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SA2 issues e-mail alerts as news of concern and interest to authors warrants. This is a free service. To sign up, send us a message. Tell us about your interest and experience in authoring: Sign up now
Alerts this year: | December 20 | December 18 | December 3| November 22 | November 14 | November 1 Special | November 1 | October 30 | October 23 | October 9 |October 7 | October 2 | September 30 | September 16 | September 13 | September 10 | September 5 | August 22 | August 20 | August 19 | August 14 | August 13 | August 4 | July 24 | July 17 | July 14 | July 10 | July 5 | July 1 | June 27 | June 20 | June 18 | June 17 | June 15 | June 11 | June 5 | May 31 | May 29 | May 28 | May 24 | May 22 | May 17 | May 15 | May 13 | May 10 | May 7 | May 2 |
Earlier news: SA2 began issuing news alerts in May. For earlier news, go to our Archives.
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on December 20, 2002
SAVE THE SPINES: A new California law commands light-weight textbooks so kids don't suffer spinal injuries. The result may reshape textbooks -- slimmer volumes and more of them. Details
WARTBURG CONSENSUS El-hi publishers see school sales as soft in 2003, but their crystal balls cover a range. These are the 2003 predictions that emerged froom the Wartburg media investment conference:
REED: Crispin Davis: Down another 5 percent. Details
PEARSON: Peter Jovanovich: Down another 5 percent. Details
MCGRAW-HILL Terry McGraw: Up 2 to 4 percent. Details
STUDENTS LOVE E-BOOKS: A Fordham University classroom study found overwhelming acclaim for texts on e-book devices Details
NO TIME FOR TEXTS? College students are spending far less time on their books than most professors realize. A new study found that 19 percent of freshmen study five or fewer hours a week. Details
MORE FREE WEB JOURNALS: Scientists who have objected to high-price scholarly journals are using a $9 million grant to create free biology and medicine journals. The backers say the journals, due next year, will meet the highest standards. Details
DOWN-UNDER SETBACK: Publishers are worried that foreign libel laws, some called "brutal," may force them to withhold controversial but important titles. Why the concern? The Australian High Court says U.S.-based Dow Jones must respond in Australian courts to a suit brought an Australian for an article in a U.S. magazine. Details
PORT DELAYS: Publishers whose deliveries of books printed in Asia were delayed by West Coast labor problems in October won't be caught unaware again. Critical printing is being shifted to U.S. and Mexico plants. Air freight may be used too. Details
SA2 DATA BANK: No other author organization maintains better data for its members than SA2. Data bank index
NEWS SERVICE: The SA2 site now carries author-related advertisements from members as a no-charge membership benefit. Details
SA2 INDEX: To update yourself on recent authoring news, look to the comprehensive SA2 index. Index
BIBLIO: The continually expanding SA2 authoring bibliography is aproaching 150 entries. Enjoy browsing
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on December 18, 2002
CALIFORNIA COZINESS: A California official with a role in school-book adoption decisions received loans from publishing lobbyists, according to a newspaper expose. Also, back when John Mockler was a lobbyist himself, he co-owned a vacation home with a state Board of Education member. Details
SCHOOL-BOOK PRICING: The San Jose Mercury News reported school-book prices for California districts have as much as tripled, far outpacing inflation. Details
SOLONS PERTURBED: Legislative leaders in California promised hearings into suggestions that publishers are gouging school districts with higher prices than charged in other states. Reform will occur, said the Assembly majority leader. Details
ROYALTY SETTLEMENT: The authors' attorney in the class-action suit against HarperCollins says the settlement over in-house foreign sales represents "real value." Score one for authors. Details
PEARSON TURNAROUND: The Pearson conglomerate sees "a significant earnings recovery" based on U.S. college sales and other subsidiary bright spots. Details
PRE-K: Texas is the first state to adopt a pre-K curriculum. Publisher LeapFrog SchoolHouse gets the nod. Details
BYE, BYE, HILL & BARLOW: The Boston law firm Hill & Barlow, home of several leading attorneys for authors and other creative types, is dissolving. The partners pulled the plug after the firm's huge real estate section decided en masse to go elsewhere. Details
INSTANT HARVARD BOOKS: Harvard University Press is using Acme print-on-demand technology to rush titles to market when a print run fails to meet demand. Details
LATEST SALES: Returns outnumbered college textbook sales in October, the latest reporting period. Through September, though, sales were up 10.9 percent for the year. El-hi is off 6 percent in the latest report. Details
OUTDATED SCHOOL BOOKS: A publishers' study reports that almost one-third of U.S. school teachers are using at least one textbook that is 10
Details
GEO IMAGES: National Geographic, known for its photo archives, is building its digital collection for sale for textbook use. Details
ROSETTA SETTLEMENT: Random House and Rosetta settled their lawsuit with a joint deal for re-issuing print books in e-form. The issue of whether e-books are spin-offs or separate products, however, remains up in the air. Details
VIET PIRACY: True to a new trade agreement with the United States, Vietnam is cracking down on book and tape piracy. Burned so far: 1,320 pounds of textbooks. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on December 3, 2002
HARPERS: WE'RE AUTHORS' FRIEND: Rather than fight it out in court, HarperCollins will pay off authors who claim they were cheated out of royalties by deeply discounted inter-division sales. Details
LEGAL WATCH: These court cases that SA2 is tracking for you:
Englade and Simpson v. HarperCollins (foreign sales). Status:
Details
American Library Association v. U.S. (library web screening requirement). Status:
Details
Chodos v. West (satisfactory manuscript). Status:
Details
Eldred v. Ashcroft (copyright duration). Status:
Details
Stanley Kutler v. U.S. (scholarly access): Status:
Details
VIVENDI GOING DARK: Stung by rumors about its October divestiture of Houghton Mifflin, Vivendi has vowed to keep its lips sealed on asset disposals still in process. Details
SLIPPING BASALS: The percentage of school teachers using basal reading books has slipped to about four in five. Details
MCGRAW HITS RECORD: The company's latest projection has it winning 31 percent of available el-hi adoptions sales this year. Details
HOUGHTON IN CALIFORNIA: Of 300 California basal reading adoptions this year, Houghton says 240 have been of its Legacy of learning series. Details
JONES & BARTLETT HEALTH: J&B has bought 450 titles from Kluwer's Aspen, mostly in health fields. Details
USED TEXTBOOKS: If you spot back-to-campus newspaper articles that extol the cost advantage of used books without noting the pitfalls, notify SA2 immediately: Editor@sa2.info Your society will send a corrective letter to the editor for publication. We are concerned about boilerplate that the National Association of College Stores has distributed. The article, which may bear headlines like "10 Money-Saving Tips for Cash-Strapped Students," is misleadingly enthusiastic about used books. SA2 has protested to NACS, but the boilerplate is already in circulation. If you want to write your own letter to the editor about used books, the language in SA2's protest to NACS may be helpful.
