In March 2019, the pirate site Ebook.bike angered authors everywhere as it brazenly made thousands of ebooks still protected under copyright immediately available for free download. The site was eventually taken down, but not before author John Van Stry filed a lawsuit. Well, happy news: he won $9,000 in damages. He writes at his blog, “Mr. McCrea [the site’s owner] survived only because lawsuits are expensive. He knew this, hence his challenge ‘just sue me!’ He knew most authors can’t afford it. Well unfortunately for him, I could.” For a full accounting of the case—one that is both readable and insightful—visit Mike Glyer’s File 770.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
