Around the Word

Writing the Occupation: Occupy Writers -- an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement -- has collected over 2,000 signatures and stories from writers who support the protest. Mediabistro interviewed Occupy Writers co-founder Kiera Feldman, who says they eventually hope to publish the responses they have collected. Will you be adding your voice?

Democra-tweets: Did you ever think your tweet could be read on the floor of the House of Representatives? Rep. Maxine Waters of California combined crowdsourcing and speechwriting to achieve a public-speaking first: she crafted a speech entirely from tweets and Facebook posts from her constituents. Head over to the Eloquent Woman to hear Walters deliver the speech.

Kick the habit, pick up a book: A couple of quirky publishers and designers are hoping books can be just as addictive as nicotine. According to Publishing Perspectives, German publisher Automatenverlag has repurposed cigarette automats to distribute books instead of cigarettes in the neighborhood around the University of Hamburg. And a UK design magazine has created miniature books that fit into cigarette packs. What's next? Cigars that turn out to be rolled-up newspapers?

Ay, there be pirates! With the rise of e-books, authors -- like musicians and filmmakers -- have become vulnerable to pirates roaming the high seas of the Internet. Fortunately, agent and blogger Rachelle Gardner has thrown you a life preserver in the form of a primer on Internet piracy. Have you ever found an illegal copy of your book floating around? What do you do to prevent piracy?