The Pope Announces His Resignation - First time this has happened in nearly 600 years. The last time was in 1415. Put that in historical perspective...Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. Martin Luther was born in 1483. This is a really big deal in Church history whether you are Catholic or not.

Lawsuit Threatened by Attorney Representing Author and Publisher of Bestselling book 'The …

Shocking Copyright Grab by School System - Anything a student writes as part of a class is owned, forever, by the school? So if a kid invents the idea of a better FedEx as part of a school project the school owns the idea. Or if he writes the first pages of what becomes later, the next "Harry Potter," the school owns the idea. (?!) Unbelievable.

Christian Writers Guild Adds Publishing Division …

Why Online Book Discovery is Broken (and how to fix it) – Fascinating article by Laura Hazard Owen. This is the first time I’ve heard someone describe it as “broken.” Instead we keep hearing that “discoverability” is the main feature of the online book selling process.

Create a QR Code Campaign to Market Your Book – I have to admit, the picture leading this post got my attention. Brilliant. …

Successful Query Letters for Agents – A fascinating collection of 23 links to actual query letters that sold a book….organized by genre!

Goodreads vs Facebook Ads – an Experiment – A fascinating article by Angela Quarles on two marketing outlets available to every author.

Of Books and Bedbugs – This story is full of the “ick” factor. The article is called “It was a Dark and Itchy Night.” …

Innaccurate BookScan Numbers and the Plight of the Author – Colleen Doran digs into the sales numbers listed in Amazon’s Author Central. These are based on the National BookScan service used as a bible by major publishers to determine the success of failure of your backlist titles if done by another publisher. We have LONG argued that the Nielson BookScan service does not reflect the majority of …

Amazon is Ripe for Disruption – Interesting article from Forbes Magazine by Suw Charman-Anderson.

Authors Who Say “I Don’t Have Enough Time for Promotion” Are Doomed to Fail – Toni Shannon encourages authors to become disciplined for success.

Can an Old-Fashioned Non-Interactive Author Survive in the Social Age? – A great counterpart to the previous article. This is from PBS and Felicia …

Timing your book’s launch date for maximum impact – This post by Alan Rinzler is a MUST READ for every author. Think about where your book would fit most effectively and talk to your publisher about it. If you self-publish you have no one to blame but yourself for missing the opportunity to maximize your release date.

NY Times Creates Separate Middle Grade & YA Bestsellers Lists – Now there …