Generic books
Many of us remember the ultra-plainly-labeled, über-cheap generic foods sold in bulk at grocery stores a few decades back. Stuff like bulk beer, which came […]
publishing
Copyright Law: Merger Doctrine
U.S. copyright law is intended to foster artistic and intellectual endeavors by protecting creators’ rights and thus their livelihoods. However, copyright law can easily turn […]
Why it’s a bad idea to pay a vanity press to publish your writing
Vanity publishers will publish anything if the author has the money, be it a family history to distribute to relatives, a guide for classes, or […]
Is file sharing theft?
Asking “Is file sharing theft?” is a bit like asking “Is driving a car murder?” (If during the course of a drive you intentionally run […]
Is the publisher just a middleman?
“The publisher is just the middleman!” I’ve heard many an aspiring writer make a statement to this effect. And, really, who can blame them? We […]
What can happen if you accidentally plagiarize
Most of us first encounter the notion of plagiarism while we’re in school. Countless schoolkids unwittingly become plagiarists when they write their first few research […]
Secret (Literary) Agent Man
The Traditional Path To Being Agented When you’re trying to sell your first novel, you’re stuck in a terrible Catch-22: many publishers won’t look at […]
Getting Your Work Published
Okay. You’ve written your story or poem. You think it’s good. Your friends say it rocks. Your creative writing instructor gave it an “A” and […]
So you want to start a webzine …
First, ask yourself why you want to start a webzine. There are lots of good reasons, but if you can’t give yourself a cogent answer, […]
U.S. Court Rulings on Parody in Advertising
Ever since the case of Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, advertising has been the unpopular stepchild of the First Amendment. […]