Norway Pays Authors $19,000 Per Year

This is from MediaBistro.com:

Norway buys 1000 copies of every book a Norwegian author publishes. It provides a $19,000 annual subsidy to every author who is a member of the Authors’ Union. The Association of Bookstores is allowed to have a monopoly on the sale of books—but is prohibited by law from engaging in price competition. It requires, by law, that bookstores keep books in stock for two years regardless of sales. And it exempts books from its very steep sales tax. Not surprisingly, Griswold finds, “Norwegians everywhere read, and they read a lot; Norway has one of the world’s highest reading rates.”

I tried to confirm those figures at the Authors' Union website but, unsurprisingly, the text is in Norwegian. The quotation comes from Regionalism and the Reading Class, a book on sociology by Wendy Griswold.

Wouldn't that be nice? $19,000 a year may not be enough to live on, but it would certainly help! It only applies to those living in Norway, but, still, I can't help but wonder what the entrance requirements are for joining the Authors' Union!

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Photo credit: Photo by Mahlum, altered by Karen Woodward

Amazon To Acquire Dorchester Publishing

Amazon's planned acquisition of Dorchester Publishing is fantastic news for those writers who had books with the troubled company. It's not a done deal yet, though. The auction won't take place until August, but it seems a forgone conclusion that Amazon will be successful in their bid.

Amazon says that any contracts not picked up will be terminated and all rights will revert to the author. Here's how Publisher's Weekly put it:

Moving forward, Dorchester authors will, Amazon said, be offered the choice about how they want their titles published. An Amazon spokesperson explained: "We want all authors to be happy being a part of the Amazon Publishing family going forward and we have structured our bid so that we will only take on authors who want to join us. As part of this philosophy, if we win the bid, Dorchester has committed to revert all titles that are not assigned to us."

Read the rest here: Amazon Bids on Dorchester Assets.

If you'd like to read more about Amazon's planned acquisition of Dorchester Publishing, here are a few articles you might be interested in:

- Amazon Plans to Acquire the Assets of Dorchester Publishing (GalleyCat)
- Amazon Bids on Dorchester Assets (Publishers Weekly)
- Amazon to Acquire Dorchester (Unless You Are Ready To Outbid Them) (Digital Book World) Digital Book World also includes a copy of the full press release.

Cheers!

Ann Voss Peterson, Long time Harlequin Author, Goes Indie

Ann Voss Peterson has been writing for Harlequin since 2000 but doesn't have enough money for her son's braces. Joe writes that, in paper sales, Ann has outsold him at least 5 to 1 but that he earns triple what she does.

Granted, Harlequin gave Ann, and many other authors, their break into the industry -- and she thanks them -- but if the company isn't going to give her a decent contract (20% ebook royalties on net but with "net" undefined) then they're practically pushing her, and other authors in the same boat, out their doors.

To announce her departure Ann is offering her new book, Pushed Too Far, free for the next few days. Get it on Amazon here: Ann Voss Peterson, Pushed Too Far.

Read Ann's guest post on Joe Konrath's blog, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing, here.

Go Ann!