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The Steve Laube Agency

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Home » Publishing A-Z

Publishing A-Z

L Is for Libel

By Steve Laubeon May 9, 2022
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To libel someone is to injure a person’s reputation via the written word (slander is for the spoken word). I recently wrote about indemnification but only touched on this topic. Let’s take a deeper look today.

First, be aware that the laws that define defamation vary from state to state; however, there are some commonly accepted guidelines. Anyone can claim to have been “defamed”; but to prove it they usually have to show that the written statement has all four of the following elements: (1) published, (2) false, (3) injurious, (4) unprivileged.

The first is obvious. Posting something on Twitter or Facebook is “published.” And yet a few years ago, a federal judge ruled that a blogger has the same defamation protection as a journalist. (Read the article here.) But beware that the legal system has been in flux in relation to free speech since that time.

The second means that what was written was wrong. This means writing something untrue. Simply being mean or snarky is not being “false.” I might feel defamed if you write that I’m an idiot, but it doesn’t mean you were wrong. The word “false” has been bandied about quite often, especially in the media. Even satire, like a number of pieces written by the Babylon Bee, has come under attack despite being clearly satirical.

Third, the person claiming they were defamed has to prove they were hurt by it. For instance, the person lost out on a freelance job; was shunned by church members; or was harassed by the press because of what was written. The burden of proof is on the defamed party. For example, J.K. Rowling, famous author, sued a newspaper in England for libel, for an article that “caused distress.”

Last is unprivileged words. My understanding is that this was originally defined, in part, to protect someone on the witness stand in a trial or giving a deposition. We want a witness to tell everything as they understand it without fear of saying or writing something defamatory. A legal testimony would be considered privileged. Writing something injurious and false on your blog is not privileged.

One other nuance to consider. A government official or a famous person has a higher burden of proof for defamation than the average person. When government officials or a famous movie star or a famous athlete are accused of doing something wrong, they have to prove all of the four above elements of defamation and must also prove that the writer acted with “actual malice.” The definition of “actual malice” was outlined by the Supreme Court case decided in 1988 in the famous Hustler magazine versus Jerry Falwell case.

If you are writing something controversial or something that could possibly have someone sue for libel, your publisher may add a clause to your contract that allows them to have a legal reading of the manuscript and ask you to make changes. The clause, in part, looks a little like this:

If, in the opinion of the Publisher, the Work contains material which may involve the Publisher in litigation, the Publisher may elect to engage outside legal, professional or technical expert(s) to review the manuscript. … If the Author refuses to make such changes as are advised by the Publisher or its reviewer(s), the Publisher will have no obligation to publish the Work, and will have the right to terminate this Agreement.

“But what about fiction?” you ask. What if you use a real person, a real business, or a real sports team in your novel? Can you be guilty of libel? Isn’t it “fiction,” as in “not true”? This is a great question, and I recommend reading this brilliant and comprehensive answer from professor Ron Hansen in his speech on “The Ethics of Fiction” (click on the provided link). In simple terms, I’d avoid putting them in your story unless absolutely critical (like historical fiction). It would be an unnecessary distraction from the story itself. For example, in the novel The Natural by Bernard Malamud, the baseball player is on a team called the New York Knights.

Hope this short overview was helpful. These are the broad strokes on the topic. If you want more, read this article on The Legal Guide for Bloggers site. Or see this online slide show for the Carol Burnett versus The National Enquirer case. Or get a copy of The Law (in Plain English) for Writers by Leonard DuBoff and Sara Tugman (Fifth Edition, 2018).

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Category: Book Business, Contracts, Publishing A-ZTag: Libel, Publishing A-Z

B Is for Buy Back

By Steve Laubeon February 28, 2022
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by Steve Laube

Many authors are also speakers and as such usually have a book table in the back of the room where the audience can purchase a copy of their book during an event. This can be a very valuable source of income for the author if they have negotiated a “buy back” price (also known as the author’s discount) at the time of signing their book contract.