NACS boilerplate: Details
SA2 response: Details
COMMENTARY: Join the SA2 dialog on our used-book problem. Latest contributions:
Erin Stitt:
Details
Don Barker:
Details
SA2 / NACS:
Details
SA2 VIEW: Your Society supports overriding the Bush executive order that puts presidential papers off limits to scholars, as well as the press and public. Position paper
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on November 22, 2002
ROYALTY SUIT: An author-friendly settlement reportedly has been reached in a suit challenging a sleezy publisher practice of swapping book among in-house corporate units at deep discounts and thus depriving authors of royalty income, HarperCollins may owe millions. Details
HOT NEW GENRE: Good-bye to the scholarly monograph. University presses bnow seeking cross-over audiences with a new genre of book -- the scholarly trade book. Details
TOXIC JOURNAL? The journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology is not what it seems, according to scientists who have protested to an Elsevier Sciene subsidiary that produces the journal. The charge: The drug and tobacco industry has paid for self-serving articles to appear in the journal and then cites the articles to make arguments like second-hand smoke isn't all that bad. Details
GRECO WORKS: Works on scholarly publishing by book industry school Al Greco of Fordham University are being added to the scholarly author's "ultimate reference shelf." Details
WORTH READING: Among authoring organizations only SA2 offers members a continuously updated bibliography of works and articles on authoring. Details
BOOKS TO KABUL: A shipment of 18,000 donated books from the United States has reached Afghanistan for libraries and schools. Details
UNHAPPINESS AT STANFORD: Humanities editor Helen Tartar, now out at Stanford Press Press in a budget queeze, says the fate of her list she nurtured over the years is more dire than the boss is letting on. Details
AUTHORING NEWS: In October the SA2 site carried 135 news items of interest to academic authors, including, on October 31, a prompt report affecting hundreds of authors on the sale of Houghton Mifflin. Details
PRODUCTIVIATY: A revised list of productivity among publishers, based on revenue per employee, has the top five all from educational publishing -- McGraw, WRC, Pearson, Reed, Wiley. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on November 14, 2002
REAL STEAL? The Lee-Bain Boston partnership that bought Houghton Mifflin paid 1.5 times the company's estimated 2001 sales. A bargain? Maybe so, maybe not. Details
HOUGHTON PROSPECTS: Among experts there is no doubt that the new owners of Houghton Mifflin will break up the company and sell the pieces. Details
CRIMINAL PROBE: The Paris public prosecutor wants better answers about Vivendi's financial disclosures in the final months of the Jean-Marie Messier regime. Earlier the national investment regulation agency began a separate investigation. Details
ALL THEIR FAULT: An advance peak at Jean-Marie Messier's book on the fall of Vivendi blames the insiders who ousted him for a lack of vision. Details
AUTHOR BARGAIN: Until 2004 academic authors have free access to all SA2 services. Then it will be only $26 a year. See the site map
NEWS, NOT HISTORY: When Vivendi sold Houghton Mifflin on October 31, SA2 had a same-day report on the news, plus regular updates and analysis. Details
MCGRAW PROMOTES HIRSCHBERG: The new president at McGraw-Hill Education is Henry Hirschberg. Details
OFF THE CHART: College textbook sales are running 10.9 percent ahead of a year ago. Details
BOOK DOLDRUMS: Although college textbook sales continue perky, the biggest U.S. printers can't find enough business to offset revenue declines. Details
WHAT HUMANITIES? Not only is Stanford University Press trimming its humanities list, now it's axed respected editor Helen Tartar. Details
JOURNAL PUBS WANT TO BE LOVED: Journal publishers are creating a public relations blitz to convince scholars and libraries that they offer value-laden products. Details
TOASTS AT WILEY: Wiley has won the contract for the
peer-reviewed journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, which has been with Blackwell. Details
WEB SCREENING: Can the government require public libraries to censor patron web downloads to screen out porn? The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to review the issue. Details
TECH SAVVY AT HARVARD: The magazine InfoTech lauds Harvard Business School Publishing for comprehensive integration of customer data to enhance creation, production and delivery of digital content. Details
IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING:: California schools now can receive state money to buy a Pearson teacher training program that links Prentice Hall literature and language arts books to state standards. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
SPECIAL NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on November 1, 2002
HOUGHTON SOLD: Vivendi sells Houghton Mifflin for US$1.7 billion to raise cash. An equity investment consortium takes over. Details
PUBLISHER PRODUCTIVITY: McGraw, WRC and Pearson, all educational publishers, generate the most revenue per employee of all the book companies. Details
DATA BANKS: Spot trends for yourself by checking the growing file of SA2 data banks: Details
SEARCH ENGINES: Most web search engines now show the Society of Academic Authors. If you forget our web address, just type Society of Academic Authors in the search box. Better yet, make a bookmark: Details
COURSEPACK PIRACY: Publishers are raising their voice against unauthorized copying for coursepacks. Details
UNSINKABLE MESSIER: There's no stopping ousted Vuvendi chief Jean-Marie Messier. Now he's incorporated legally in Delaware as equity company that will focus on media investments. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on November 1, 2002
TAKING A BATH: Cash-desperate Vivendi's leadership is bracing to accept a 20 percent-plus loss on its Houghton Mifflin investment. Details
TEXTBOOK SHORTAGE: A new survey finds one of four of urban school teachers in the United States doesnšt have textbooks for every child. The national average is better but not good: One in seven. Details
NEW STM LANDSCAPE COMING? The new deal news is that Kluwer Academic and Bertelsmann / Springer may come under single ownership and rival Reed Elsevier as the planet's Number 1 academic journal publisher. Details
RUSSIAN EXPORT: The first lady of Russia was so impressed with the U.S. Library of Congress book fest that she wants to start one in Moscow. Details
PIRACY CRACKDOWN: If you thought U.S. publishers were serious about piracy and counterfeiting, you ain't seen nothin' yet. The publishers have new leadership for copyright enforcement. Details
ANTI-TERRORISM OVERREACTION? The U.S. Justice Department has been summoned to court to cough up details on confiscating records from libraries and bookshops to learn what people are reading. Details
FRANCO GORGING: Franco media giant Lagardere has 80 percent of the French school book market now that it has Vivendi's French publishing assets. Not for long, perhaps. Details
AMAZON WON'T BUDGE: Despite right-wing legal threats, Amazon.com won't yank boy-lovers title from its inventory. Amazon says that providing open access is what it's all about. Details
NEW COOP FOR PEACOCK: Wadsworth has acquired F.E. Peacock's social and behavioral titles. Details
OPRAH WINFREY AWARD: Oprah Winfrey's on-air book club moved a lot of books for publishers. Now the publishers say thanks. Details
PHARMACEUTICAL MEGA-LIST: McGraw now handles reference books for textbooks for the American Pharmaceutical Association. Details
DISTANCE COURSES: Congressional approval seems almost sure for expanding the range of copyrighted materials that can used for Internet courses without permissions. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on October 30, 2002
HOUGHTON IN LIMBO: Vivendi may be cash-strapped but not enough to sell Houghton Mifflin at any price. Vivendi tells bidders to come back with better offers. Details
YOUR AUTHORING ESTATE: Two experts at estate planning Lloyd Jassin and Ron Finkelstein, say you can't expect a general executor to have the expertise to handle your literary assets. Their advice: Plan now for your "final draft." Details
SCHOLARSHIP CAN'T WAIT: The British Journal of Surgery is putting issues on the web as soon as possible -- two months ahead of the scheduled print editions. Details
E-FUTURE: A McGraw survey finds four out of 10 professors expect to be using e-texts by 2004. Details
PIRACY PATROL: A copyshop at the University of Florida has been sued for plugging textual material into coursepacks without permission from rights-holders. Details
KLUWER ACADEMIC: A London investment group, Candover Partners and Cinvin, has bought STM publisher Kluwer Academic from Wolters Kluwer. Details
NEWS SA2 SERVICE: The SA2 site now carries author-related advertisements from members as a no-charge membership benefit. Details
R.I.P: Historian Stephen Ambrose, who brought mass audiences to his rendering of the American experience, died of cancer at 66. Details
COPYRIGHT DURATION: The Supreme Court justices are pondering whether Congress went too far with the 1998 Bono copyright extension, in some cases beyond 100 years. Details
DAKOTA PALMS: Are hand-held digital devices the textbook of the future? The University of South Dakota is giving us a peek by requiring frosh to have Palms. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
SPECIAL ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on October 23, 2002
HOUGHTON AGONY GOES ON: Vivendi has sold all its publishing assets to rival French publisher Lagadere -- but not Houghton Mifflin. Because no bidders offered enough money for Houghton in the package that was up for sale, Vivendi has reopened bids for the U.S. textbook publisher. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on October 9, 2002
DUSHKIN E-NEWS: McGraw-Hill's Dushkin claims it is taking college e-supplements to a whole new level with real-time customized news. Details
NAZI QUESTIONS LINGER: Media giant Bertelsmann has issue a mea culpa about its role in Nazi Germany, but critics say it's too little, too late and not entirely forthcoming. Details
SHORT LIST: Bids of $540 million-plus for Kluwer Academic have been submitted by Wiley, Taylor & Francis, and two British buyout groups.Details
CONTRACT CLAUSES: SA2 has a growing file of comments to help you in contract negotiations:
Confidentiality provision
Noncompete provision
Satisfactory manuscript provision
Termination provision
YES, WE KNEW ZICK BEFORE HE WAS FAMOUS: Boston Magazine has named SA2 contrbutor Zick Ruben as the town's best intellectual property lawyer, We knew that all along. Details
TALBOT JUDGES: Veteran authors are needed as judges for the SA2 Talbot Prize for visuals in textbooks and learning materials. To volunteer: secretary@sa2.info Details
QUICK REFERENCE: Ever want top look up something you read on the SA2 site, but you canšt remember when it appeared? Try the master SA2 alert index
SOARING TEXTBOOKS: College sales are pacing the book industry, up 11.4 Details
HOUGHTON SALE: Houghton Mifflin has sold its Sunburst software unit. Evidently the suitors of Houghton's parent company, Vivendi Universal Publishing, don't care if software is part of the package. Some are asking: Do they care about Houghton?
Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on October 7, 2002
TALBOT JUDGES: Veteran authors are needed as judges for the SA2 Talbot Prize for visuals in textbooks and learning materials. To volunteer: secretary@sa2.info Details
HOUGHTON FINALE: Vivendi is expected to choose the buyer for its publishing arm in mid-October. This will include a decision on where Houghton Mifflin ends up. Details
ANOTHER VIVENDI MESS: The chief at Houghton's Vivendi parent company, Agnes Touraine, was accused of playing favorites among bidders to buy the company. Not so, she responded. Details
ENOUGH'S ENOUGH: Vivendi is evicting its ousted chief, Jean-Marie Messier, from the $17 million apartment it was maintaining for him in Manhattan. Details
SOARING: Not only is SA2 the fast-growing authoring organization on the planet but now it's also the largest of its kind. Membership reached 1,142 in September. Details
WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR SA2: Enroll your co-authors in SA2 as a gift. It's free to you and to your co-authors. Send a message to us with names and e-addresses: SA2
120 YEARS: The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments this week on whether corporations can hold their copyright monopolies up to 120 years. If only authors should live so long. Details
HUNGRY TAYLOR & FRANCIS: Britain's T&F is looking for acquisitions. Blackwell now seems to be on a back burner, but could T&F be the new home of Kluwer Academic? BertelsmannSpringer? Details
DATA BANKS: Spot trends for yourself by checking the growing file of SA2 data banks: Details
POWERFUL WOMEN: When Fortune magazine ranked the most powerful women in business outside the United States, No. 1 was Marjorie Scardino at Pearson. Details
LEAPFROG GROWING UP: K-6 publisher Leapfrog has begun marketing Kaplan college-entrance exam prep materials in a handheld digital gadget for high-schoolers. Details
HOME SWEET HOME: Wiley is ensconced in its new Palace-on-the-Hudson digs at Hoboken -- 900 employees in 400,000 square feet. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on October 2, 2002
HOUGHTON WAIT: Houghton Mifflin owner Vivendi has opened bids for its publishing assets, but they're less than expected. Vivendi hopes to jawbone the offers upward. Details
YOUR AUTHORING ESTATE: How are book contracts appraised for estate purposes? The expert answer from former publishing executive and accountant Paul Rosenzweig: Details
JOURNAL GOUGING? Now that Reed Elsevier and Harcourt journals are under the same roof, a British agency raises questions about pricing. No-brainer conclusion: Competition isn't working. Details
NEW MONOGRAPH OUTLET: The University of Illinois Humanities Lab is helping fund works from young scholars that cash-strapped university presses are turning away. The hope: The arrangement may become a model. Details
LIFE AFTER DEATH: Just because a publisher declares your book out-of-print doesn't mean you can't keep it going. Read Frank Silverman's advice on rescuing an orphaned title: Details
NON-INK JOURNAL:The University of Western Ontario's Ivey Business Journal moves into the post-Gutenberg Age. The web edition is replacing the print edition. Details
SEARCH ENGINES: Most web search engines now show the Society of Academic Authors. If you forget our web address, just type Society of Academic Authors in the search box. Better yet, make a bookmark: http://sa2.info
EXPORTS: U.S. textbook exports are up 16.5 percent for the first half of the year. Details
PAYBACK TIME: A report from publisher Thomas Nelson to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says chief executive Sam Moore has reimbursed the company $139,000 for personal expenses and services. Details
NEW HARVARD IMPRINT: Harvard Educational Publishing is launching a new series with original articles for el-hi administrators and teachers. Details
CONGLOMERATION UPDATE: Don't be caught using yesterday's conventional wisdom. The conglomeration of the textbook industry has cracks. Some would say major fissures. Analysis: Analysis
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on September 30, 2002
FEDERAL TEXT LIST: The U.S. Office of Education claims not to be endorsing a list of some K-3 reading assessments over others. Details
HOUGHTON EXCEPTION: Except for Vivendi's pending Houghton sale, recent months have been fallow for major education publishing mergers. Details
DAREHSHORI BACK? Houghton Mifflin people see the return of former chief Nader Darehshori as possibility for stability. Are the rumors true? Details
PURE FRENCH: French mega-publisher Lagardere is participating in deals to acquire the French publishing units of Vivendi, allaying national concern about an Anglo takeover. Details
SAXON-RENAISSANCE: Renaissance Learning and Saxon Publishers inked a deal for software packages to accompany Saxon math books. Details
MORAL RIGHTS: Movie directors have gone to court on an issue close to authors' hearts -- the moral right to prevent creative works from being uncorrupted by future owners. Details
BANNED BOOKS: Sex is greatest motivation for people who want certain books yanked from libraries. Details
E-BOOK USERS: Will e-books catch on? So far, users are mostly tech-savvy. Interestingly, survey finds three-quarters of users over 30. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on September 16, 2002
USED BOOKS: SA2 has launched a campaign to introduce the authors' perspective in campus dialogue on used books. Details
DIGITAL BOOKS: New research indicates that students like e-book features and dislike others, but learning is the same reading print and digital products. Details
BOOK PRIZES: The first nominations for SA2's Sharpie and Talby prizes have been filed. Nomination deadline: September 30. Details
CUSTOM BOOKS ONLINE: Kluwer has a new system for customers to cobble together their own books from online components. Details
TEXTBOOK EXPORTS: In the first half of 2002, U.S. textbook imports rose 16.5 percent.. Details
WRITTEN LATELY? Tell SA2 so we can tell your fellow academic authors. E-mail your editor: The latest from your colleagues
UPFRONT MONEY: Vivendi is so desperate for cash that it's demanding a $2 billion deposit to accompany bids for Houghton Mifflin and the rest of its on-the-auction block publishing empire. Details
ASSASSINATION: U.S. publishers want their government to press Nigeria to investigate the ambush killing of a Chief Victor Nwankwo, a major figure in African publishing and himself an author. Details
RECLAIMING YOUR COPYRIGHT: Did you sign away too much when, young and naive, you gave your copyright to a publisher? The law gives you a window to reclaim the copyright for older works. Details
WANNA TALK? For a fee, an Arizona company will you put on its online register of authors and experts. Then wait for a call from Oprah. Details
NATURAL HISTORY: The journal Natural History is adding more physical-science content. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on September 13, 2002
FRENCH DITHER: What's to come of French culture if foreigners buy Vivendi remnants, especially if it's those Anglo-Saxons? Details
MORE VIVENDI WOES: French authorities raided Vivendi for documents in an investigation into undue pressure on accountants to inflate earnings reports under Jean-Marie Messier. Details
HOUGHTON A DONE DEED: Boston isn't even on the itinerary of Vivendi chief Jean-Rene Fourtou's tour of the French conglomerate's major U.S. holdings. Details
ROYALTY INCOME: Does royalty income go on Schedule C or not? We asked former publishing executive and accountant Paul Rosenzweig. His expert answer
