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Is Your E-Book a Fake? Knock-offs aren't just for fashion, and Amazon has become the Chinatown of e-book fakes. The online retailer's not just selling them—most of the offenders are products of Amazon's self-publishing imprint CreateSpace. If you're looking for Walter Issacson's bestselling bio of Steve jobs, make sure you don't get fooled by Steve Jobs by Issac Worthington. Beware of Fast and Slow Thinking by Karl Daniels, which strikes uncomfortably close to the real-deal Thinking Fast and Slow by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman. When searching for Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, one top result is I Am the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The solitary review for that book notes: "this is almost certainly copyright infringement. the author chose a popular book title, added 'i am' to the beginning, and calls it legitimate. of course, anyone who is looking for these things should know better." Technically speaking, titles of books aren't copyrighted, but the legal line here is definitely blurry.

Stephen Covey's Legacy of Leadership Lit. Last week, author and father of the thought-leadership genre Stephen Covey passed away from injuries he suffered in a bike accident in April. Covey's seminal works—including 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, and First Things First—have sold millions of copies and influenced some of the biggest names in corporate America. It's arguable that 7 Habits was responsible for catapulting thought-leadership books from a niche market to a mainstream genre, as well as making a "book as badge" the new must-have for high-powered business gurus. So the next time you land a high-paying job editing (or ghostwriting) a "big idea" piece for the latest whiz-kid CEO, thank Covey for paving the way. 

Big Brother Is Reading You. Or, rather, he's reading your Kindle, according to the Wall Street Journal. E-books, which have officially outsold "analog" books this year, are the newest frontier of consumer data mining. Until now, publishers have been mostly in the dark about what happens after a book leaves the store, but no longer. Whether you download a book but don't read it, start a book and don't finish it, or tear through an entire series in a matter of days, that information is now available to those who most want to know. Some publishers are excited about the opportunity to hone their offerings according to market forces, like finding the perfect length for an e-book or coming up with a formula for ideal content, but others fear that a data-driven marketplace will have a homogenizing effect, not to mention potential privacy pitfalls. What do you think? Can boiling the book business down to an algorithm be good for the marketplace and the marketplace of ideas? Or does having the publishing industry reading over your shoulder give you a case of the digital willies?


Scalia Rules on Crimes Against Grammar. What do liberal lawyer Bryan Garner and conservative SCOTUS Justice Antonin Scalia have in common? According to this New Yorker piece, they're both SNOOTS set on righting the wrongs legal writing exacts on the English language. The two men, who bonded during a lunch meeting at which Scalia gushed over David Foster Wallace's essay "Tense Present," have collaborated on two books about the role of grammar and persuasion in legal writing. Although they disagree about politics—and the acceptability of contractions (which, according to Scalia, are “intellectually abominable, but commercially reasonable”)—they were able to withstand an exacting collaboration that produced 216 drafts before finalizing their second book, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts. While their partnership has begun to shine a light on the issue, Garner is well aware that it'll be an uphill battle to raise the, er, bar when it comes to legal writing. “Word for word," he said, "lawyers are the most highly paid professional writers in the world. But the literary tradition in the profession is probably the worst."

Around the Word

Freelancing, Contently. We all know the freelancing paradigm is shifting in a big way, leaving the field wide open for evolution, and our friends over at Contently are trying their hand at building a new model. Contently has positioned itself as an all-digital "project management platform" that provides a place for freelancers to brand and market their services, facilitates client-writer relationships, and provides easy access for clients to post projects, audition writers, and provide input. One of the features that separates Contently from the myriad other freelancing sites is the quality of its writers, who are required to apply and submit to a rigorous vetting process in order to get on the roster. Another great feature is Contently's blog "The Freelance Strategist"—which, in case you missed it, recently posted an article featuring thoughts from GG's fearless leader Dan Gerstein.

Editor and Writer: The Special Relationship. The writing process can be highly personal, and the ideal relationship between editor and writer is like a sacred bond. Last week's New Yorker featured an illuminating piece by John McPhee, which gave a glimpse into his relationships with the the three very different personalities that shape the magazine during his tenure: William Shawn, Robert Gottlieb, and Roger W. Straus. McPhee describes Gotlleib's ability to digest entire manuscripts in a single sitting and steadfast unwillingness to allow the f-word to grace the magazine's pages, Shawn's careful deliberation and insistence that "the subject shall not be the title," and Straus' effusive commentary and loyalty as a publisher who kept authors' works in print.


Food Puns Gone Stale. Here's a cautionary tale about the fine line between pun use and abuse. Someone in Mayor Bloomberg's communications office is in hot water for a speech written for his appearance at the 2012 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hotdog Eating Contest, which featured no less than a dozen hotdog-related puns. One cringe-worthy example: "This is one of my favorite traditions; I relish it so much." The mayor had a hard time, er, digesting the remarks, and in classic Bloomberg fashion asked an aide "Who writes this sh-t?" Remember, "too much of a good thing" not only applies to our favorite foods, but to puns about them as well.

Farewell to Arms: 39 Flavors (And Then Some). One of the greatest legends in literary lore is that of the myriad alternate endings to Hemingway's classic Farewell to Arms, which the author rewrote "thirty-nine times before I was satisfied.” It turns out that there are actually forty-seven endings, which have been locked away—until now. A recent agreement between Hemingway's estate and Scribner has paved the way for the publisher to release a new edition of the beloved novel that includes all the alternate endings as well as early drafts of the work. One of the most notable alternates, excerpted in the Times, is "No. 34, the 'Fitzgerald ending,' suggested by Hemingway’s friend F. Scott Fitzgerald. Hemingway wrote that the world 'breaks everyone,' and those 'it does not break it kills.'"

Around the Word

Ready, Set, Read. Only have five minutes while you wait for the next train to come? Ten minutes as you wait for your significant other to finish getting ready? A trio of Dutch publishers have released the Delay App, which lets readers enter how much time they have and then spits out a selection of stories and novel excerpts that can be read in said timeframe. The selections are a mix between classic and modern, and the app has become extremely popular, introducing readers to a variety of writing they might not have seen otherwise.

To My Speechwriter, With Love. Over at Vital Speeches of the Day, David Murray has a moving piece about JFK's speechwriter Ted Sorenson, and the incredibly strong bond he had with the president. The same love is being shown for “Chelsea punk” turned political speechwriter Joe Resnek, who went from stealing candy to writing speeches for White House chiefs of staff, thanks to his dedication and headstrong attitude. He’s even become a regular at the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue basketball court.

The eBible. Starting July 16, the Hotel Indigo in Newcastle, England, will replace all 148 nightstand copies of the Bible with a Kindle—one that has the good book already downloaded. Any other religious book can be downloaded on the house, but commercial novels will be charged to the guest’s bill. You’ll have to read fast, because the books you download will stay with the Kindle when you check out.

A Desk With a View. Janet Groth, who worked as a receptionist on the eighteenth floor of The New Yorker for twenty-one years, has published a memoir: The Receptionist: An Education at The New Yorker. The tell-all details all her years spent with a bird’s-eye view of the office, a few sordid affairs with some of the magazine’s contributors, and why she never made the jump from secretary to writer. Although at times she certainly felt mistreated, the perks definitely made up for it. As Groth says, “It is not clear to me who was exploiting whom.”