Digital Preservation: Safeguarding the Future of Literature in the Digital Age

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy

If we are all at war with time, digitally published literary works are on the same battlefield. In the constantly developing sphere of digital literature, the need for effective preservation tactics has become paramount. While the transition to digital forms have revolutionized the ways in which we access and read literary works it does not come without some distressing challenges.

File Format Migration: Navigating the Challenges

One of the chief challenges met by e-book publishing platforms is the risk of outdated file formats becoming obsolete over time. As technology advances (time and time again), file formats evolve, potentially rendering older formats incompatible with modern devices and software. One real-world example of this occurring is the transition from the physical media, floppy disks, to CDs and DVDs. Content that may be stored on older media also becomes inaccessible as new devices phase out support for those older media’s formats. Likewise, e-books transitioned from “.lit” which was introduced to the Digital Publishing Sphere by Microsoft Reader to more widely adopted formats like “.epub” and “.mobi”.

Solution:

To address this challenge, forward-thinking e-book platforms adopt a proactive file format migration strategy. A classic approach involves sporadically updating the digital library to align with the most recent updates and standards. This ongoing effort not only ensures the accessibility of literary works across various platforms but also prevents the loss of content due to format obsolescence.

There have been several platforms to embrace this approach. It would be in the best interest of any e-book author to acknowledge the importance of staying ahead of the curve in the fast-paced digital landscape. A reasonable plan would include assessing digital library’s file formats, identifying files at risk of obsolescence, and implementing conversions to current standards when necessary.

Libraries and Institutions: Guardians of Digital Literary Heritage

Libraries like Library of Congress and Internet Archive alongside an organization called Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) are among those platforms that part in the essential role of preserving digital literature.

The Library of Congress actively contributes to digital preservation initiatives by including archiving websites, electronic journals, and e-books. The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library that aims to provide “Universal Access to All Knowledge.” It has been archiving the web, digital books, and other digital content for decades, making it a valuable resource for preserving digital literature.

DPC is an international organization that brings together various institutions and agencies with a shared interest in preserving digital content. It provides resources, guidance, and collaborative opportunities for digital preservation efforts.

Harvard Library’s Format Migration Initiative:

Harvard Library who boasts a 20-year history of preservation stands as a prominent case of an institution dynamically betrothed in confronting the challenges of file format migration. Their Format Migration Initiative aims to ensure the long-term accessibility of digital content within their collections. By proactively and effectively managing format transitions, Harvard Library enhances the sustainability of their digital assets which in turn benefits not only the researchers who take time to collect the data for reports etc., but also the scholars and the wider public.

Putting it All Together:

By understanding and addressing challenges such as file format migration, the digital publishing community, libraries, and institutions can collectively contribute to safeguarding our literary heritage for future generations. Adopting proactive strategies ensures that the timeless words of authors past and present continue to resound in the digital realm for years to come. The lack of standardized preservation practices for digital archiving poses challenges. Without a proactive approach, the risk of information loss increases.

Digital Publishing for the Youth

Many schools have implemented the use of a digital publishing platform to expose students to the online publishing world while also giving them an outlet to express themselves and refine their writing skills. Colleges and high schools have encouraged students to post on these online platforms. But as a student, how do you edit these works? What are the steps in creating an article for online publishing? How do you get started?

This article will discuss tactics and tips on editing, writing, and properly publishing work on a digital publishing platform for your school or university.

What do I write about?

This question seems to be at the forefront of every student’s mind when given the task of writing an article online. It might sound simple, but choosing your topic is the most important step. Finding material that you enjoy and that hasn’t been overdone can be the most difficult part of writing a digital article. More specifically, when publishing online, there are so many other articles and people writing alongside you, so choosing an original idea can feel almost impossible.

The goal isn’t to find a brand new idea but to find an entirely new perspective. Think of something you enjoy then find an aspect about it that you find interesting.

Time to build credibility: research.

Research is the foundation of any credible written work online. It’s one thing to say you know something, but digital publishing requires you to directly link your sources to your work. When you find all your sources, you will have to URL link them to the phrase or word you are citing from them. This seems difficult, but it provides your reader with direct links to your thoughts and trusted information.

This being said, be sure to not quote non-credible resources. This could include Wikipedia, WikiHow, and any other website that allows users to edit and add information that is not reviewed. Finding research will likely take you the longest amount of time when writing an article if done correctly, but don’t let this discourage you. It will be worth it in the end.

What about the title and format?

It’s the moment you have been waiting for. You have all your research ready and have picked a solid and interesting topic. It’s then you realize that you don’t have a title or any idea how to format your writing. The first thing to remember is that it is better to write your title once your article is complete. This will ensure the title fully matches what you have written.

The format can be a bit more tricky. It needs to be simple and easy to follow. So your font should be easy to read and at a size many won’t have to strain to read from a screen. You are going to want to break each section into subtopics to make it easier for the reader to follow along and skim the work. This also helps keep your thoughts and topics organized and structured. Each subtopic will have a mini-title. Be sure these titles have their own line, are short, and are bolded so they can easily be spotted.

