.

In 2009′s poem, “The Yr of the Tweet“, Curtis solidified his claim to a place in Westminster Abbey when he managed to devise a rhyme for “Shatzkin”.

What delights will 2010 (The App) reveal?  How about this one:

They tossed in every kind of crap
And designated it an app.

Click here to read it in its entirety. Many of Curtis’s verses plus his prose spoofs are collected in The Client From Hell and Other Publishing Satires.

In a land brought to life by warriors and lovers, war and honor, the legendary tower, Tornor Keep, is invaded by raiders. No longer the watchtower at the winter end of a summer land, Tornor turns to a young prince with the hopes that he might protect the future of the enchanting country.

The Chronicles of Tornor, Elizabeth Lynn’s glorious fantasy trilogy cited for its feminist themes, commences with the World Fantasy award-winning Watchtower, hailed by an awesome cohort of fantasy and science fiction superstars. “A marvelous blend of fantasy… and realism in the characters and the social interactions,” writes Marion Zimmer Bradley. “An unusual, powerful and beautiful book.” says John Varley.  “A book of depth and vigor and surprises,” writes Robert Silverberg.

One Amazon customer says ” The first book of one of my favorite trilogies, it ranks with LeGuin’s Earthsea works.” Another reviewer awards five stars with this comment: “I have been reading and rereading the Tornor Chronicles for many years now – about once a year for twenty years or so. They are a wonderful, sometimes sad, sometimes uplifting and a very human read.”

Visit Elizabeth Lynn’s E-Reads author page to learn about the other books in the trilogy, The Dancers of Arun and The Northern Girl.

In addition to E-Reads downloads, the Ace paperback editions may be bought here.

In a quiet room in the White Swan Inn, sunlight slowly breaks through the curtains revealing two young lovers–an American seamstress and an English Officer. They have been brutally, ritualistically murdered in their sleep. It’s a grisly scene that can only mean one thing: there’s a traitor within the American Revolution.

Dan Sherman’s The Traitor launches E-Reads’ reissue of the works of Dan Sherman, a novelist whose thrillers I had the pleasure to handle in the 1980s and have the pleasure to present to contemporary readers.  His novels have not lost any of their relevance or urgency.  As you pick up his books, note how he focuses on all the senses – sight, sound, smell, taste, touch – to evoke the milieu and the mood.

And his choice of milieu is astonishingly broad.  From the American Revolution in The Traitor to China from 1949 through the 1960′s (The White Mandarin) to the 1950s and ’60s (The Prince of Berlin) to World War I (The Man Who Loved Mata Hari) and others.  Watch Sherman’s author page for all of them.  I guess you’ve figured out that I’m a huge fan of Dan Sherman!

Back to The Traitor:

The year is 1779. General Washington, struggling to keep his army together, sends his best spymaster, Matty Grove, to investigate the killings. As Matty follows the trail of clues, he comes up against more questions. Who gave the killer his orders? How much does the mole know of the Revolution’s plans? Is this treason a matter of principle or simply profit?

With The Traitor author Dan Sherman brings the political and economic maneuverings of the Revolution into vivid detail. The rising pace and complex characters in this stunning work of historical fiction will have history buffs and fans of modern espionage alike clamoring for more.

RC

Another thriller by Aaron Elkins brings back Nazi atrocities that everyone thought were in the past.  The book is Turncoat.

Pete Simon’s all-American life is everything he ever wanted: a good home, a satisfying career, and a marriage still strong and loving after nearly twenty years. But in the days following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, everything is about to change.

It starts with the appearance of an old man at his door, ranting madly about money, death, and forgiveness. The man is a stranger to Pete–but not to his wife Lily. Only later does the truth come out. The unwelcome visitor was Lily ‘s father, whom she had claimed died during World War II in their native France, executed by the Nazis.

The next day, he truly is dead, his savagely beaten body washed up in a nearby marsh—and Lily disappears, leaving behind only a brief, enigmatic note asking Pete not to look for her.

