authors

Google asks court to ax book-scanning suit from Authors Guild

Google is trying to convince the courts to throw out a book-scanning lawsuit filed against it by the Authors Guild.

In a brief submitted to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals last Friday, Google argued that a suit filed on behalf of all authors whose books have been scanned shouldn't be allowed because most authors support the scanning.

Backing up its claim, the company yet again cited a survey that found 58 percent of the authors polled approved of Google scanning their books so the content could be searched online. A full 45 percent said they had … Read more

Create stunning e-books

Apple's iBooks Author is a free tool that lets users create stunning e-books from scratch in no time.

iWork suite users will feel at home, as at first glance iBooks Author looks like a combination of Pages and Keynote. You can't change the page format, however, as it is designed specifically for the iPad.

The application's user interface is uncluttered and very nicely designed, with all the tools available at a glance. At first launch, you'll need to choose a template from the six default options, but you can also create your own. Since iBooks Author … Read more

Rare peek: Inside Symantec's security fortress

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- The journey to the heart of the operation reminded me of the late '60s TV show "Get Smart," where one heavily fortified door leads to another locked entryway followed by more complicated defenses in a seemingly never ending series of entry points requiring PINs, badges, and irises or fingers scans. I balked at the DNA test. Joking. Actually, I was just along for the exclusive tour, flanked by a group of engineers and executives with high-level security clearances.

This is the belly of Symantec's Certificate Authority operations, where the company creates digital certificates … Read more

Self-publishing a book: 25 things you need to know

Note to readers: I originally published the article back in 2008 and have updated it a few times, most recently on June 13, 2012. This article primarily addresses self-publishing a print book, though many of the tips apply to e-books as well. For specific information about publishing an e-book, see my companion article, " How to self-publish an ebook."

I know, I know. This is a column about cutting-edge electronics. So, apologies to gadget-heads as I take a brief sojourn into the land of self-publishing, which has become a lot more high-tech than a lot of people realize.

A few years ago I wrote a book. A novel. "Knife Music." Contrary to what you might think based on my day job, it's not a cyber-thriller, though it is a mystery/thriller with a medical/legal slant.

Its short history is this: I worked on it for several years, acquired a high-powered agent, had some brushes with major publishers, then, crickets.

I could have tried to go for a small publisher, but I was told mine was "a bigger book" with more commercial aspirations and prestigious small publishers were interested in more literary tomes. I also learned that many small publishers were being wiped out by the "self-publishing revolution," a movement that's not so unlike the "citizen journalism" or bloggers' revolt of recent years that's had a major impact on mainstream media, including this publication. The basic premise is anyone can become a small publisher. You call the shots. You retain the rights to your book. And you take home a bigger royalty than you'd normally get from a traditional publisher--if you sell any books. … Read more

Authors guild says 'one big step closer to justice'

The Authors Guild is ready to take on Google Books after its book-scanning lawsuit "cleared a major hurdle," Authors Guild President Scott Turow wrote in a blog post published today.

"We're one big step closer to justice being done for U.S. authors," Turow wrote.

U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin yesterday gave the guild the green light to sue Google as a class of authors, allowing the organization to represent in the suit other writers and their heirs with a copyright interest in books that were scanned by Google as part of their … Read more

How to self-publish an ebook

A while back I wrote a column titled " Self-publishing: 25 things you need to know," which was mostly about how to create and sell your own paper book. After folks asked me to do something similar for e-books, I created this article, which has now been updated a few times.

I begin with one caveat: The whole e-book market is rapidly evolving, and a lot of self-publishing companies are offering e-book deals bundled into their print book publishing packages, which makes them harder to break out and evaluate. It's all quite complicated, and in an effort to sort through the confusion, I've decided to offer a few basic tips and present what I think are some of the best options out there for creating an e-book quickly and easily. As things change -- and they will -- I'll do my best to keep this column up to date. … Read more

Judge says authors can sue Google

A judge filed a ruling today that gives authors, photographers, and illustrators the green light to sue Google.

The ruling allows the drawn-out court case -- over Google Books' practice of scanning book out of print and copyrighted content for Web searches -- to move forward. The suit will now determine if Google's argument that it has a fair-use defense has any merit.

In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin, from the Southern District of New York, said the Authors Guild and another group has a right to pursue the suit on behalf of other authors. … Read more

Wording in cyberwar bill begs question: Who's in charge?

The House Armed Services Committee yesterday approved an amended version of the National Defense Authorization Act that removes language requiring presidential authorization for military offensive operations in cyberspace to defend the country.

Congressional sources working with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon said the move did not grant the secretary of defense any additional powers and dismissed fears as unwarranted.

"We don't interpret this to mean that Congress is giving the Department of Defense new authorities," said a committee source. "It would all be within the context of the Authorization to Use … Read more

Author Solutions dances into the DIY e-book market with Booktango

With the boom in e-readers, self-publishing has become big business, and Author Solutions, one of the largest self-publishers in the U.S., has entered the DIY e-book market in a big way with Booktango.

Whether Booktango should be called an "e-book generating app" or "self-publishing platform" is hard to say, but it basically provides a free and simple way to upload your manuscript, edit it for proper formatting, then automatically serve it up to various e-bookstores, including Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iBooks.

On the surface, Booktango, which bears the "beta" tag, looks fairly slick … Read more