Miscellaneous Items

Ohmygosh! Did anyone see this? It's an adaptation of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books. I don't have cable, so someone please tell me if it was any good. It's amazing what protests from readers and writers can do. The Treasury Department has changed its regulations

In September 2004, publishing trade groups and authors' organizations filed suit in federal court to strike down regulations of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control that effectively bar U.S. publishers from publishing books and journal articles originating in countries such as Iran, Cuba and Sudan that are subject to U.S. trade embargoes. Their effort was joined by Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian author and human rights activist, in late October. In response to the suit, OFAC issued new regulations today which explicitly permit Americans to engage in "all transactions necessary and ordinarily incident to the publishing and marketing of manuscripts, books, journals, and newspapers in paper or electronic format." This includes substantive editing and marketing of written materials, collaborations between authors, and the payment of advances and royalties.

Free speech rocks! The Daughters of Freya, an e-pistolary mystery novel you can receive a part of each day in your email box. A clever idea, and it is apparently doing quite well. (Link from Bookninja)