Composition publishing woes

In the spirit of getting back into the swing of posting here, enjoy these blog posts by Debbie Hawhee and Collin Brooke on the publishing woes at CCC.

Here’s the part that jumped out at me from Brooke’s post:

The problem isn't just the ridiculously low acceptance rate--it's that rate combined with the fact that the journal has a colossal backlog right now of accepted essays. Traditionally, the answer to the latter problem has been to lower the acceptance rate--accept fewer essays, and the backlog lifts eventually. But Deb's right, I think, to note that that's not a viable solution. The acceptance rate can't honestly go much lower, and even if it could, the editor would have to start rejecting submissions that had been accepted by the readers.

More Rowling copyright news

Apparently, J. K. Rowling’s readers will never understand what it is like to fanatically devoted to the characters in the Harry Potter books.

“My prime concern, if not my only concern,” she added later, “is these characters who have meant so much to me and continue to mean so much to me over a very long period of time. It’s very difficult for someone who is not a writer to understand.”

J.K. Rowling, in Court, Assails Potter Lexicon

Rowling gets greedy

J. K. Rowling is suing to prevent a Harry Potter reference work, The Harry Potter Lexicon from being published.

In a statement, Rowling added: “It is not reasonable, or legal, for anybody, fan or otherwise, to take an author's hard work, re-organize their characters and plots, and sell them for their own commercial gain. However much an individual claims to love somebody else's work, it does not become theirs to sell.”

I’m confused; who is it that’s not being “reasonable” here?

At any rate, this case is interesting, because it shows how malleable copyright has become in the digital age. Apparently, the HP lexicon was a website before its print incarnation, and Rowling had praised it in the past. However, she is apparently threatened by the idea of someone else publishing a Potter book.

via Boing Boing