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The United Kingdom Parliament is currently in the pre-legislative scrutiny phase of a new Investigatory Powers Bill, which aims to “consolidate existing legislation and ensure the powers in the Bill are fit for the digital age.” It is fair to say this Bill is controversial with strong views being expressed by both critics and supporters of the Bill. Against this backdrop it is important to cut through the rhetoric and get to the heart of the Bill and to examine what it will do and what it will mean in terms of the legal framework for British citizens, and indeed for those overseas.

The post Finding proportionality in surveillance laws appeared first on OUPblog.

HarperCollins has announced that its ebooks will only be able to be checked out by library patrons 26 times before a library would have to re-purchase the ebook title if they want to lend it again.  This has caused an outcry among librarians who have, in some cases, started boycotting Harper Collins ebooks.

I understand that in the publishers mind this is their way of trying to approximate for wear and tear on printed books which might require a library to repurchase copies which have been extremely well read but I thought 26 seemed to be a fairly low figure, even before watching this video by the Pioneer Library System of Oklahoma in which Swimming to Catalina by Stuart Woods was checked out 120 times and still going strong. 

You would think there would be a better way to do this.  Even if they just charged a dollar or two more for library version of the ebook which would offer unlimited lending, publishers would win on some longer tail titles and the libraries would continue to get their value for dollar on the popular titles.  Whatever the solution libraries and publishes are going to have to find a better one if we ever want to be able to borrow ebooks like we do their paper cousins.

[Now Reading: The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi ... in hardcover, which I checked out of my local library]

Just to beat the dead horse a little more

The discussion I brought up yesterday about copyrights of different book formats is really about the only thing going in book news right now so that is what you get to hear about.  This morning's Jacket Copy was quoting more music industry history lessons.  This time dredging up that that before cassettes were going to ruin the music business it was records... 

"That was a time when people thought records were really bad for musicians," said Gary Calamar, the co-author of "Record Store Days: From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again," a new history of (and unashamedly geeky paean to) the culture of the record store. "People were just getting used to electricity, and many artists resented the presence of records. They thought nobody would buy sheet music anymore."

It's not that the music industry is the only comparison for the book industry; it's just that changes they faced are a little fresher in our minds.  Thinking about this makes me wish I could travel back to 1500, just to hear a first-hand account from monks screaming about how Johannes' device was the work of Satan, and that the printing press would be the ruin of the written word.

I'm sorry, I swear I'll be off my soap box any second now...

[Now Reading: Heat by Bill Buford

It's funny to think about but that is what we have to do currently if we want the same book in two different formats. It has always has been the case, and we never really questioned it because just say you bought a hardcover copy of The Grapes of Wrath, but years later wanted to re-read it while on vacation.  You might very well buy a copy of the paperback, so you don't get your nice hardback all soggy when you fall into the pool while reading it on an air mattress.  You had two copies, someone had to print them, ship them and stock them and you payed for both of them.

Now, what about digital books?  You bought the hardcover, should you pay if you want to have a digital copy as well?

This exact debate has been flaring up again and again in publishing and reading circles for the past several months (years?) but really got going when the New York Times journalist Randy Cohen wrote in his Ethicist column that downloading a pirated copy of a book you already purchased new is pretty much O.K.

Then  one of my admittedly favorite authors, John Scalzi chipped in his two cents on his Whatever blog and essentially agreed with Cohen. 

Scalzi does go on to, correctly, explain that there are limits to this and that an Audio book differs in that the reader and sound editors need their share, and obviously you can't download the Kite Runner movie because you bought the book, but in general both of these gentleman bring up the interesting point that a digital copy of a book you legally bought is essentially the same as making a cassette tape copy of that The Who - Live At Leeds record you wanted to preserve from the ware you knew you were going to inflict on it by playing it 3000 times.

So you know how I feel, tell me know your position while we wait for the lawyers to tell how this will end.

Despite being one of the most heavily censored nations on the planet the northern half of the Korean peninsula is dabbling in e-books.  The whole process is made easier but just washing over that whole digital rights business.

I caught this article in The Bookseller this morning.  Stephen Covey has just signed a digital rights deal guaranteeing Amazon exclusivity to his two bestselling titles,  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered Leadership, in ebook form.

Covey has moved e-book rights to two of his bestselling books from his print publisher, Simon & Schuster Inc, to digital publisher RosettaBooks, which will sell the e-books via Amazon.com for one year.

According to the New York Times, this gives Amazon exclusive rights to sell electronic editions of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered Leadership. Covey is expected to gradually make other e-books available exclusively to Amazon, which will promote them on its web site.