When you eventually get to the title, be sure it is bold and larger than the subtitles. Each section of the article is meant to be easily digestible and to the point. Reframe from longer paragraphs and too many pictures, one or two max. With these steps, formatting will be a breeze.

It’s time to write!

So, you’ve been set you up with a topic, have done your research, and understand the format. It’s time for you to put all the prep work into action. It’s easiest to begin by engaging your audience with a scenario or by simply summarizing the topic at hand. It doesn’t need to be long and expressive. With online publishing, it’s better to get straight to the core of what you are discussing.

The most basic and arguably the most important step with writing online is making sure your grammar and spelling are checked. Readers are going to find you less trustworthy if you display a lack of knowledge of basic literacy. So be sure to check your work with a teacher, student, or an online tester.

You’ve got this!

It’s time to begin! Write with confidence, interest, and credibility. These steps will help you on your journey of successfully publishing on your school or university’s online forum and beyond. Starting is the hardest part, but with this article’s help, it might start being the easiest.

Digital Publishing: Making Your Work More You

Digital publishing contains a broad field of topics, platforms, and, most of all, people. With the internet being more accessible than ever, the density of creators and writers makes it difficult for aspiring authors to be recognizable. Names, titles, and paragraphs tend to blur together which makes the path to a successful digital publishing career challenging.

It won’t be your name that needs to stand out or a fancy title but the writing itself. It needs to be clean, grasping, and sprinkled with hints of your personality. The only way to make people recognize you or prefer you over the millions of other writers is to get a firm grasp of how you can make what you write a part of who you are.

Trying to get a digital publisher and reader’s attention isn’t impossible. Here are some pointers, tricks, and tips on how to better your odds of publication and success.

Your name doesn’t matter.

This sounds harsh, but most readers won’t read your name until they are finished with the article. The same practice goes for hiring paid writers on digital forums. Typically during the hiring process, the hiring manager will black out names and go strictly off of what is written. With this in mind, you need to write everything digitally as if the reader will never know your name.

When writing, think about what will make you stand out. These things can range from humor to writing mechanics, or general personal style. Do you write more professionally or more to entertain? These are questions you need to consider before turning in a resume with a work attached. Since this is digital, these hiring agents will likely not see you in person until they offer an interview. So what can you do with your writing alone, with no name or face, that will make a publisher want to publish your works or a consumer enjoy you over others?

The opportunities to stand out are endless with your digital content. Try starting an article with a story or hook. It also never hurts to research the digital company and see the topics they are speaking about as of late. You could even write an article written in their format.

Try these practices the next time you apply or publish online. Your name is important but, without a face, it doesn’t hold weight in a digital space.

What do you like to write about?

A great way to build a following and be recognizable is to figure out what you are passionate about in writing. Do you want to publish digital books, write articles on history or art, or create and add to science journals? This is not to say you can’t love and write about many different interests, but rather find a category you feel you can add the most information and insight to.

Your name might not be the first thing they look at but after a few articles with your name on the same general subject, it will begin to stick. You will begin to be recognizable based on a personalized subject you enjoy. Take something you love and make it into the art you write. Embodying your individuality is what publishers are looking for. The trendiest things might get the most initial clicks, but if your personality isn’t in it, you’ll just be another article and writer of a million others.

Don’t just write about anything and everything others are focusing on. If you do find the topic interesting, find your own spin or idea that others haven’t thought of. Be original with your ideas and what you find interesting. A good rule of thumb: If you don’t like it, likely they won’t either.

Practice does really make perfect.

Being knowledgeable and skilled will make you stand out more than anything stated above. Grammar, style, and a flowing structure are detrimental in personalizing your work, and to perfect this, practice is needed.

Publishers likely receive hundreds of applications and fifty percent of what is sent is likely lacking in these departments. Be the star that shines through. It doesn’t just make you insanely more credible on the subject you are discussing, but it also shows professionalism and respect. Showing so much attention to these finer details shows the digital publisher you care about what you are writing. It shows you take this field of work seriously at a time when it is still growing its legs.

Digital publishers want people would care. Be the person who personalized their work in the most respectful way possible: with dignity.

You’ve Got This!

Breaking through in digital publishing isn’t an easy task. It takes a lot of time, effort, and heart to really personalize and stand out. The best thing to remember is to write what you love, sprinkle in bits of personality, and respect it enough to be credible. Through these principles, no one will be able to read it without thinking of you. Best of luck!

A Writer’s Beginning: Wattpad

Many young girls can relate to staying up late reading fanfiction on Wattpad. The stories ranged from boy bands to television shows or even original ideas. Countless account holders on this app were dedicated to the weekly upload schedule and never-ending stories, but what about the writers? Whatever happened to the more gifted of our middle school storytellers?

This article will explain where these authors are now and the success they found by beginning their careers on Wattpad. Silly stories written for fun have turned these writers into New York Times best-selling authors. There are so many benefits and opportunities for accomplishment with any starting point in the publishing world, even digital publishing through Wattpad. Here you will find how Wattpad promoted their careers.