SA2 BOOK PRIZES: The first nominations for SA2's Sharp and Talbot prizes have been filed. Nomination deadline: September 30. Details
WILEY OUTLOOK: Revenue growth is seen not only in double-digits this year but in the mid-teens. Details
TAYLOR & FRANCIS / FITZROY DEARBORN: British company acquires Chicago reference publisher. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on September 10, 2002
SA2 EXCELLENCE PRIZES: The first nominations for the Sharp and Talbot prizes have been filed. The nomination deadline: September 30. Details
SPRINTING SALES: In July U.S. textbook sales were almost 15 percent ahead of a year earlier. Details
STABILITY AT HOUGHTON? The pending sale of Houghton Mifflin may be Stage 1 in a two-step ownership change. Insiders say the investment groups that want to buy Houghton at Vivendi's Distress Sale would pour money into the company to bulk up the price and then, give a few months, a couple years at most, sell it at a profit. Details
PRENTICE / ATHENA: Prentice Hall has acquired 21 legal and paralegal titles from Athena Publishing Group. Details
WRITING ROADMAP: McGraw's latest web product, Writing Roadmap, is touted as Grade 3 through college writing improvement and assessment tool. Details
AGENT SURVEY: Heavy response to the SA2 survey on agents has delayed the tally. Expect a report on the findings within 10 days. Details
SA2 VIEW: Your Society supports overriding the Bush executive order that puts presidential papers off limits to scholars, as well as the press and public. Position paper
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on September 5, 2002
PEARSON AND NEW YORK TIMES: College authors with Pearson now can tap New York Times articles and photos back to 1851 for their books and supplements. Details
USED BOOKS: Author group castigates Amazon.com for aggressive push on used books.
Details
COMMENTARY: Join the SA2 dialog on our used-book problem. Latest contributions:
Erin Stitt
Don Barker
SA2 /NACS
SA2 EXCELLENCE PRIZES: The first nominations for the Sharp and Talbot prizes have been filed. The nomination deadline: September 30. Details
HOUGHTON NIBBLES: Vivendi has yet to receive firm proposals for Houghton Mifflin, but there is interest aplenty. Details
MCGRAW / OPEN UNIVERSITY: McGraw buys British social science publisher Open University to strengthen global reach. Details
PROFITS OFF: Despite sales growth, publishers suffered profit declines last fiscal year. What does this mean for authors? Details
MILESTONE: SA2 membership passed 1,000 in August. Details
AWARD: Bryan Sanctuary's chemistry software won an Eddie from the ComputED Learning Center. Details
BIG BROTHER: Booksellers and other groups are prepared to go to court for an accounting of secret FBI search warrants of library and bookstore records to track who's reading what. Details
PUBLISHER PROFILES: SA2 keeps adding and updating corporate histories to the site:
Bertelsmann
Longman
Thomson
Vivendi
Vivendi Universal Publishing
Wiley
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on August 22, 2002
ACTION ITEM
YOUR ACTION NEEDED
USED TEXTBOOKS: If you spot back-to-campus newspaper articles that extol the cost advantage of used books without noting the pitfalls, notify SA2 immediately: Editor@sa2.info Your society will send a corrective letter to the editor for publication. We are concerned about boilerplate that the National Association of College Stores has distributed. The article, which may bear headlines like "10 Money-Saving Tips for Cash-Strapped Students," is misleadingly enthusiastic about used books. SA2 has protested to NACS, but the boilerplate is already in circulation. If you want to write your own letter to the editor about used books, the language in SA2's protest to NACS may be helpful.| NACS boilerplate | SA2 response |
NEWS
SETTING RECORD STRAIGHT Back-to-campus newspaper sections, including college papers, should be monitored for exhortations to students to buy used books "whenever possible" without any caution as to the hazards. Please watch for these misleading articles about used books and notify SA2: Editor@sa2.info Details
KLUWER WAFFLING: European-based publishing giant Wolters Kluwer is undecided whether to expand or sell its education publishing assets. Details
FINANCIAL OUTLOOK: Looks like a rosy year for McGraw-Hill, Thomson, and Wiley. Pearson is another story. And Vivendi, well, you know about that disaster. | McGraw | Pearson | Thomson | Vivendi | Wiley |
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on August 20, 2002
USED BOOKS: SA2 has protested a media kit from the National Association of College Stores that exhorts students to buy used books "whenever possible." Details
SOCIOLOGY AWARD: Textbook author John Macionis has won the American Sociological Association's teaching award. Details
HOUGHTON ADVISORY: With Houghton Mifflin's ownership in pending flux, here is a four-step plan for authors to prepare for whatever happens. Details
VIVENDI UPDATE: Now the Vivendi brass says its whole publishing subsidiary, not just Houghton Mifflin, may go on the auction block. Observers see the financial noose tightening even more. Details
SA2 ALERTS: When Vivendi decided to sell Houghton Mifflin, SA2 issued a news alert 14 hours ahead of the trailing authoring alert service. Nobody takes member service as seriously as SA2. Details
READER DOSSIERS: The U.S. Justice Department won't tell how many subpoenas of library and bookseller customer records it has obtained under post-9/11 laws. Book people are worried, angry too. Details
LAWN PARTY: The Library of Congress has set the second annual National Book Festival for October 12 outside the Capitol. Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on August 19, 2002
NEW AUTHORING PRIZE: The best reading textbooks are eligible for a new recognition from SA2 -- the Zerna Sharp Prize named for the creator of Dick and Jane. Details
VISUALS PRIZE: The nomination deadline looms for the William Henry Talbot Prize for the best visuals in a new textbook. Details
HOUGHTON ABOUT-FACE: How could Houghton Mifflin be on the auction block a mere week after the chief executive at parent company Vivendi declared it would remain in the fold? Details
ROYALTIES AND TAXES: Do you need a super-accountant to figure out how to handle royalty income or your taxes? This one isn't rocket science, says expert Paul Rosenzweig in SA2's author Q-A series. Details
AUTHORING TIPS: Every author receives negative manuscript reviews. At least once, right? Although negative reviews, especially if off the wall or maybe just off base, can ruin your day, we all have devised ways to deal with them. How do you do it? Share your experience with fellow authors in the SA2 Authoring Tips section. Send your message to: SA2
DIVERSIONS FROM YOUR KEYBOARD: Identify the celebrities caught reading and win a am SA2 membership. Details
SA2 DATA BANK: No other author organization maintains better data for its members than SA2. Data bank index
LAURA BUSH CAUGHT: The latest "caught reading" literacy promotion ad lacks the whimsy of its predecessors, but then, as Laura Bush will tell you, literacy is a serious matter. Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on August 14, 2002
HOUGHTON FOR SALE: Desperate for cash, Vivendi announced its textbook unit Houghton Mifflin is available. Bids start at $2.2 billion. Details
VIVENDI WOES: Stock-market regulators in Paris want Houghton Mifflin's parent company to clarify off-sheet liabilities. Meanwhile, another write-down in assets, probably US$9.8 billion, is pending. Details
PRENTICE HALL ART: The pestigous Abrams art history textbook list has been purchased by Prentice Hall. Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on August 13, 2002
