victoriastrauss

@victoriastrauss@writing.exchange

Adult/YA novelist (9 books), fanatical gardener, co-founder (with the late Ann Crispin) of SFWA's publishing industry watchdog group Writer Beware.

Sharing info about writer-focused schemes and scams, publishing, and other items of writerly interest.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

victoriastrauss, to Pubtips

New #WriterBeware blog post: Scammers are increasingly posing as literary agents/agencies, often with elaborate websites that can be extremely convincing. How to spot--and unmask--them #WritingCommunity #LiteraryAgents #Publishing https://writerbeware.blog/2023/12/15/how-to-spot-a-fake-literary-agency/

victoriastrauss, to Pubtips

Kelly Jensen of Book Riot takes a look at every current lawsuit against book bans #WritingCommunity #Publishing
#Library https://literaryactivism.substack.com/p/lawsuits-are-the-way-forward-a-look

victoriastrauss, to Pubtips

New #WriterBeware blog post: Multiple author complaints about fee-charging UK publisher L.R. Price Publications Ltd. include long publishing delays (months to over a year), legal threats, intimidating communications, and more #WritingCommunity #Publishing https://writerbeware.blog/2023/12/01/author-complaints-at-l-r-price-publications-ltd/

victoriastrauss, to Pubtips

New #WriterBeware blog post: Two scam email solicitations currently doing the rounds: a fake publisher-matching service and a faux distributor #WritingCommunity #Publishing https://writerbeware.blog/2023/11/24/two-new-solicitation-bewares-discoverpublishers-com-and-reseller-ventures/

victoriastrauss, to random

After an initial veto by the governor, the Freelance Isn't Free Act is now the law in New York State. Protects contract workers & freelancers against wage theft and other ills #WritingCommunity #Freelance https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/93811-freelance-isn-t-free-becomes-law-in-new-york-state.html

victoriastrauss, to ArtificialIntelligence

The Authors Guild breaks down the key aspects affecting authors of Pres. Biden's recent Executive Order addressing #ArtificialIntelligence, including #copyright #WritingCommunity
#Authors https://authorsguild.org/news/what-authors-should-know-about-president-bidens-executive-order-on-ai-use/

victoriastrauss, to Pubtips

Publishers Weekly releases its annual publishing industry salary survey. Among other takeaways: publishing continues to be mostly white (shocker!), and low pay is most frequent complaint #WritingCommunity #Publishing
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/93769-the-pw-publishing-industry-salary-survey-2023.html

victoriastrauss, to ArtificialIntelligence

As creators challenge unpermissioned use of copyright-protected work to train generative AI, a major investor in the technology joins Big Tech in pushing for a "fair use" designation. Translation: paying for rights is just too expensive #WritingCommunity #ArtificialIntelligence #Copyright https://www.businessinsider.com/marc-andreessen-horowitz-ai-copyright-2023-11

victoriastrauss, to random

Bumping this post about long-standing payment problems at @CricketMediaInc, which continue to go unaddressed. Latest comment is from an illustrator owed $3,000 for over 3 years https://writerbeware.blog/2022/11/18/long-standing-payment-problems-at-cricket-media/

victoriastrauss, to Pubtips

Here's the latest in publisher impersonation, courtesy of Pen2Paper Press. I don't know what fee the author was asked for, but I've heard from writers who paid as much as $7,500 for "services" from this scammer @simonschuster #WriterBeware #WritingCommunity #Publishing #Scams

victoriastrauss, to ArtificialIntelligence

New #WriterBeware blog post: SFWA's comments in response to the US Copyright Office's request for public comment on #copyright and artificial intelligence detail some of the harms of generative AI and suggest specific ways to mitigate them. These comments are relevant to all writers, not just writers of speculative fiction #WritingCommunity #ArtificialIntelligence https://writerbeware.blog/2023/11/10/artificial-intelligence-and-copyright-sfwas-comments-to-the-us-copyright-office/

victoriastrauss, to random

Fake lit agency alert: AG Literary. Web domain 17 days old so a bit hard to figure how they sold so many books already 😜 What they're really selling: a "compelling book proposal", provided by a "third-party vendor" aka the actual scammer #WriterBeware #WritingCommunity #PublishingScams https://agliterary.com/