What is Wattpad?

Wattpad is a reading service created by Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen in November 2006. It was launched to create a platform for young writers and readers alike to share their works of art with the world. According to Publishers Weekly, Wattpad hosts 45 million consumers monthly. Creators can post their own stories or reimagine popular television shows or movies in their own image. It wasn’t long before Wattpad had taken over the digital publishing space for young viewers.

How does Wattpad help young writers?

Since 2006, Wattpad has grown tremendously in the publishing space. Authors are now being paid commissions for their work on the app. TechCrunch.com explains that the platform has started a program that can pay writers 25,000 dollars for their work. Wattpad finally paying their creators is huge for aspiring authors. This commissioned payment could help them publish their works through companies and get their names out there more than ever before.

The new Creator Program isn’t the only way Wattpad allows its writers to make a steady income. Wattpad is now offering its creators payment through paid stories, brand partnerships, and potential book and movie deals. For an aspiring writer, this allows them to begin making their dreams come true. These writers will be able to reap the rewards for their hard work and dedication. It is certainly a great beginning stage for a student who needs feedback and practice.

Does it actually help authors get discovered?

So many of today’s best-selling authors started out of Wattpad. Anna Todd is one of the more notable authors who has risen from Wattpad fanfiction. She has been offered movie deals for her series After and has recently become a writing sensation across the globe. This movie brought in a box office of 69.5 million dollars. Mrs. Todd isn’t the only author to find success from Wattpad. Beth Reekles is the author of the New York Times bestseller “The Kissing Booth”. On Wattpad alone, Reekles’ story grossed 19 million readers.

The proof of Wattpad’s intention to bring success is found within these aspiring authors. Wattpad has helped people who didn’t even know they could be authors become some of the best. The success stories of Todd and Reekles are some of the more notable but far from all of them. Wattpad has shown that anyone can be a writer with the right support and talent.

How do I become a Wattpad author?

It sounds very simple but download the app. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there, but through practice and constructive criticism, anything is possible. For an author to be successful on Wattpad, they must have a relatively normal upload schedule and show consistency. Wattpad themselves advises writers to brush up on their writing and grammar skills to attract readers. Consumers are looking for something familiar from a writer but not predictable. Being a writer on any platform can be a struggle. Like any other publishing medium, an author needs to work hard and plan ahead.

Wattpad might be seen as a light-hearted writing forum for children. Over the past decade, it has built from that. Writers are getting movie and book publication deals. Those kids who wrote fanfiction are now multimillionaires following their dreams. Wattpad might not be where many saw themselves starting, but every author has to start somewhere.

Navigating the Storm: Digital Piracy and the Publishing Industry

In an era dominated by technology, the publishing industry has undergone a significant transformation with the advent of digital content. However, this transition has not been without its challenges, chief among them being the proliferating issue of digital piracy. From e-book sharing platforms to unauthorized downloads, the publishing industry faces a myriad of threats that jeopardize its economic sustainability and the livelihoods of authors. The multifaceted landscape of digital piracy requires an examination of its various forms and the impact it has on the publishing industry. Moreover, the exploration of the strategies employed by publishers and authors to combat piracy and safeguard their digital content.

Types of Digital Piracy

Interpol defines digital piracy as, “the illegal copying or distribution of copyrighted material via the Internet.” This action harmfully disturbs the creative productions, to include film, television, publishing, music, and some gaming. Explicitly, digital piracy within the publishing industry manifests in different forms, each posing unique challenges to content creators and distributors. One prevalent form is e-book sharing, where users upload and share digital copies of books on various online platforms. These platforms, often disguised as legitimate book-sharing communities, enable users to access copyrighted material without the legal and proper authorizations. Another form of piracy is the unauthorized distribution of digital copies through illegal download websites, where users can obtain books without compensating the authors or publishers. These illegal download sites often operate in the shadows of the internet, making it challenging for authorities to track and shut them down.

Impact on Digital Publishing

The impact of digital piracy on the publishing industry is widespread, affecting both reputable publishing houses and emerging authors. One of the primary consequences is the loss of revenue. As pirated copies circulate freely on the internet, potential buyers opt for the free versions, leading to a decline in legitimate sales. This loss of revenue not only affects the publishers but also has a direct impact on the livelihoods of authors who rely on book sales for their income. Additionally, digital piracy undermines the incentive for authors to produce high-quality content, as the lack of financial reward and stolen recognition diminishes the motivation to invest time and effort into producing compelling works.

Strategies to Combat Digital Piracy

Publishers and authors have recognized the urgent need to address digital piracy and have implemented various strategies to protect their intellectual property. One of the most common approaches is the use of digital rights management (DRM) technologies. The concept of DRM has historical roots in efforts to protect software, but its application expanded as digital media, such as music, movies, and e-books, became prevalent. In the context of digital media, the development of DRM systems gained momentum in the late 1990s and early 2000s. DRM involves embedding encryption into digital files, preventing unauthorized access and distribution. While DRM has been effective in some cases, it is not foolproof, and determined pirates often find ways to circumvent these protections. Moreover, DRM has faced criticism for potentially limiting the rights of legitimate users, as it can restrict their ability to share or transfer digital content across devices.