AUTHOR AGENTS: Ever call on an agent to negotiate a book contract? A lawyer? The latest SA2 Survey seeks to establish a benchmark for a longitudinal examination of the role of agents and authors in academic authoring. Details
VIVENDI UPDATE: Vivendi executives and bankers are behind closed doors developing a plan to save the company. The unveiling is promised for mid-September. Whether it will be a full plan or something incremental is not clear. Houghton's fate? We'll let you know as soon as we know. Details
THEY JUST DIDN'T GET IT: The guy who drove Vivendi to the verge of bankruptcy, Jean-Marie Messier, persists that his vision for media convergence was right and everybody else wrong. Now between jobs, he's writing a book on being betrayed. Details
PHOTOCOPY THIEVERY: Been losing royalty income from people photocopying your textbook? Publishers Wiley, Reed and the CCC have succeeded in another showcase action against a document duplication company. Details
WILEY OK: Double-digit growth is expected at Wiley this year, according to the chief executive. The focus: Internal growth, not acquisitions. Details
AUTHORING TIPS: Please add your tips for successful authoring to the growing SA2 file. Details
HOMELAND SECURITY: Authors see heavy-handed devil in the details of the proposed U.S. Homeland Security agency. The issue: First Amendment-guaranteed free inquiry and whistle-blower protection. Higher-ed sales were 42 percent, yes 42, in latest quarter. Details
REED ON ACQUISITION PROWL? Reed Elsevier's chief executive foresees no "major" acquisitions ahead, but whether he sees a much-discussed possible acquisition of technical-science publisher BertelsmannSpringer as "major" remains a question. Springer is in play. Details
COLLEGE SALES SOAR: Don't be bamboozled in contract negotiations by the line that business is tough all over. Ain't so. So far this year, U.S. college textbook sales are up 17.6 percent. Details
STAYING ON TOP: Academic authors have no better guide to current books and articles on their craft than SA2's "Worth Reading" series:
See the New York Times assessment on what Mohn family intrigue portends for Bertelsmann: Details
See Michael Nelson's views in Virginia Quarterly Review on academic snobbery and Details
See Edmnd Byrnes thoughts in Journal of Information Ethics on the pitfalls of peer reviewing, which he says us hardly as blind as it pretends to be: Details
PUBLISHER PROFILES: You can find new profiles of Wiley, Rowman & Littlefield, and Longman in the growing portfolio of SA2 profiles. Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on August 4, 2002
VIVENDI CONFUSION: Vivendi's new chief said Houghton Mifflin won't be broken out of Vivendi Universal Publishing and sold. But what was it he didn't say? Observers still expect Houghton will end up in somebody else's hands. Details
ADVISING GALORE: Perhaps the Wall Street Journal put it best: "Debt-Laden Vivendi Attracts Fee-Hungry Bankers." Critics see conflicts of interest. Details
PRAEGER STAYS: Greenwood's reorganization keeps Praeger as a home for Ablex and other soon-to-be discarded imprints. Details
AUTHOR CONTRACTS: What can an author do when the publisher signs off on a contract but unilaterally refuses to accept an author's deletions of objectionable provisions? Advice
COLLEGE SALES: The recessions is pushing people into grad schools, which Wiley's chief exec sees as a plus for textbook sales. Details
BERTELSMANN SHAKE-UP: Although Thomas Middelhoff's head has rolled at Bertelsmann, the Germany publishing giant still plans to sell its Springer professional books division. Details
UPBEAT MCGRAW: McGraw says its strong business textbook list, with one title now in its 15th edition, others in the 14th, 12th, etc., is helping make for double-digit earnings gains despite the soft economy. Details
PEARSON HURTING: Nose-diving advertising revenue at its newspapers is dragging down Pearson, and strong college sales aren't offsetting the losses. Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on July 24, 2002
SO CLOSE: An insider says that Houghton Mifflin's owner, Vivendi, was within three days of imploding financially when the board of directors threw out chief exec Jean-Marie Messier. Details
LEANER GREENWOOD: Ending an acquisition binge, academic publisher Greenwood is constricting -- fewer monographs, fewer journals. Details
WIN-WIN NEGOTIATING; Veteran author Frank Silverman suggests that authors take a lead from Stephen Covey for a satisfying contract experience. Advice
LIBEL COVERAGE: More had news on libel protection for authors. The National Writers Union ends option for members. Details
AUTHOR SITES: Authors Guild is offering cheap web sites for authors -- free through August, then $6 a month. Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on July 17, 2002
HOUGHTON FUTURE: The chief executive of the Vivendi subsidiary that operates Houghton Mifflin doesn't forsee the company being sold. Details
CONFUSED ABOUT VIVENDI? Listen up carefully: The parent company Vivendi owns Vivendi Universal Publishing, which owns Houghton Mifflin. None of this is to be confused with Vivendi Universal Entertainment or Vivendi Environmental or Vivendi Universal Net. Or, for that matterm, with the Moroccco telephone company owned by Vivendi Telecom Group. Herešs the corporate structure: Details
SCARDINO TARNISH: Was Marjorie Scardino just lucky as chief executive at Pearson, riding the tide of easy tmes? With stock at a five-year low, the real test is ahead, says a Business Week report. Details
GOD AS COAUTHOR: Acknowledging inspiration can be easier than sharing the rights. That's how God sees it, as illustrated in Zick Rubin's conversation between the Creator (upper case) and the creator (lower case). Zick's observations
LEGAL WATCH: These court cases that SA2 is tracking for you:
Englade and Simpson v. HarperCollins (foreign sales).
Status
Chodos v. West (satisfactory manuscript).
Status
Hawking v. Millennium Press (repackaging).
Status
Eldred v. Ashcroft (copyright duration).
Status
ACLU v. Reno (indecency).
Status
Son of Sam redux (kill-and-tell profits).
Status
Stanley Kutler v. U.S. (scholarly access):
Status
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on July 14, 2002
VIVENDI SCENARIOS: Vivendi Light? The French Solution? The Vulture Scenario? Business reporter Janet Guyon says to expect one of these-- and soon. Houghton Mifflin's future plays out differently in different scenarios. Details
SA2 ADVISORY: What Houghton authors can do to prepare themselves for the likely sale of the company. Details
WHAT EDITORS EARN: Publishing house salaries reflect a lackluster year overall. Survey results: Details
LIBEL INSURANCE: If you have libel protection, expect bigger deductibles. Details
HEILENMAN BIBLIO: With the addition of Kathy Heilenman's landmark annotated entries, you will find almost 150 entries in the SA2 biblio. Details
LIBRARY PATROLS: Book people are mounting opposition to government checks under the Patriot Act on whošs reading what at libraries. Details
TRINITY SURPRISE: Trinity University Press is back in operation, counter to the constriction of university presses in general. Details
SALES UPDATE: College textbooks sold 23 percent in May than a year earlier. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on July 10, 2002
We at the Society of Academic Authors expect that Houghton Mifflin will be offered for sale in coming weeks. This bodes ill for many Houghton authors if their titles go to a competing textbook publisher. The history of book company acquisitions and mergers is swollen with titles that the acquiring companies abandoned to streamline the consolidated lists.