Now, with a business card from an antiques dealer in Barcelona as his only lead, Pete sets out on a twisted and perilous journey that will carry him to places where the hideous crimes of the Nazis remain fresh in the minds of those who cannot forget…or forgive. But each door Pete opens leads him deeper into a painful and shocking past that threatens everything he holds most dear. And suddenly he has become more than a confused and distraught husband; the bitter truths that he uncovers one by one in the search for Lily now make him—and her—the targets of desperate, dangerous men and their terrifying vengeance.

For a complete list of  Aaron Elkins’ E-Reads books, including his immensely popular Gideon Oliver mystery series,  click here.

Years ago I wrote a science fiction story called Pulpscape. Here’s the synopsis:

Commander Shmeegl returns to his home planet to tell the king of his expedition to a planet on which he has discovered intelligent life. Unfortunately, the best example of intelligence he found there was a community of life forms known as publishers, and Shmeegl doesn’t think they’re worth a second visit.

I thought of that story when I read J. E. Fishman’s The 10 Craziest Business Practices of the Book World on The Nervous Breakdown.com

Here they are “in no particular order” according to Fishman. We don’t know about numbers 2-9 but we definitely agree that the first one on the list deserves to be #1. Selling returnable -  the all-time craziest practice of the book world.

1. Selling returnable.
2. Co-op dollars.
3. Suggested retail prices.
4. E-book royalty splits.
5. Paying big advances to unproven talent.
6. Making authors write the marketing plan.
7. Rarely selling direct to consumer.
8. Not adding value on the highest priced merchandise.
9. Keeping the New York Times Bestseller Lists so scarce.
10. Barring advertising from books

To get the full flavor of Fishman’s observations read The 10 Craziest Business Practices of the Book World. Just a word of warning: don’t go into this madhouse without an armed guard.

Richard Curtis

In the annals of tragic and forbidden love, the names of Abelard and Heloise seldom appear far from Romeo and Juliet or Tristan and Isolde. But while the characters glorified by Shakespeare and Wagner are drawn from legend and imagination, Abelard and Heloise are historical figures.

You would guess that there is not a lot of latitude for reimagining their story. Yet this tale of delirious passion and the gruesome price the lovers paid for it has been interpreted and reinterpreted differently in every age according to the temper of the milieu. In Stealing Heaven: The Love Story of Heloise and Abelard novelist Marion Meade has re-created the story in a unique and compelling way that carries special resonance for contemporary readers. A hint of the viewpoint may be seen in her reversal of the customary order of the lovers’ names.

In twelfth-century France, two of Europe’s greatest minds met and fell in love. It was a love forbidden by the world around them and eventually they were torn apart from each other. But, the spark of it remained smoldering inside the lovers until their death and beyond.

Heloise and her tutor, Peter Abelard, share a devotion passionate in its depth and beautiful in its thoughtfulness. They marry, and Heloise bears a son whom she names Astrolabe. However, all of this must be done in secret, for Abelard is forbidden to wed by the church which considers him a cleric. When the truth of their relationship is exposed, they are separated and punished both in body and soul.

Marion Meade has written novels, biographies and non-fiction books, many focusing on women cut from heroic cloth: Eleanor of Aquitaine, Victoria Woodhull, Madame Blavatsky and Dorothy Parker. E-Reads is bringing a number of them back, plus bios of some males who have gripped her attention too: Woody Allen and Buster Keaton. Keep your eye peeled on Meade’s author page to discover new releases.

The Association of American Publishers and International Digital Publishing Forum have tallied e-book sales stats for October and we’re back on a high-flying growth rate. Sales were $40,700,000, more than double those of the prior October’s $19,200,000.

The above graph does not reflect October sales; it covers sales through the third quarter of 2010.

As always we’re advised that:

* This data represents United States revenues only
* This data represents only trade eBook sales via wholesale channels. Retail numbers may be as much as double the above figures due to industry wholesale discounts.
* This data represents only data submitted from approx. 12 to 15 trade publishers
* This data does not include library, educational or professional electronic sales
* The numbers reflect the wholesale revenues of publishers
* The definition used for reporting electronic book sales is “All books delivered electronically over the Internet OR to hand-held reading devices”

RC