victoriastrauss, to random

Most generative AI has been trained on copyright-protected material (without creators' permission) and users may unintentionally infringe someone's copyright. TechCrunch looks at how AI companies protect their customers from potential copyright suits--or rather, how they mostly don't https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/06/some-gen-ai-vendors-say-theyll-defend-customers-from-ip-lawsuits-others-not-so-much/

victoriastrauss, to random

Goodreads says it's addressing the problem of "review bombing" on the site. It's about time, given how long the problem has been going on--but do we believe it? #WritingCommunity
#BookReviews #AmWriting https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/93651-goodreads-asks-users-to-help-combat-review-bombing.html

victoriastrauss, to random

New #WriterBeware blog post: Contest Caution: The Lichfield Institute Writing Contest. Big money prizes promised by a contest that may not exist, run by a group that appears to be mostly wishful thinking #WritingCommunity #amwriting https://writerbeware.blog/2023/11/03/contest-caution-lichfield-institute-writing-contest/

victoriastrauss, to ArtificialIntelligence

AI continues to threaten audiobook narrators...Amazon is testing "virtual voice narration" that would enable KDP authors to create #audiobooks on their own #WritingCommunity #ArtificialIntelligence https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/audio-books/article/93625-kindle-direct-publishing-will-beta-test-virtual-voice-narrated-audiobooks.html

victoriastrauss,

@susankayequinn And the books will be distributed by Audible, so Amazon will get its cut.

victoriastrauss, to random

Scammers often forge Big 5 publisher docs as part of their effort to get writers to part with $$. Here's how scammer Impact Press Media (dba multiple other names) tried to get one writer to pay $4000. (Name on the invoice is the real name of sales rep posing as agent "Alex Weiss") #WriterBeware

Invoice from Jess Bryan Sotomayor Sayson--the real name of the sales rep posing as agent "Alex Weiss"--for "Book Acquisition Requirements": $4,000.

victoriastrauss, to Amazon

#Amazon is cracking down on scammers who use the Amazon name and trademarks to fool writers into thinking they're working with Amazon itself. (I wrote about these fraudulent websites in July) #WriterBeware #WritingCommunity #PublishingScams https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/93613-amazon-sues-scammers-targeting-authors.html

victoriastrauss, to Pubtips

New #WriterBeware blog post at Writer Unboxed: A close look at how scammers impersonate reputable literary agents and publishers in order to rip writers off: Imposter Syndrome: The Rise of Impersonation Scams #WritingCommunity #Publishing #Scams https://writerunboxed.com/2023/10/27/imposter-syndrome-the-rise-of-impersonation-scams/

victoriastrauss, to random

Alert from #WriterBeware: Publishing/marketing scammer AuthorUnit is posing as Ingram in solicitations sent to authors, with NO authorization from Ingram. If you receive a solicitation like this, it's fraudulent #WritingCommunity #SelfPublishing #PublishingScams

victoriastrauss, to random

A great interview with #WriterBeware 's Michael Capobianco, from the Analog Science Fiction blog https://theastoundinganalogcompanion.com/2023/10/18/qa-with-michael-capobianco/

victoriastrauss, to Pubtips

New #WriterBeware blog post: I'm often asked why Writer Beware doesn't offer agent/publisher recommendations along with our warnings. Here are our reasons. #WritingCommunity #Publishing #WritingScams https://writerbeware.blog/2023/10/20/why-writer-beware-doesnt-recommend-or-endorse-agents-or-publishers/

victoriastrauss, to Pubtips

Interesting article from School Library Journal on the current state of the YA / middle grade market, where sales are trending down #WritingCommunity #Publishing #Fiction https://teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2023/10/18/a-treatise-on-the-state-of-middle-grade-and-young-adult-publishing-today/

victoriastrauss, to Illustrator

Just updated my #WriterBeware post about long-standing payment problems at Cricket Media with info on how one creator took matters into their own hands...and got their money. See the 10/18/23 update #WritingCommunity #Illustrator https://writerbeware.blog/2022/11/18/long-standing-payment-problems-at-cricket-media/

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