Check Your Contract …

Read moreB Is for Buy Back
Category: Book Business, Publishing A-ZTag: Author Buy Back, Author Purchases, Author Sales Tax, Book Business, Publishing A-Z

C Is for Noncompete

By Steve Laubeon February 7, 2022
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by Steve Laube

Both Tamela and Karen wanted “C” to stand for coffee or chocolate since both seen to be must-haves for any writer. Instead I’m going to fudge a little (pun intended) and write about the “non-Compete” clause in your contract. This clause has become the latest playground for negotiations.

Here is a simple version of a non-compete clause:

The Author will not publish or …

Read moreC Is for Noncompete
Category: Contracts, Publishing A-ZTag: book contracts, non-compete, Publishing A-Z

A Is for Advance

By Steve Laubeon November 22, 2021
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by Steve Laube

Whenever I lecture about money the room becomes unusually quiet. Instead of a common restlessness from listeners there is a thrumming impatience to reveal the punch line. The punch line that declares every writer will be rich.

Now that I have our attention let’s turn to the topic of the day. The Advance. This is defined as the money a publisher pays to the author in …

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Category: Agency, Book Business, Publishing A-ZTag: advances, Book Business, Publishing A-Z

P is for Preemptive Offer

By Steve Laubeon October 12, 2015
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It can be exciting if more than one publisher is interested in your book. The publishers gather their calculators and prepare to make their offers on the book. Depending on how many publishers are involved in the bidding process (we’ve had as many as nine at once for a property) it can quickly become complicated. (We talked about the “auction” in a previous post.) Some will bid solely …

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Category: Book Business, Publishing A-ZTag: Book Business, Preemptive Offer, Publishing A-Z

A is for Auction

By Steve Laubeon September 8, 2014
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When an agent has a client who is wanting to shop for the best deal available from publishers or if there is a particular project that is bound to garner significant interest from more than one publisher, the agent can hold what it called an auction. Or if a project attracts multiple offers from different publishers a “bidding war” can ensue. This word “auction” is tossed …

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Category: Book Business, Publishing A-ZTag: auction, Publishing A-Z, publishing auction

I is for ISBN

By Steve Laubeon April 7, 2014
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by Steve Laube 978-0-310-32533-8 978-0-7814-1042-7 978-1-61626-639-4 No, these are not the plays being called by a quarterback during a football game. They are the ISBN numbers on the back of three different books by three different clients. Kudos to the first person to identify the three titles in the comments below. Origins Back in the mid-60s a major British bookstore chain (W.H. Smith) decided …

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Category: Book Business, Publishing A-Z, SteveTag: Book Business, ISBN, Publishing A-Z

J is for Just-in-Time

By Steve Laubeon November 4, 2013
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by Steve Laube

The economics of bookselling are complex and ever changing. There is a method of inventory control called “Just-in-Time” (or JIT) that has revolutionized both the retail and manufacturing industries.

When I began as a bookseller there was no such thing as computerized inventory, at least not in the Christian bookstore business. We used a method call “Stack ‘em high and …

Read moreJ is for Just-in-Time
Category: Book Business, Get Published, Marketing, Publishing A-Z, SteveTag: Book Business, Economics, Publishing A-Z, Technology

Happy Birthday Winnie-the-Pooh!

By Steve Laubeon October 14, 2012
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by Steve Laube

On this day in 1926 the book Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne was published by Methuen in London. Our household has celebrated this day each year with my wife baking Winnie the Pooh shaped cookies. (Yes, it is a scary thing to be a man in a house of Winnie the Pooh celebrations...)

Some say the real birthday is the day Christopher Robin Milne was given his stuffed bear (August …

Read moreHappy Birthday Winnie-the-Pooh!
Category: Book Business, News You Can Use, Steve, The Publishing LifeTag: Birthday, Publishing A-Z, Winnie-the-Pooh

Inside a Publishing Company

By Steve Laubeon June 18, 2012
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by Steve Laube

I just returned from three days at the Write! Canada writers conference outside Toronto. During my time there I presented a six session lecture series on the Complete Publishing Process: From Idea to Print.

When the entire process is compressed into a short series like that it becomes evident how many people are involved in the publishing of a book at any given publishing …

Read moreInside a Publishing Company
Category: Book Business, Defense of Traditional Publishing, Marketing, Steve, The Publishing LifeTag: publishing, Publishing A-Z
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