What to do:
1. Stay up-to-date. The SA2 news site will continue providing timely information as the situation unfolds: sa2.info. Other useful sources include the New York, Boston and Paris newspapers, the Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, other trade journals, the business magazines, and corporate announcements.
2. Keep you ear to the ground. If you are a Hougton author, check in with your editor and other Houghton contacts, express your concern, and check back regularly for new information. Your editor may be in the dark through much of this uncertain period, but at some point, our experience with previous sales tells us, word starts getting around the editorial offices before a general announcement. Editors sometimes are folded in early to assess the market value of the titles they supervise.
3. Review your competition. All textbook authors should review the competitive landscape. If you're not with Houghton, consider whether the addition of competing Houghton titles to your publisher's list would create redundancies that could jeopardize your titles. If you're with Houghton, make a list of your competitors and their publishers so you are ready to analyze the situation quickly if you might end up as a stablemate with competing books at another house.
4. Talk with your fellow authors. If you pick up a tip on what's happening, tell us at SA2 so we may check it out and share the information with fellow authors Editor. Confidentiality is assured.
5. Be prepared to object. If Houghton is sold to another textbook company, the sale undoubtedly would require federal anti-trust clearance. Be prepared to write the Justice Department to express your concern about the possibility that a sale would reduce competiveness by jeopardizing your titles. You can expect a model letter from SA2 that you can use for guidance. SA2 also will have other suggestions as the situation unfolds.
SA2, meanwhile, is standing by to articulate the general proposition that corporate consolidation works against valuable diversity in the marketplace.
It is possible, of course, that Vivendi will choose to keep Houghton rather than sell. Another possibility is that Houghton would be sold to a company or investor groups that isn't already in the textbook business. Whatever is ahead, however, you need to be prepared to act quickly if your interest as an author is at risk.
Right now, the best we can do is keep our heads up.
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on July 5, 2002
VIVENDI, WORSE THAN MESSIER LET ON: Company directors choose new leadership and confirm that a cash crunch is on. Details
WHITHER HOUGHTON? Most analysts see Vivendi selling Houghton Mifflin to raise desperately needed cash. But to whom? Big negatives attend to Pearson, Wiley and Holtzbinck. Details
HOLTZBRINCK DEBT: A German magazine claims that internal documents at Holtzbrinck, owner of St. Martin's Press, show surprisingly high debt levels. Details
CORPORATE DIAGRAM: Where Houghton fits into the Vivendi empire. Details
NEGOTIATING TIP: How one author challenged "satisfactory manuscript" boilerplate. Details
COLOR ME GREEN: Math author Stephen Wolfram sells out 50,000 first run at bookstores. It's the new century's biggest self-publishing success story. Details
TRANSLATION SCHOLARS: An advisory board walkout has occurred at Translator and Translation Studies Abstracts over a boycott of Israeli participation. Details
WHO'S COUNTING? SA2 members are on top of authoring news. The site carried 143 items in June. Plus commentary, survey results, data banks, how-to articles, and the new authoring law section. Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on July 1, 2002
CONTRACTS: Textbook authors should scratch out the "satisfactory manuscript" provision the next time new boilerplate is shoved at them. There is a better way. SA2 negotiation tips: Details
HOW-TO: Just when you thought your new edition was done, well, you're not done. Take the blue-penciled manuscript that your publisher returns for your files and get your disks ready for the next edition. Tips from veteran author Frank Silverman
ANYBODY UP THERE LISTENING? Vivendi shareholders are voting against the company by selling stock. Business Week reporter asks: When will the company brass get the message? Commentary
HOLLYWOOD GA-GA: It's a pattern. Media moguls let Hollywood glitz dominate their judgment when push comes to shove. Murdoch dumped Harper textbooks. Redstone dumped Simon & Schuster textbooks. Might Messier do the same with Houghton? Commentary
WHO'S COUNTING? SA2 members are on top of authoring news. The site carried 143 items in June. Plus commentary, survey results, data banks, how-to articles, and the new authoring law section. Details
BLIND KIDS: Publishers ask Congress to establish national standards to get new textbooks to blind kids quickly. SA2 supports the same legislation.
Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on June 27, 2002
AUTHOR TRIUMPHANT: The author who challenged an expansive interpretation of the "satisfactory manuscript" contact clause sees his court victory as a benefit for all authors. Details
SA2 LAW SECTION: SA2 launched its web Law Section ahead of scheduled to meet authors' heightened interest in the vexatious "satisfactory manuscript" boilerplate. The classic cases
AUTHORING TIP: Winkie Fordney tells how she keeps up-to-date on her publishers, besides, of course, checking the SA2 site regularly. New SA2 feature
PLUNK, PLUNK: Vivendi stock dropped deeper, now down 69 percent from January 1. What does this mean for Houghton Mifflin authors? Details
DATA BANKS: Spot trends for yourself by checking the growing file of SA2 data banks: Data galore
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on June 21, 2002
CONTRACT ALERT: SA2 alerted authors to a contract provision in the works at some publishing houses to allow a publisher to walk away from a contracted book if market conditions for the book change -- without any cancellation compensation to author. Details
"SATISFACTORY" CLAUSE: A federal court panel ruled that publishers cannot use the "satsifactory manuscript" provision to abandon a project because the market for a wbook has withered. Details
AUTHOR SURVEY: Authors are left out of the loop when publishing houses merge. An SA2 survey finds authors are the last to learn what's happening. Details
WILEY OPPORTUNITY? With Bertelsmann putting its Springer science publishing unit on the block, everybody's wondering who will but it. Odds-on favorite: Wiley. Details
HOUGHTON CHIEF: Hans Gieskes may not be a textbook person, but a Subtext analysis says his appointment to head Houghton Mifflin makes sense in terms of Vivendi's global and digital goals. Details
U-PRESS IMPACT: A Modern Language Association official is worried that the quality of the U.S. professoriate because of university press cutbacks. Details
PLAGIARY QUICKSAND: Publishing attorney Zick Rubin reminds authors that plagiarism can go beyond a moral issue into copyright infringement. Zick's commentary
WE'RE TALKING BIG: Pearson's U.S. education revenues totaled $3.7 billion in 2001, $1.4 billion ahead of runnerup McGraw. Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on June 18, 2002
BERTELSMANN: The German media giant is leaving the science journal business so it can focus on publishing fields in which it can dominate. Details
HARCOURT: Reed Elsevier's Harcourt has set up a high-power unit to develop e-products for education and its other businesses. Details
LEADING AUTHOR: SA2 is launching its series on notable authors with geographer Tom McKnight. Here's how he did it, with some thoughts on co-authorship. Profile
LIFE AFTER DEATH: Just because a publisher declares your book out-of-print doesn't mean you can't keep it going. Read Frank Silverman's advice on rescuing an orphaned title. How to do it
VIVENDI PROBE: A stockholder group wants a court to check whether Vivendi acquisitions were maverick actions by out-of-rein executives. Details
AUTHORING NEWS: The SA2 is your one-stop source for academic authoring news. In May the site carried 130 news items. Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on June 17, 2002
HOUGHTON CHANGE: Headquarters in Paris taps digital-savvy Hans Gieskes to take reins at Houghton. Details
VIVENDI, DON'T: Vivendi stock is super cheap, but, says a Fortune analyst, Houghton Mifflin's debt-ridden parent is a risky investment. Details
NOMINATIONS SOUGHT: SA2 is launching a series of biographical profiles on leading academic authors. Whom would you recommend? Details
MISS THE SURVEY? Questionnaires are pouring back in from the first SA2 longitudinal survey on authoring issues. If you missed your questionnaire, let me us know (secretary@sa2.info). Details
MIDYEAR REVIEW: Don't be caught using yesterday's conventional wisdom. The conglomeration of the textbook industry has cracks. Some would say major fissures. Analysis
INTELLIGENT DISCUSSION: The SA2 site is where you find intelligent discussion on authoring issues. Recent contributions to the dialogue:
Frank Silverman on trimming expenses.