Another strategy is the enforcement of legal actions against piracy offenders. Publishers and authors have been increasingly proactive in pursuing legal recourse against those who engage in unauthorized distribution of their digital content. For instance, major publishing houses such as Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and others have, at times, joined forces to file lawsuits against websites or individuals distributing copyrighted eBooks without permission. These legal actions typically aim to shut down the infringing websites and seek damages for the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material. High-profile cases have resulted in the shutdown of major piracy websites, sending a strong message about the consequences of engaging in such activities. However, legal action comes with its challenges, including jurisdictional issues and the anonymity afforded by the vastness of the internet.

Collaboration and education are also integral components of the fight against digital piracy. Publishers and authors are actively engaging with technology companies, internet service providers, and law enforcement agencies to establish collaborative efforts to curb piracy. One notable example of collaboration and education initiatives aimed at preventing piracy is the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE). ACE is a global coalition of leading content creators and distributors that includes major film studios, television networks, and streaming services. The primary goal of ACE is to combat online piracy and protect the rights of its members’ intellectual property. Additionally, educating the public about the impact of piracy on the publishing industry and the livelihoods of authors can contribute to changing consumer behavior. Initiatives such as anti-piracy campaigns and public awareness programs aim to foster a sense of responsibility among users and encourage them to choose legal alternatives.

The Sum Total

Digital piracy poses a formidable challenge to the publishing industry, threatening the economic sustainability of publishers and the livelihoods of authors. The various forms of piracy, from e-book sharing to illegal downloads, require a multi-faceted approach to combat this pervasive issue. Publishers and authors are employing strategies such as DRM technologies, legal action, collaboration, and education to protect their digital content and mitigate the impact of piracy. As the publishing industry continues to evolve in the digital age, finding effective and ethical solutions to address digital piracy remains imperative for the continued growth and innovation of the industry. Through a combination of technological advancements, legal measures, and public awareness, the publishing industry can navigate the storm of digital piracy and secure a sustainable future for content creators and distributors alike.

From Fanfiction to Film: How Wattpad is Ushering in A New Age of Writing

Wattpad is an online community of authors and readers that hosts stories from typically unpublished authors. The site is unique in combining social media and a reading platform, which allows readers to interact with the books and the author. Wattpad was founded in 2006 by Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen as an e-reading platform where “readers could download an app to read and chat about fiction shared by professional and aspiring writers from around the world.” According to Lau, being mobile was the top priority. This mobility allowed for interaction on the site to skyrocket. Wattpad appeals to up-and-coming writers who wanted to distribute their work without going through a publishing process.

Writers typically release the book a chapter at a time and readers can make in-line comments on stories, allowing the writer to adjust the book to the reader’s preferences. Wattpad readers are primarily young people who were drawn to the appeal of free books written by their peers instead of older, more established authors. Many of these young authors became success stories through the constructive criticism and praise they received from their fans.

Anna Todd and Happily Ever After

Wattpad has been a powerhouse for undiscovered authors in the past few years. Anna Todd’s After began as a Harry Styles fanfiction in 2013. Written under the name @imaginator1D, After became an almost overnight success, with the fanbase reaching the hundreds of thousands. Todd wrote the majority of After on her phone, with no outlining or proofreading before she uploaded the chapter to Wattpad. While some may dislike the lack of outline, Todd and her fans equally enjoyed the “social writing” model. Todd would listen to her fans’ feedback and adjust the story to their preferences in real time. Not only did Todd’s fanbase grow, but the relationship between the fan and the author grew as well. Readers felt like they had a say in the story, which increased their loyalty to the author, as well as their willingness to offer financial support.

With the help of Wattpad, Anna Todd received a book deal with Simon and Schuster in 2014, just one year after she published her first chapter on Wattpad. After was also granted a movie in 2019, with three sequels to follow. Todd’s story is a testament to the power that her fans and Wattpad hold. The first movie currently holds an 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, though fans give it a significantly better rating of 66%.

Wattpad to Movie Pipeline

Though Todd’s story is one of the most notable, it is far from the only success story that has come from Wattpad. At seventeen, Beth Reekles became the youngest Wattpad writer to score a book deal for her story, The Kissing Booth. Reekle later went on to earn a movie deal with Netflix, though that movie also did poorly on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the abysmal critic reviews, The Kissing Booth garnered immense fan support. According to Sara Perez, this disconnect is due to the “built in audience” of Wattpad users.

