Plagiarism, ‘book-stuffing’, clickfarms ... the rotten side of self-publishing

Scams are rife, particularly when some authors can rake in thousands each month – but high-profile victims of plagiarism warn ‘day of reckoning is coming’Nora Roberts is one of the world’s most popular authors. She’s written more than 200 novels, tackled topics from romance to murder and sold more than 500m books around the world. And now she’s really, really angry.Roberts is one of dozens of authors who discovered last month that their work had been allegedly plagiarised by a Brazilian romance novelist called Cristiane Serruya. “Leisurely, he began to loosen her hair, working his fingers through it until it pooled over her shoulders. ‘I’ve wanted to do that since the first time I saw you. It’s hair to get lost in,’” runs Roberts’ novel Untamed. Serruya’s Forevermore has it that: “Leisurely, he began to loosen her hair, working his fingers through it until it pooled over her shoulders and cascaded down over her back. ‘I’ve wanted to do that since the first time I saw you.’”This culture, this ugly underbelly of legitimate self-publishing is all about content. More, more, more, fast, fast, fastYou are responsible for ensuring that no tactics used to promote your book manipulate the Kindle publishing serviceThere’s a running joke in romance-land about how we might as well have a drinking game every time a plagiarism scandal pops up Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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World Book Day unveils 20th anniversary plans

World Book Day is introducing a raft of new projects to mark its 20th anniversary on Thursday 2nd March. Booksellers are also gearing up to celebrate the anniversary with a flurry of activity. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘Sledgehammer to crack a nut’: Publishers respond to fallout from latest brand-safety bungle

Programmatic advertising has been back under the spotlight this week, as brands rushed to pull digital advertising in the wake to a The Times exposé on the state of ad misplacement. News publishers also had ads paused across their properties - some for several days. "They [agencies] just wanted... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2017-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Norstedts reveals Swedish title of book five in Larson's Millennium series

Swedish publishers Norstedts has revealed the title for the fifth instalment in the Millennium series created by Stieg Larsson as The Man Who Hunted/Chased His Shadow (Mannen Som Sökte Sin Sugga). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Blake has Mick Jagger's memoir but can't publish it

Publisher John Blake has claimed to have the manuscript for the memoirs of Mick Jagger - but is unable to publish them. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Headline to publish Gaiman's Neverwhere sequel, The Seven Sisters

Neil Gaiman is writing a sequel to Neverwhere, 20 years after it first published, called The Seven Sisters, for publication with Headline.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter's 20th anniversary to be marked by London Book & Screen Week

A Soho awards night with David Nicholls and a "very special" Harry Potter screening at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London lead the "eclectic" line-up of this year’s London Book & Screen Week. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Taiwan’s Indie Booksellers and Publishers Join Forces to Tackle Challenges

Book sales have plummeted in Taiwan in recent years, as have the number of bookstores in the island nation home to 23.5 million people. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW Picks: Books of the Week, February 20, 2017

This week: a girl begins receiving letters from her dead sister, plus the violent mutiny on the HMS "Hermione." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘The Outsider Becomes the Mainstream’: A Key UK Self-Publisher Opens a Small Press

Joanna Penn—known as The Creative Penn in the self-publishing community—takes a step made by many strong self-publishers: launching a small press. The post ‘The Outsider Becomes the Mainstream’: A Key UK Self-Publisher Opens a Small Press appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Child of Books wins Bologna Ragazzi Award for fiction

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[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Premium Publishers Tell P&G's Pritchard They Can Solve His Digital Ad Problems

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[ Advertising Age | 2017-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Karen Berger to Launch Berger Books Imprint at Dark Horse

Pioneering former Vertigo executive editor Karen Berger returns to comics publishing with a new imprint at Dark Horse focused on creator-owned comics and graphic novels. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Audio Book Club Gets Tangled Up in Blue

Subscribe in iTunes ∙ RSS feed ∙ Download ∙ Play in another tab Slate Plus members: Get your ad-free podcast feed Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2017-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Obama Book Deals Getting Close

Book proposals from former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama are making the rounds among the Big Five trade publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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10 Essential Books About the Immigrant Experience

Abeer Y. Hoque, author of "Olive Witch," picks 10 titles, from "Night Sky with Exit Wounds" to "Chulito." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of February 20, 2017

Knopf nabs a biography of Anne Spoerry, a debut author brings a noir sci-fi trilogy to Kensington, Sourcebooks takes three titles in thriller series, and more in this week's notable book deals. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘We go straight to the publisher’: Buyers beware of SSPs arbitraging inventory

Some supply-side platforms (SSPs) resell inventory and misstate which publishers they represent. This makes the supply chain more opaque and creates another ad tech tax for buyers. To get around this problem, publishers say they must be clear in their contracts how vendors utilize their... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2017-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Redrawing women: Tackling sexism in comic books

Women are fighting back against sexism in an industry steeped in a history of hyper-sexualised female characters. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2017-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Weekly E-Ranking: Ellie Dean shunts Girl on the Train into the sidings

Ellie Dean’s Until You Come Home shunted 17-time Weekly E-Book Ranking number one The Girl on the Train into the sidings to claim the top spot; the 12th title in the author’s Second World War-set Beach View Boarding House series brought down the ranking’s Goliath in its first week out of the blocks. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon simplifies self-published paperback printing

Amazon has a program in place allowing people to self-publish both printed and electronic books, but until now the workflow has been clunky as authors were forced to use a different tool for each format. The company is now streamlining the experience... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2017-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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