tl;dr Books, most likely generated by an LLM, were being sold on Amazon under Jane Friedman’s name. The same books were added to her Goodreads profile. Amazon initially refused to remove the books. If it’s happening to her, it’s definitely happening to other authors.
I find it appalling that Amazon demanded evidence of a trademark registration for her name. I hope they get sued. Trademark or not, you can’t put an author’s name on something that they did not write. That’s called plagiarism, and it is not legal, especially if you try to make money off of it. I wonder how many authors they did this to? How clogged will the civil courts get from this? What a mess!
There isn’t a need for that at the moment. There are PLENTY of small publishers you can send a manuscript to. Small publishers will, of course, sell authors’ books on Amazon, but it’s absolutely not the same thing as going it on your own as an author dealing directly with Amazon. First of all, if you submit to and are accepted by a small publisher, libraries can purchase your book and there are none of the exclusive rights crap Amazon imposes on the individual writer looking for a venue. Most writers seek out a small publishing house before resorting to the “go it alone” approach. There are many writers who also avoid the Amazon bullshit by setting up their own publishing company just to publish their own works, which is perfectly simple to do and doesn’t cost much at all, in comparison to all the costs associated with marketing, cover art, bla bla bla. Amazon is often a last resort or a result of “the final straw” of receiving rejections from publishers and when writers don’t know how to set up their own mini publisher to self-publish first. Anyway, you can by-pass a lot of the Amazon crap by setting yourself up as a publisher that dedicates itself to publishing your writing. You can even offer paperbacks and hardcovers, using a printing service to take care of that for you. Then, through your own publishing company you set up, you offer your work to Amazon. It’s a different set of conditions.
RIP. I remember some of his papers were required reading for two key seminars I took in undergrad and grad school. Both carried the same title at the time: “The Anthropology of Women.” An amazing writer and scholar. I’ll never forget the scholarly work I read in my undergrad class authored by him and Anita Hill herself. Groundbreaking stuff, not only for what was considered at the time a “niche topic” as people online say these days, but groundbreaking stuff when it comes to basic human rights nobody seems to think about anymore. I might add, in memory of this great scholar, that the term “niche topic” be stripped from everyone’s vocabulary. Your “niche topic” today might be a sign of your narrow-mindedness in history tomorrow.
I’m reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula for the first time ever. Can you believe I am 48 years old, a horror literature junkie, and never read it? It’s true. I’m enjoying it a lot.
I really loved this novel. It gets better and better as you progress through it. I loved all the references to Jung, Gothic horror, and just about everything else! Enjoy!
I Would Rather See My Books Get Pirated Than This (Or: Why Goodreads and Amazon Are Becoming Dumpster Fires) | Jane Friedman ( janefriedman.com )
tl;dr Books, most likely generated by an LLM, were being sold on Amazon under Jane Friedman’s name. The same books were added to her Goodreads profile. Amazon initially refused to remove the books. If it’s happening to her, it’s definitely happening to other authors.
Charles Ogletree, legal scholar who championed reparations, dies at 70 ( wapo.st )
The longtime Harvard Law professor also represented Anita Hill, rapper Tupac Shakur and survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre...
What are you reading? (August 2023)
Hey Beehaw (and friends)! What’re you reading?...