Readers don’t just read and watch these stories, they create them. Wattpad utilizes the fan base when adapting stories for film. In an article for Quartz, Adam Epstein discusses Wattpad’s story-to-film process. The fans are integral to the adaptation process, with some “superfans” gaining access to the script to provide feedback before the film hits the box office. This process seems to work well. Epstein writes,

Most books come with a built-in audience, but this one comes with a built-in audience that’s also invested in the development process itself. It not only makes them more inclined to watch the show when it comes out, but leads them to become evangelists for the project on social media, which helps build buzz.
Adam Epstein, Quartz

Wattpad is unique in that its user base not only reads and shapes the stories on its platform, but also the way the stories transition off the platform.

Story DNA

According to Aron Levitz, the fans’ engagement is part of the “microtrend,” which allows Wattpad to know what will sell based on the size of the fanbase and reader engagement. Macrotrends are made possible by Story DNA. Story DNA is Wattpad’s deep-learning AI technology, which, according to Ashleigh Gardener, “deconstructs stories into their elemental features, such as sentence structure, word use, and grammar,” This gives Wattpad further insight into what makes a story popular outside of comments, likes, and shares. As a result, up-and-coming stories are given a greater chance at being discovered and transitioning off of Wattpad. The development of this technology is leading to a future of reading that is not just consumed by the reader but also formed by them.

Wattpad is unique in the fact that it is constantly reinventing itself to the benefit of its writers and readers. Wattpad has adapted from merely presenting stories to publishing them and promoting them outside of the digital platform. Wattpad not only publishes for fans but with the fans. The future of reading is driven by the reader, not the author or publisher.

AI Writing, Self-Publishing, and the Culture of Instant Gratification

The digital age has ushered in a culture of instant gratification, where people expect to get what they want when they want it. This is especially true with the advent of AI writing and self-publication tools that make it easier than ever for anyone to become an author or content creator almost overnight. But while these new technologies have made creating and sharing content faster, there are some potential drawbacks as well.

The traditional process of publication is a lengthy one. The process from submission to publication can take an average of nine to eighteen months, or even upwards of two years. This time excludes the writing and editing process, which, depending on the book, can add months or years. In the age of instant everything, that is simply unacceptable.

Enter Self-Publication

Self-publication has gone through many evolutions in the digital age, with each iteration becoming more accessible to the public. Desktop Publishing, was introduced in the 1970’s with the adoption of word processing software. Though this form of self-publication was easily accessible by the masses, it was still costly. “Print on demand” revolutionized the self-publishing world. Publishers were no longer responsible for mass printing costs, inventory, and distribution, which further opened the world of self-publication to the public. The blog era allowed authors to reach the masses and publish their works via PDF, with even Stephen King joining in.

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing was introduced in 2007 to “democratize” the publishing industry. Amazon made it easier than ever to self-publish a book and offered authors 70% of royalties and has since grown to offer more incentives and opportunities to authors. In 2011, authors who gave full digital rights to Kindle were offered KDP Select. KDP Select members exclusively received a higher percentage of royalties and promotional tools. Amazon expanded KDP again in 2016 to include print publishing and has added options for hardcover and lower-cost color printing in the following years. Amazon adapted to the bite-sized market and introduced Kindle Vella in 2021, allowing authors to publish “serial” style stories.

Self-publication and all of its advancements have reduced publishing time from a year and a half to fiv e minutes. It makes sense that the writing process is next on the proverbial chopping block.

Instant Gratification and Independent Authors

In the age of instant gratification, authors are racing against the clock to produce content before readers move on to another writer. Jennifer Lepp, a self-published “cozy paranormal mystery” writer, gets about four months to produce a new work. That deadline is doable, barring any creative setbacks. When those setbacks do happen, it could be catastrophic for reader engagement. Enter AI, specifically Sudowrite in Lepp’s case. Sudowrite is an AI writing tool specifically geared to creative writers. Before we ask if we should use AI, we should understand what it is.

AI Writing

AI has gained increasing notoriety in the past few years by tackling everything from editing and proof-reading to content creation in a few minutes. Most AI geared towards writing has been trained with GPT-3, a program specializing in text completion. This AI program can “understand and generate natural language.” Proofreading, editing, and even writing can be given to most AI software with relative ease. In fact, the introduction paragraph to this article was written by Jasper, an AI program commonly used for text generation. AI is incredibly useful in writing shorter bits of text and it saves writers a ton of time, which is necessary in today’s fast-paced world that demands new content at all times.

The ethical question of AI writing

Just because something is useful does not mean it should be used. The ethical dilemma of AI writing is one that has hounded its users since its inception. In an interview with The Verge, Jennifer Lepp expanded on the ethical dilemma of using AI tools that the writing community is facing. Questions concerning authenticity and intellectual ownership are at the forefront of these debates.

Many authors fear that their work will no longer be original if they allow an AI to write for them. The Author’s Guild argues that human art and literature is advanced by individual experiences, and that AI works will stagnate without human input. AI learns from other people’s work on the internet and compiles that knowledge to generate new work. It could be argued that the writing is plagiarized because it is informed by other author’s works without giving them credit; however, every piece of media informs and is informed by other pieces of media. True originality is not possible, especially in a society that is so digitally connected.