Zick Rubin on the threat to parody.
David Rees on getting started on a textbook project.
Fred Blevens on manuscript reviewing.
Fred Fedler on the satisfactions and vicissitudes of authoring.
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on June 15, 2002
SURVIVE THE MERGER? SA2 begins its longitudinal surveys on authoring issues. Details
GAZA BOOK: After applying their expertise to help Palestinians, two authors lay out a blueprint for other authors to also contribute in needy regions. Details
LOOSER RULES: The New England Journal of Medicine relaxes its rule against drug reviewers who have a financial interest in the drug. Details
WILEY AND KID STUFF: By buying 250 titles from Prentice Hall Direct, Wiley is bulking up its K-12 and kids product line. Details
MONKEYING WITH LIT: Publishers and libertarians object to cleaned-up passages from literature in the New York high-school graduation exam. Details
BOUYANT PEARSON: Pearson's chief exec predicts a rosier financial report in coming months, partly because of strong college sales. El-hi? Well, that's not so rosy. Details
HONEST HISTORY? Tongue in cheek but entirely serious, scholar Richard Reeves sent copies of his books to President Bush as collector items. "They might be worth something some day as artifacts," he said, noting that they would be impossible to write under the Bush's order to seal presidential papers. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on June 11, 2002
HOW TO START A TEXTBOOK: Not sure how to proceed to write a textbook and not sure whether he was up to the task, David Rees had always held back. Now well into the process, he is surprised how easy it was to get started. His experience.
BERTELSMANN QUEST: German media giant Bertelsmann is seeking U.S. magazines to buy, not textbook publishers. As a result, speculation shifts away from Houghton Mifflin as an acquisition target. Details.
VIVENDI, WHEW: Standard & Poors had warned of "a meaningful degree or liquidity risk" at Vivendi, owner of Houghton Mifflin. Now, S&P has softened its rating. Details.
BLIND KIDS AND BOOKS: SA2 supports a bill in Congress to require that learning materials get to blind kids as quickly as other kids. What you can do.
INFO TECH: McGraw-Hill and Microsoft have created a joint imprint to create information technology titles for college, el-hi and professional sales. Details.
BIBLIO: The SA2 authoring bibliography has passed 50 entries. If you've read something that would be of value to fellow SA2 members, send the citation and two or three sentences of annotation to editor@sa2.info. Enjoy browsing.
LATEST NEWS: If this message has been waiting in your in-box more than a few hours, you will want to see whatšs happened since it was sent. Go to: Home.
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on June 5, 2002
TALBOT PRIZE: A new recognition for visuals in textbooks and learning materials has been unveiled. The new Talby Prize bears the name of William Henry Fox Talbot, who authored the first book of photographs. Details.
OPEN BOOKS: One publisher is spouting a case for open-book testing. Why? Better learning is the explicit argument. Unsaid: More sales. Details.
VIVENDI STABLE? Houghton Mifflin's French owner, Vivendi, says its banks have given it a break and won't call in the loans -- even if the company's credit rating takes another knock. Details.
THE SILVERMAN COLLECTION: Several of authoring workshop guru Frank Silverman's how-to books are now in the SA2 bibliography. Details. Scroll to the S section.
BRAILE BILL: Publishers helped craft a bill in Congress for a national format that facilitate production and distribution of new textbooks to blind pupils. Details.
SEARCH ENGINES: Most web search engines now show the Society of Academic Authors. If you forget our web address, just type Society of Academic Authors in the search box. Better yet, make a bookmark: http://sa2.info
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on May 31, 2002
KEEDY PRIZE: A new recognition for textbook excellence, The Keedy Prize, bears the name of pioneer author organizer Mike Keedy. Details
ME-FIRST CLAUSE: This time a publisher seems to have gone over the line. A new me-first provision casts authors as employees.
Comentary
STABILIZATION ATTEMPT: Directors of Vivendi, which owns Houghton Mifflin, have created a mechanism to control chair Jean-Marie Messier's acquisition addiction. Details
JOURNAL BOYCOTT: Scholars who want free access to journal articles are regrouping in the wake of a failure of their promised massive boycott against journals. Details
PARODY SAFE AGAIN: How we almost lost a chunk of the First Amendment in a Southern judge's warm and fuzzy thinking about Margaret Mitchell's Tara.
Zick Rubin's commentary
TEXTBOOK MARKET: A new projection has el-hi sales up 21.1 percent in next five years, college sales 15.2 percent. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on May 29, 2002
TRIMMING EXPENSES: Veteran author Frank Silverman has mastered ways to have his publishers pick up more of his authoring expenses. He shares what's worked for him. Details
USED-BOOK MARGINS: Why do campus bookstores load the shelves with used books? It's the markup. Data bank
SCRAPPY ATOMIC DOG: Are the execs at Atomic Dog Publishing bullish on their future? Or is it doggish? Details
CORNEL WEST: Has the former Harvard philosopher, now at Princeton, sold out on scholarship by going pop? John McWhorter at Berkeley thinks so. The debate rages
LOCKING UP FRESNO: Houghton and McDougall Littel herald the adoption of their K-8 reading series in California's fourth largest district. Details
BERTELSWHO? A quiet giant among global media companies, Bertelsmann of Gemany, has been explicit that it wants to expand its U.S. market share. Any academic publishers available? Corporate profile
CENSORSHIP: The Supreme Court's latest child pornography decision hardly settles the issue of Internet content screening. The implications are important to academic authors in literature, medical terminology, others fields. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on May 28, 2002
CONTRACT ALERT: One publisher has installed new language in at least one textbook contract to bar the author from working simultaneously on other books with other publishers. SA2 is seeking confirmation on whether this is new boilerplate. If so, we will protest on behalf of all academic authors. Check your new and updated contracts for this provision and let us know immediately if you spot "me first" language. Details
TEXTBOOK MOVIE RIGHTS: An all-star cast is being lined up for a PBS television version of Joy Hakim's The History of US. Note to textbook authors: Does your contract have a movie rights clause? Just kidding. But then again. Details
COPYRIGHT DURATION: The Supreme Court has some heavy-duty reading ahead. Amicus briefs are arriving in the Court's mailbox in the Eldred copyright duration challenge. Details
HISTORY UNSHACKLED: The Bryn Mawr girls schools backed off its opposition to publication of a scholarly history of the school. Johns Hopkins Press is proceeding. Details
DATA BANKS: Tables and charts on the status of the academic authoring and publishing industry. Index
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on May 24, 2002
REPACKAGING: Best-selling science author Stephen Hawking says New Millennium Press is repackaging his material without permission. He wants the government to stop the book. Details
LEGAL WATCH: These are the publishing law cases that SA2 has been tracking for you:
Englade and Simpson v. HarperCollins (foreign sales).
Status
Hawking v. Millennium Press (repackaging).
Status
Eldred v. Ashcroft (copyright duration). Status:
Status
Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin (parody).
Status
ACLU v. Reno (indecency).
Status
Son of Sam redux (kill-and-tell profits).
Status
Stanley Kutler v. U.S. (scholarly access):
Status
Defonesca v. Mt. Ivy Press (book promotion).