The NYT said the move would "raise the already high anxiety level among publishers about the economics of digital publishing and could offer authors a way to earn more profits from their works than they do under the traditional system".

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  These two titles are are both readily available as cheap used copies and therefore the exclusivity deal is only mildly interesting, but should Covey extend this agreement to his freshly written works courting mega selling authors could be a game influencing strategy in the e-reader war.

Who will be the Betamax of e-readers? I think the technology is still young and it's still too early in the game to to call (plus I haven't actually seen a Nook yet) but I would love to hear your thoughts.

[Now Reading: Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay]

Today's New York Times includes an opinion piece with a title that will resonate with audiobook addicts: Freed From the Page, but a Book Nonetheless. Although author Randall Stross uses the term to describe the Amazon Kindle, he makes some points that apply to the digitization of books in the audio format as well. I thought his argument that the Kindle may be the tool that will champion the eBook with an "irresistible combination of software and hardware for book buyers" connected with my desire for a crystal ball to predict the dominant format for audiobooks in a decade's time.
I am waiting for that combination of software/hardware that frees the audiobook from not only the page, but from the whole digital rights management murky mess. Will the cell phone be the distribution medium that will replace the CD? Audible does have their cell phone download option Audible Air, but the setup doesn't have a point-and-click simplicity that will allow universal ease.
And Stross' quote from Apple's CEO might explain why some of the DRM battles exist for audiobooks. Here's what Steve Jobs thinks about books and the need for a killer app for digital reading: "Yet, when Mr. Jobs was asked two weeks ago at the Macworld Expo what he thought of the Kindle, he heaped scorn on the book industry. “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is; the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year.”" Read Stross' article for a rebutal to Job's numbers.
And Stross' conclusion praising Amazon's support of the eBook is equally valid for the audiobook industry: "The object we are accustomed to calling a book is undergoing a profound modification as it is stripped of its physical shell. Kindle’s long-term success is still unknown, but Amazon should be credited with imaginatively redefining its original product line, replacing the book business with the reading business."

Kimberly Dean
High School Reunion
Publisher: Cheek
Pub date: May 2007
Agent: Jessica Faust



(Click to Buy)

Author Web site: www.kimberlydean.com

High School Reunion: Roma's high school reunion is approaching fast—and she's not ready. She has a good job, but she needs the whole package if she's going to make that killer entrance. A toned body, great outfit, and hunky escort are crucial. Fortunately, personal trainer Jake might be the eye candy she needs.



A Case Study in Being Flexible

In a recent post, Kim discussed the importance of remaining flexible when it comes to your work—particularly in regards to the story title. I thought I’d give you a behind-the-scenes look at what happened during the evolution of my story, High School Reunion, because you may be asked to compromise on more than just the title. As an author, the trick is knowing just how much you can bend, yet still feel comfortable.

• Be flexible on timing (aka having patience). This is the hardest one for me. I submitted the manuscript for High School Reunion under an option clause I’d committed to with Black Lace Publishing, but I waited a year to hear back from them. When I finally decided to pull my submission, my editor latched on to the story and wouldn’t let go. They’d just started a new line of erotic romance called Cheek, and they thought this story would be perfect for it. Would I be interested in changing lines? Um, let me think about it. . . . Yeah.

• Be flexible on unimportant content. My editor was concerned because my lead female character was named Rory, which is primarily a man’s name in England. (Cheek is a British publishing house.) Would I mind changing it to Roma? No big deal. That’s a cute name, too, and Word has this nifty little feature called “replace all.”

• Be flexible on titles. High School Reunion was initially titled Body Heat. My editor thought this had been overdone. She wanted something catchy, sexy, and current. Yet when she proposed High School Reunion, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. I don’t see that as being catchy, sexy, or current in any way. However, she thought that readers could relate. I conceded on this point, but it’s still my least favorite title of anything I’ve published. I bowed to her marketing sense on this one. Would I do it again? I don’t know.

• Be flexible on edits. When edits came back, my editor wanted a significant addition. She requested that more conflict be added by making one of the villains also Roma’s rival for Jake’s attention. I thought this was a great idea. What I didn’t consider great was that I was asked to do this in a week. I absolutely drew the line at that. I can not take apart a puzzle, add more pieces, and put it back together with any semblance of order in a week. I negotiated for more time. Know when being flexible might break you.

In the end, my editor was very happy with the finished product. So was I. While there had been many changes, the story was still mine—and the changes were mostly for the better. High School Reunion has received some of my best reviews to date, and now it’s being re-released in mass market format. Yay!



Feel free to ask Kimberly questions in the comments section. She'll pop in during the day to answer them.

To learn more about Kimberly Dean, see Our Books at www.BookEnds-Inc.com.