Another concern with AI writing is ownership of the piece. Should the AI program be listed as the author? According to US copywrite laws, no, and others agree. The Alliance of Independent Authors added a new clause to their code of standards regarding AI. The code calls for the author to edit the generated text and ensure that it is not “discriminatory, libellous, an infringement of copyright or otherwise illegal or illicit.” The responsibility of legal compliancy falls on the author, not the AI.

Some writers fear that the AI will take over their writing. In a Plagiarism Today article, Jonathan Bailey goes as far as to say that writers are completely powerless when using an AI. Jennifer Lepp certainly experienced this power imbalance in her writing. She would give Sudowrite an outline, press expand, and keep feeding the algorithm until it spat out a finished product. This process led to a disconnect between herself and the stories she was creating. Now, Lepp offloads certain details to the AI, like the description for a hospital lobby. With her current system, she is still seeing an uptick in productivity while still being much more connected to her work.

The integration of AI is unavoidable if self-published authors are going to keep up with the demand of readers steeped in a culture of instant gratification. Though there should be self-imposed limits to the use of AI, authors should not avoid using it entirely. It is the responsibility of the author to inject the humanity into the writing.

The Reality of Royalties

Royalty Fees and Writers

As an aspiring writer in the world of digital publishing, you may be wondering how royalty fees relate to your livelihood. Simple: royalties are how you get paid. According to The Bindery article “Royalties: How Do Publishers Pay Authors (Links to an external site.),” there are different types of royalties, the primary type being royalties known as a “list royalty” or a “retail royalty.”

Most publishers in general categories, especially New York publishers, pay authors royalties as a percentage of the retail price of the book, which is an example of list and retail royalties. However, there are many publishers who pay authors “royalties on net sales,” which means that they pay authors their royalty percentage after the discounts the publishers give to retail stores are figured in.

Side note: publishers sell books to bookstores for a range of discounts, sometimes up to half off the cover price or more.

What is a “Royalty”?

A royalty is defined by Investopedia as (Links to an external site.) “a legally-binding payment made to an individual, for the ongoing use of his or her originally-created assets, including copyrighted works, franchises, and natural resources.”

Royalties are written into contracts for musicians, artists, writers, and any other creator whose work is used by another source as a way of compensating the artist for their work.

Royalty payments comprise “a percentage of the gross or net revenues obtained from using the owner’s property.” In order to decide on these payments, a third party and a creator will lay out a “license agreement,” along with the limitations of the royalty, “such as its geographic limitations, the duration of the agreement, and the type of products with particular royalty cuts.”

According to The Balance Small Business (Links to an external site.),

There are a number of ways that franchisors establish what their ongoing royalty fee will be. The most common is a percentage of the Gross Sales that the franchisee earns. Typically this ranges from between five and nine percent. So, essentially, the franchisee is taking in 91-95% of their gross sales with the rest going to the franchisor.

This means that royalty fees are completely up to the franchisor’s discretion, depending on how high or low they wish to make it (although, typically, it’s less than 10%). To summarize, whenever a creator’s work is being used by the franchisors, like a song playing in the background of a commercial, the creator will be paid a set percentage of the income the franchisor makes from said advertisement (decided upon in a license agreement).

The payment of a royalty comes in the form of a “royalty check” – a check a creator gets for the use of their work. As RSG Media (Links to an external site.) states,

When you write a book, royalty check is the royalties earned from sale of every copy. When you compose a song, royalty is when someone performs it professionally or purchases your CD. You can also earn royalty from your land or property, if someone purchases your mineral rights. The amount of gas or oil produced will provide you a royalty. You can earn royalty checks annually, half-yearly or quarterly, depending upon the royalty agreement.

Royalty vs. License

Here’s where the importance of reading your contract comes into play as some confusion can occur concerning the difference between royalties and licenses. A license is defined by RSG Media (Links to an external site.) as “an agreement between two parties for using someone’s property without paying any money for it.” Whereas a royalty insinuates a payment for the use of the creator’s work, a license allows the third party to use the work without having to actually pay anything for it.

Licenses have what’s known as a licensing fee, which is “an amount of money paid by an individual or business to the licensor, which is mostly government, for enjoying the privilege of being licensed to use someone else property” for a set period of time.

The Licensor receives a perpetual/time bound payment as a percentage of sales in regards for using the intellectual property. You can take for example – an earning from copyright, patent on new products, and consumer product licensing more.
Royalties and licenses are members of same family; these terms are just two faces of same coin.

Know Your Contract

With any kind of contract, there is room for suspicious activity. When one party ignores the contract and goes outside the bounds of the licensing agreement, it’s up to the other party to decide whether to stay with the agreement and risk another breach of contract or terminate the license agreement altogether.

One such case involving a breach of a license agreement involves a toy creator and a line of baby toys. According to Markowitz Herbold PC (Links to an external site.),

A toy inventor sold his entire line of baby toy products to a large toy company in exchange for royalties on the future sales of his products. The royalty agreement, which spanned many years, contained separate royalty rates for different categories of toys, including a rate for toys that had already been commercialized by the inventor (“original toys”), and another rate for toys that were “derived from” these original toys.