Status
R.I.P.: Paleontology author Stephen Jay Gould, who worked tirelessly at transforming evolutionary theory, is dead of cancer at age 60. Details
ACADEMIC FREEDOM: Historians have rallied against a Baltimore girls school for invoking a legal technicality to suppress a scholarly history of the school. Details
STEADY AS SHE GOES: The Book Industry Study Group sees growth in academic authors' book sales through 2006. Nothing spectacular but steady. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on May 22, 2002
WHITHER HOUGHTON? Could the future of Houghton Mifflin be in Germany? The German media giant Bertelsmann has the money to take Houghton off the hands of debt-mired French owner Vivendi. Details
"NOT AS BAD AS THEY SAY": The obituaries about the U.S. book industry are premature, says Pat Schroeder of the publishers trade association. Her evidence includes current college and K-12 sales. Details
2002 PROJECTION: This will not be a booming year for the U.S. book industry as a whole, but the most closely watched forecast sees improvements in el-hi, college and professional genres, albeit none double-digit. Details
TRANSITION HOMELESS: Duke University Press is dumping Transition, one of the world's most quoted scholarly journals. Why? Costs. Details
LATEST U-PRESS DOWNSIZING: University of New Mexico Press slashes 23 percent of staff. Details
SA2 INDEX: Your quick guide to important authoring news in recent months in the complete file of News Alerts. Alerts
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on May 17, 2002
ROYALTY CLAIMS: Talk about short-sighted: Some colleges that are claiming a share of the royalties earned by their faculty-authors. A dissenting voice
VISUAL JOURNAL: New Sage journal Visual Culture seeks to be a convergence point for diverse but related scholarly interests. Details
MINI-BOOK REVIEW: Math genius Stephen Wolfram has self-published history's perhaps most audacious book. It's so big it presses the limits of what can be physically bound. Biblio annotation
STARS: The American Astronomical Society honors New Mexico textbook author Michael Zeilik. Details
GAGGED LATELY? If a confidentiality clause shows up in your publisher's contract proposal, say no. Negotiation tips
WHAT RECESSION? College textbook sales grew 15.8 percent in the first quarter. Other genres, well, not so good. Details: Details
PRENTICE FOCUS? Pearson Education is purging trade and reference titles from Prentice Hall repertoire. Gone are business, finance, health and self-improvement lists sold under the Prentice Hall Press imprint. Details
FOR THE LATEST SA2 NEWS |
NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on May 15, 2002
WHAT DANISH MONEY? A Danish agency has agreed to a multi-million dollar payment of overdue fees for the photocopying of U.S. works in Denmark. But where's the money? Will U.S. authors ever see it? Details
AUTHORS WANTED: Stan Gibilisco, advisory editor for the McGraw-Hill Teach Yourself the Fundamentals series, is looking for authors in earth science, economics, probability and statistics, logic, functions and graphs, differential equations, and topology. Details
PARODY? Was The Wind Done Gone a parody of Gone With the Wind? Or a copyright-infringing ripoff? The parties, including Houghton Mifflin, settled out of court. Who's right? They both still say they are. Details
MAKE A BOOKMARK: For the latest authoring news and information: http://sa2.info
OBITUARY: Leonard Shatzkin, whose innovations included standardizing book sizes for production efficiency, died at age 82. Details
YOU READ, YOU DECIDE. The beleagured University of Minnesota Press put four pages of its controversial Judith Levine book on kid sex on the web. A brillant marketing move? Comment
E-TIME FOR MCDOUGAL. 6-12 publisher McDougal Littel decides to put all books into e-form, algebra first. Details
AUTHORING GLOSSARY. What terms would you add to the SA2's list to help a newcomer?
The glossary
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on May 13, 2002
CALL IT OFF: "Academic blackmail" has been aimed at the University of Minnesota Press for publishing a book that distressed some very loud people. What to do now? SA2 tells the university president to backtread. An open letter
ABOUT TIME: The publishers who gave so little support to Barney Rosset of Grove Press in his mid-century First Amendment crusades now have seen his light. Details
MANUSCRIPT REVIEWING: It can be done well. It can be badly. Historian Fred Blevens has tips to do it right. Fred's tips
WRITTEN LATELY? Tell SA2 so we can tell your fellow academic authors. E-mail your news: editor@sa2.info. The latest from your colleagues
LEAPFROG: Children's publisher Leapfrog plans to expand its K-5 market, now only 2.7 percent of its business. The company also is going public with a $150 million stock issue. Details
DOWNTURN: Book sales are off in several genres in which academic authors write: Economics, science, sociology, technology. Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on May 10, 2002
WHITHER HOUGHTON? Houghton Mifflin authors have cause for concern, even alarm, as pressures mount on their new parent company, Vivendi, to raise cash. Could Houghton be on the block again? Details
SA2 VIEW: Your Society supports overriding the Bush executive order that puts presidential papers off limits to scholars, as well as the press and public. Position paper
RECLAIMING YOUR COPYRIGHT: Did you sign away too much when, young and naive, you gave your copyright to a publisher? The law gives you a window to reclaim the copyright for older works. Details
WOW, $3.8 MILLION: Yes, that's what the highest-paid U.S. textbook publishing exec pulled down last year. It was a cut from the year before. Details
WANNA TALK? For a fee, an Arizona company will put you on its online register of authors and experts. Then wait for a call from Oprah. Details
MINNESOTA MESS: Libertarians and academic are rallying behind the University of Minnesota Press decision to publish Judith Levine's "Harmful to Minors." Eat your heart out, Dr.
Laura Schlessinger. Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on May 7, 2002
CALIFORNIA CUTS: Can the University of California Press stem a $1 million a year hemorrhage by bowing out of philosophy and other fields? Details
PEARSON RACE: Pearson Education's Peter Jovanovich is in a two-person race for chief executive of the parent company in London. Details
NON-COMPETE CLAUSES: How far authors go to protect their interests against the non-compete provisions in publisher boilerplate? Negotiation tips
MAKE A BOOKMARK: For the latest authoring news and information: sa2.info
PEDOPHILIA: A book about kid sex isn't playing well in Minnesota, and the University of Minnesota Press finds out who its friends are. Details
VIVENDI WHO? From out of no where, Vivendi suddenly was a big name in the U.S, media. Then came Vivendi;s acquisition of Houghton Mifflin. Who is this Vivendi anyway? Corporate profile
COMMENT: The Canadian publisher Thomson seems on the right Americanization course. But Vivendi of France, well, well, well. Details
LEGAL PRESSURE: A Baltimore girls school has employed a corporate-like non-disclosure clause to prevent Johns Hopkins Press from publishing a history of the school. Details
DO A GOOD DEED: Extra desk copies? The Sabre Foundation can get them into the hands of Third World students. Details
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NEWS ALERT
Issued to SA2 members by e-mail on May 2, 2002
THOMSON PRESSURE: Authors whose books are with Thomson brands may be affected by corporate pressure to cut expenses and grow profits. The parent company needs to look good to investors in coming months if a public stock offering is going to fly. Details
CORPORATE PROFILE: Thomson Corporation goes by many names -- Course Technology, South-West, Wadsworth, West, and, yes, even Harcourt, kinda. Where is this company going? Profile
MAKE A BOOKMARK: For the latest authoring news and information: http://sa2.info
GAGGED LATELY? If a confidentiality clause shows up in your publisher's contract proposal, say no. Negotiation tips
MCGRAW SOFTWARE: McGraw packaging Net4Music Finale software in music theory texts. Details
CAL PRESS CUTBACK: Donšt look for more University of California Press titles in archeology, architecture, geography, philosophy, political science. Details
USED BOOKS: Amazon's Jeff Bezos tells the Authors Guild to back off on used-book boycott. Details
VIVENDI TROUBLES: Investors seem wary on company direction and accounting changes. Details
DO A GOOD DEED: Extra desk copies? Brother's Brother Foundation can get them into the hands of Third World students. Details
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