QOTD: My Favorite Waste of Time

All writers should have as many forms of unproductive distraction as possible. For me it used to be that I would clean drawers or rearrange my closets or start cooking lunch. I had many, many ways of pretending to be working, but not really working. So Twitter is quite marvelous at that. It is a wonderful, wonderful way of just procrastinating …

— Author Susan Orlean, extolling a side benefit of Twitter, on the All Write Already! podcast

Voices

Google Wins a Round in Book-Scanning Suit

A federal appeals court on Monday threw out the approval of a class of authors in a long-running lawsuit against Google Inc. over its efforts to electronically scan millions of books from public and university libraries in order to make them available online.

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Authors Buy Way Onto Best-Seller Lists

The mystery of the book sales spike.

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Google Settles Lawsuits Brought by French Authors and Publishers

Google Inc.’s effort to digitize the world’s books inched forward Monday, as the search giant said it had struck deals with French authors and publishers that end six years of litigation and open the way to sell out-of-print French books online.

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Ray Bradbury, Science Fiction Author, Dies at 91

Ray Bradbury, widely considered one of the greatest writers of science fiction and fantasy, has died. He was 91 years old.

Dear Amazon Shareholders: Our Customers Adore Us! Love, Jeff Bezos.

Customers, yes, but Apple and the book-publishing industry — not so much.

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Silence of the Lambs: The Missing Voice of Authors in the SOPA Debate

The recent mainstream media frenzy surrounding the Stop Online Piracy Act is perhaps most notable for the voice that is absent in the debate: The individual creator of intellectual property.

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Google Copyright Talks Continue With Publishers, Authors

Google Inc. and publisher and author groups are continuing to discuss options to resolve copyright litigation over a proposed digital library of books after a federal judge earlier this year rejected a settlement in the case, lawyers for both sides said Thursday.

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Cheapest E-Books Upend the Charts

The nation’s largest book publishers are facing increasing pricing pressure on the digital front as the number of cheap, self-published digital titles gain popularity with readers seeking budget-minded entertainment.

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Judge Rejects Google Books Settlement

A federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday rejected Google Inc.’s settlement with authors and publishers that would allow it to make millions of books available online, saying it would give the Internet giant the ability to “exploit” books without the permission of copyright owners. In a 48-page decision, Denny Chin, a judge on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, denied the 2008 settlement between Google, authors and publishers “without prejudice,” meaning they could submit a revised pact that would better protect copyright owners.