Though the company paid royalty fees for the sales of a multitude of toys, the toy maker stated that it “misclassified toys” to keep from paying more fees. The toy maker then had to decide whether to sue for the previous grievances or terminate the contract entirely and try to get payment for the remainder of the agreement.

In the end, the toy maker ended the license agreement and “sued to recover the future royalties that he would have earned under the royalty agreement if the toy company had not breached the agreement.”

It is always important to understand the terms of ending a licensing agreement.

If the terminating party revokes the licensee’s right to use its intellectual property, the licensee may have to pull products off shelves. If the licensor’s initial termination was not justified, the licensor may be held responsible for the licensee’s damages. In the inventor’s case, the toy company counter-sued for breach of contract, in part based on what it claimed was the inventor’s improper termination of the contract.

The result of early termination is usually laid out in the license agreement as a “royalty agreement’s termination provision standards.”

As a new writer, it can be intimidating trying to understand contracts saturated in unfamiliar legal jargon, especially when your focus is sharing your work with the world. However, understanding the contract is of the highest importance when making sure you are getting your full rights as a creator.

The biggest lesson a writer can gain from this article is to find a good editor/manager to help and ALWAYS READ YOUR CONTRACT. Then, maybe you can one day watch Jon Snow quote your poem in a car commercial or hear your song playing in the aisles of Target as you buy caramel popcorn.

With a proper understanding of your contract and the ability to write something worth selling, the world is at your fingertips and the royalties will be in your pocket.

The Digital Rights Tragedy of Microsoft’s E-Book Market

Microsoft’s discontinuation of their e-bookstore means that consumers will no longer be able to access and view Microsoft’s e-books. Customers who purchased the right to view the e-books within the past two years from the company are now unable to read them.

Microsoft updated their Edge browser to support e-book consumption in March of 2017 and began to sell e-books through the Windows 10 Storeapp. Microsoft then ceased selling e-books in April of 2019, resulting in the revocation of each consumer’s purchased right to view the e-books.

Consequently, buyers have been robbed of the transaction experience: I give you money and you provide me with the product.

Microsoft has shattered the trust given by consumers in a supposedly fair transaction. The e-books are simply gone with the wind “because company executives have decided it’s no longer worth keeping the store running.”

Companies are setting a precedent of making their products obsolete. Dave Lee writes about how there is no concrete equivalent that mimics the loss of ownership that is possible because of Digital Rights Management; physical bookstores are unable to take a customer’s material, purchased books away from them.

Digital Rights Management and Microsoft

DRM (digital rights management) is a systematic attempt to prevent the piracy of e-books. Microsoft utilized DRM and then had the issue of revoking every consumer’s right to view Microsoft’s e-books. Cory Doctorow writes that “this puts the difference between DRM-locked media and unencumbered media into sharp contrast.” Doctorow still owns e-books and MP3’s from organizations that are long gone, but Microsoft is forced to reimburse consumers because the company’s e-books cannot be viewed outside of Microsoft Edge.

Similarly, Josh Axelrod and Lulu Garcia-Navarro write about how cars and various smart home appliances are under DRM-lock as well. The permanence of cars, much like Microsoft’s e-books, are no longer guaranteed. If Tesla were to go under, a smart car can lose everything that makes it a Tesla. People paid for the car but not the ownership of the software.

Microsoft’s Downfall

A major issue for Microsoft was the lack of users for their Edge browser. Ed Bott states that “in the first three months of 2018, Microsoft Edge accounted for a paltry 8 percent of the 1.2 billion visits to government websites from consumer and business PCs and Macs.”

The minimal impact of Edge users combined with a system that was not built for convenience was too much for Microsoft.

In contrast, Amazon’s Kindle exemplifies e-book convenience. Amazon provides an inexhaustible source of e-books along with a portable device for reading them, and a free Kindle app which may be used when not connected to the internet.

For the few people using Edge the medium was ill-fitted for e-book consumption. Edge requires that the consumers view the e-book through the browser rather than allowing users to download the book. Having to view the e-book through Edge limits many users to only being able to view the e-book on a PC. Further, this exclusivity did not allow for e-book compatibility with Apple devices.

While exclusive compatibility is not without precedent, Microsoft lacked the fan-base that allowed for the complete alienation of competitor’s operating systems.

Further, Microsoft Edge users must be connected to the internet to view the e-books. Connectivity issues, lack of compatibility, and the requirement that the e-book be viewed in-browser stifle the appeal of Microsoft’s e-books.

What Microsoft Has to Say

Microsoft has not given many statements about why they are ceasing the sale of e-books. The first mention came in June when they posted on their website about the closure of their e-book store and eventual refunds for customers.

The FAQ mentions giving an additional $25 credit to individuals who annotated in their e-book. Microsoft is essentially paying for the consumer’s intellectual property which will be lost along with the rights to view the e-books.

The consumer reimbursements and Edge’s lack of traffic imply that Microsoft did not have many e-book sales in the first place.

