Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg
This sentence is dizzying.
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You might be underestimating the significance of the word
claim in that sentence. The idea, I think, is that the author might seek prestige
mistakenly through restricted access in supposedly credible places. That idea is reinforced by the Authors Alliance's commitment to the opposite approach -- wider access -- as stated below the bit you quoted.
I know exactly what they mean by "signed-away copyrights for out-of-print books," which was the fate of a story collection of mine six months after publication, when it sold out unexpectedly and the publishers refused to print any more -- nor have they allowed another publisher to reprint since.
Also, note that most of the academics behind the Authors Alliance specialize in law; the one person involved in writing as a profession teaches journalism, not literature. I don't think they can be accused of promoting an ivory-tower agenda when the intended effect is populist.
Just look at their advisory board. Do Cory Doctorow and Jonathan Lethem seem to you to be academics with no experience or interest in commercial markets?