The original of Laura was long unread, since Vladimir Nabokov stated as a dying wish that his unfinished novella should not be published. After a change of heart, though, his son Dmitri contacted literary agent Wylie to find a suitable purchaser.

Loyd decided to emphasise the long-standing association of Playboy with Nabokov by way of the orchids that appeared in Ada. After Wylie received a notice of no interest from The New Yorker, a publication that also had a strong association with Nabokov in days gone by, he offered the option of first serial to Loyd; “I’m so glad all those orchids did not die in vain. I don’t imagine anybody’s taking good care of them over there.”

When asked for comment on the situation, Anderson replied that the outcome was unintentional. While both he and his publisher, Hyperion, say that sources were originally credited in footnotes, it seems that when deciding against using that structure in the book and changing it to an in-line crediting lay-out, neither Anderson nor his publishers found a way to satisfy Wikipedia’s crediting policy and unintentionally omitted the references altogether.

When reading Creative Commons’s explanation of Wikipedia’s Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence, it states that it will allow others to “remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms”. The terms Wikipedia has set for the use of its article are attribution, sharing alike, if need be indication that the original work has been modified and release under identical license of the original work accompanied by a notice of such license.

This last one of course could find Anderson and his publishers in a quandary. If part of the book is adapted from material under a CC-BY-SA license, the parts or whole that contain that passage will also need to be published under the same license. If I understand the licensing agreement correctly, Anderson would be permitted to commercialise his writing, however, he would still have to publish his work under a Share-Alike license. And I doubt that he would want that. The publishers have indicated that the book will be re-edited to include all appropriate attributions, but even so, Anderson should have paraphrased the original sources or in lieu of that used quotes and block quotes. The issue whether or not Anderson committed plagiarism is difficult, but at least he practices what he preaches; Free is Free.

The tale tells the story of the strong tugboat that was abandoned by its captain for a cook and a cat and crates of rum. Thames and Hudson will publish the poem as a true replica of the actual work with Downer’s original artwork.

Curran’s Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making will be published by HarperCollins this fall.

California says he was inspired to write a stand-alone follow-up of Catcher in the Rye after he was entranced by the battered copy he found in an abandoned Cambodian hut. The book sees a 76-year-old Holden Caulfield escape from his nursing home and take a bus through New York all the while reminicing his adult life.

JD Salinger, the author of the original seminal work, instructed his lawyers to seek legal action against California and his publishers, Windupbird Publishing. Salinger’s lawyers, associated with both his United States’ and United Kingdom’s literary agents, have requested copies of the disputed book. According to the suit filed, the right to create a sequel or use the character of Holden Caulfield lies with The Rye’s creator and 60 Years is in no way a comment upon or parody or criticism of the original.

Fredrik Colting of Sweden-based publisher Nicotext, owner of Windupbird Publishing, says not to be worried about the suit. According to him, the action is ludricrous. 60 Years is written in similar style as The Rye, but style is not copyrightable and words and imagination belongs to everyone.

Owner and founder of Windupbird Publishing, Carl-Johan Gadd says not to be in the least bit worried. He has instructed California from the start not to include direct references and the main character is not called Holden Caulfield. He is only referred to a Mr C., which leaves no reference for Salinger’s lawyers to use.

Last April, the Minnesota Historical Society Press spoke to Publisher’s Weekly about their plans in accordance with the state’s cut on the society’s budget. The Press will discontinue four out of eleven positions within their ranks and the publishing volume will be reduced with around thirty percent. The Minnesota Historical Society Press released thirty titles last year.

But the straggling continues elsewhere. A 40-million dollar cut in funding for Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge threatens LSU Press with severe consequences. According to Ben Mann, professor of mass communication at the university, LSU press relies on an estimated two percent of the 40-million cut to stay afloat, while the press’ director Mary Katherine Callaway says that a worst-case scenario of the press not receiving any budgetary support would leave them with ‘really tough decisions’.

Michael V. Martin, chancellor of LSU Baton Rouge campus, released a written statement saying that the university’s first priority is protecting its academic core. That seems to suggest that the question for each and every university is whether it considers their press to be part of that core. Chances are that as it stands, reputation and renown are not enough of an value asset for institutions trying to mend their financial gaps and no university press should want to rely on their reputation alone for survival.

The first book in the Nanovor series, Hacked, which is set to be released December 2009, will tie-in its story of students finding a virulent life form in their computers, with a specially designed exclusive hand-held computer and game designed by Weisman’s company Smith & Tinker.

The second series Lost Souls will feature three books of which the first, Burning Sky, is set to be released in the Spring of 2010. The game is described as a multimedia adventure and will have readers visiting websites and playing along with an included physical board game.

Susan Linn, director of CCFC, reminded Scholastic that marketing in schools is a privilege and should be regarded that way.

“The message that children get when books are marketed with other items is that a book in and of itself isn’t enough. And what it does is encourage children to choose books based not on the content but on what they get with it.”

When contacted, Scholastic said that in a class of 24 kids, some of them will be turned on by a game and it helps kids engage in the book club process.