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A Contest: Your Recipe for JUST DESSERTS

INTERNATIONAL THRILLER WRITERS ANNOUNCE AWARD FINALISTS

The list is out!

My most sincere congratulations to all of the Finalists, and my gratitude to the Judges!

To see the Finalists and read the press release, click HERE.

Blessings,

Vicki

Vicki Hinze
www.vickihnze.com
Blog: My Kitchen Table
Blog: Faith Zone
Writers' Library

Authors, Agents, Publishers: BEWARE

There’s currently an enormous buzz about copyright infringement and book piracy--and it appears that a significant number of authors are victims, which makes agents and publishers victims, too.

Reports are coming in about websites allowing uploads of entire books. Some are very cooperative on taking them down once they’re notified that the work is copyrighted. Some are not. They do not include a search feature from the home page that one can access without becoming a member. And there are reports of of some hiding the work behind adult sites. If you want to search to see if your work is on the site, you must buy a lifetime membership to the adult porn site.

Suggestions I’ve seen on checking to see if your work is affected include running a search on Google, Yahoo or another major search engine. Search the author’s name. But also search the book title. And be aware that there are also reports of the author’s name/title being corrupted. i..e., Jane@Doe or Jane&Doe or Jane-Doe or Jane.Doe.

It’s troublesome to me, and I’m sure to other authors, agents and publishers who all have a vested interest in this, that the copyright of our works isn’t being protected. That these uncooperative sites are deliberately infringing and taking subversive actions to do so.

Unless we come together and collectively protest this, we’re all going to suffer the consequences.

If laws need to be changed, then we need to encourage our writing organizations to work to change them. Everyone in the process--authors, agents, publishers--needs to be diligent about reporting these sites so that we collectively can act against the theft of our works. Authors need to invest the time to check their works, see if they’re being stolen/pirated.

Waiting and allowing this to go unchecked is not in our best interests.

Also, authors who write articles, short stories, non-fiction: check your work. Some of that is also being discussed.

Ask your writing organization or group to spearhead an offensive to this theft. The longer we wait, the greater the challenge.

Blessings,

Vicki

©2008, Vicki Hinze


Labels/Tags: book piracy, copyright infringement, authors, novels, books, readers, writers, writing, readers, RWA, ITW, MWA, AG, NINC, Writer's Library, Vicki Hinze, illegal copying, stolen books

DEADLINE: Thriller Awards

REMINDER

Re: International Thriller Writer Awards
Enter: NOW!

We're getting down to the deadline wire on entering books in this year's ITW Thriller Awards. To be eligible, books must be in the judges' hands on or before 12/1/2007, so it's time to move.

The contest has three categories:

BEST NOVEL (hard cover)
BEST FIRST NOVEL (hard cover)
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL (paper)

ELIGIBLE are books first published in English in calendar year 2007 by an ITW recognized publisher. (If your company is not on the list, email vkhinze@aol.com and we'll walk you through the process.)

WHO CAN NOMINATE A BOOK?

Anyone. (The majority are entered by Editors, Agents or Publicists. Author entries are welcome, too.)

HOW MANY BOOKS CAN BE NOMINATED?

There is no limit.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

There is no entry fee.

WHAT MUST I DO?

Email Vicki Hinze (vkhinze@aol.com) and request an entry form for a specific category (or, if entering multiple books, any/all categories). Vicki will send you the entry form, you complete it and send the books to the judges.

WHEN IS THE DEADLINE?

Novels must be in the judges' hands on or before December 1, 2007.

Direct any questions to Vicki Hinze at vkhinze@aol.com.

Good Luck!!!

Blessings,

Vicki