Microsoft also recently indicated that e-books are not their focus, but rather that their app store is their priority when Microsoft stated that the company is “streamlining [its] focus’ on the store.”

The Future for Microsoft in E-Books

Microsoft’s foray into e-book sales utilizing Edge was not their first attempt at entering the market and it will likely not be their last. Microsoft invested $300 million in Barnes and Noble to create a separate Nook Media company in 2011, but this venture was terminated in 2014.

David Grossman writes that “MS Reader tried to sell books for LCD screens” in 2011. However, this project fell through in the same year due to a lack of usage and routine updates.

Whether or not Microsoft has given up on e-books, the company’s blunder has made evident the possibility for massive loss of content for consumers when dealing with DRM-locked content. Consumer trust will be difficult for Microsoft to earn back if they decide to wrestle with e-book sales again.

Whatever the future holds, hopefully Microsoft has learned from their past mistakes to avoid any future losses of this caliber in the e-book game.

Publishing and Licensing Through Creative Commons

Publishing through Creative Commons is a quick, free, and easy way to license your online content. This guide will explain how to license your material through Creative Commons and offer a brief explanation of what the different options mean for your work.

Navigating the Website and Finding the Licensing Section

The First step to licensing your material under Creative Commons is to navigate to the ‘Share your work’ page. You may find this link on the home page of the Creative Commons website.

Once you have navigated to the ‘Share your work page,’ the website will present you with two sections. The first section is to choose a license. The second section expresses that you may share your work on a platform that allows Creative Commons licenses.

If you plan on licensing through Creative Commons and sharing your content on a platform, please refer to the desired platform’s help resources to better understand their individual process and stipulations. Platforms that allow their users to publish under a Creative Commons license include, but are not limited to, YouTube and Flickr.

Choosing and Using a License

After navigating to the ‘Share your work’ page, click on the ‘get started’ button under ‘choose a license.’ This page will then prompt you with two questions and an optional ‘help others attribute you’ section. Once you have answered each question, the website will give you a copy-paste link to add to your work.

The first question deals with whether you want your work to be modifiable and to have such adaptations shared. It is important to note that no matter which option you choose, people who use your work must attribute you as the person whose work they have modified.

If you select ‘no,’ then people may use your work in any manner they want, but they may not distribute their own works based on your content. If you want your original content to be unmodified and ascribed to only you, but don’t mind people distributing, sharing, and performing your work at will, then select ‘no.’

If you select ‘yes, as long as other’s share alike,’ then others may use your work, modify it, and distribute it; however, they must also license their creation under a ‘share alike’ license. If you believe that all content should be shared freely at all times and want any derivatives of your work to be licensed under a similar consideration, then select, ‘yes, as long as other’s share alike.’

If you select ‘yes,’ this is different from the previous option in one significant way. They may take your work, modify it, and distribute it without also licensing under a ‘share alike’ clause. If you believe that all content should be shared and used freely to the extent that others may take your work and not place it under a share alike license, then select ‘yes.’ This does not mean people may use your work, and its derivatives, for commercial uses. The second question concerns commercial use.

The second question deals with whether you want to allow people to use your content, and derivatives of it, for commercial use.

If you select yes, then people may use your work for commercial use. If you select no, then people may share, use, or distribute your work according to your selection from question 1 but may not use it for commercial use.

After answering these two questions, and before filling out the optional third field, you will now be presented with the license that suits your needs. The website will also present you with a link that will explain, in detail, the license it has given you.

The third section, ‘help others attribute you,’ has 7 fields for you to fill out. This section helps modify the license it presents you with to include machine readable metadata for your content. This will not only help others attribute your work, but also assists others in finding your work.

While you may fill out as many, or as few fields as possible, the ‘license mark’ section is necessary for how you want your work to be published.

For example, if your content is published on a web-page, such as a blog, then you will need to select ‘HTML + RDFa. This option will give you code, presented in the final section, which you will then copy and paste into your web-page’s structure. This will then present the viewer with your license at the bottom of the page as well as include machine-readable metadata in your web-page as well.

However, if your content is meant to be distributed offline then you will want to select ‘offline.’ This presents you with a line of text that states what license the work is under along with the URL to the details about that particular license. This allows the document to be distributed under the license without the use of the internet; for example, a word document you print out or e-mail to a friend. To include this license, just copy and paste the text into your document as-is.

The final option is ‘XMP.’ This option gives you a downloadable version of the license to include in your compatible files.

Once you have included the code, the text, or the xmp in your content, your work is now under your selected Creative Commons license. It is important to note that your work is immediately licensed once you include that text, code, or xmp.

This means that anyone who obtains that content with that license attached to it now has that content, under that particular license, for as long as it is valid. You may remove the license from your work and distribute the content without the license whenever you want. However, anyone that has obtained your content with that license, still has the rights to it as specified under the license they obtained it under.

If you have any other questions and concerns, the Creative Common’s website has an extensive Frequently Asked Questions web page that will prove helpful.