dBusinessNews :: Daily Business News Delivered to Your Desktop reports:

“Amazon.com received nearly 5,000 qualified submissions for the contest. From November 2007 through January 2008, Amazon Top Reviewers and editors generated over 10,000 unique ratings and reviews to determine the 836 semi-finalists. ‘Publishers Weekly’ then provided a full manuscript review of all semi-final submissions. Using reviews and ratings from ‘Publishers Weekly’ and Amazon Top Reviewers, as well as input from Amazon customers, Penguin editors now will begin the process of choosing the top 10 finalists, to be announced on March 3, 2008. Amazon customers will then vote on the 10 finalists to select the winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, to be announced April 7, 2008.”

If you entered, good luck.

Publishers are always looking for the next book sensation, and they realize that new writers aren’t aware of how publishing works.

So they’re scouting blogs, hoping to find their next bestselling author.

It’s even happening in India.

Penguin, HarperCollins scout blogs for book ideas reports:

“And there are others chasing your favourite blog that could be the next bestselling paperback. Harper Collins India is keeping an eye on some bloggers as they find extraordinary pieces of writing that are of wider interest.

Says Saugata Mukherjee, senior commissioning editor, HarperCollins Publishers India, ‘I believe that blogs are a great way of discovering an author’s capabilities and although we have not made any offers yet, our first blog book is a possibility sooner than later.’ “

I’ve just published Blogging for Beginners on my Writing Hacker site - discover how you can use blogs. Blogs are amazing instant-publishing tools.

Your Blog: Your Vital Sales And Promotions Tool For 2008

Gotta blog? My ebook, Writing Success with Blogs by Angela Booth, helps you to take the first steps into the new world for writers: instant publishing on blogs.

Your writers’ blog is your must-have branding tool. It also has a very practical use – it’s a writing portfolio. From the ebook: “Before editors will pay you to write, they want to know that you can write. They want clips – copies of material you’ve published. This seems like a Catch-22: you can only get published if you’ve been published. Your writing on your blog can be in lieu of clips. Your blog lets editors gauge your abilities and style, before they put down the cash.”

The book helps you to create your own writer’s blog.

There’s a storm in the romance novel world, concerning romantic novelist Cassie Edwards. I haven’t been following the story, but apparently the plagiarism issue was raised by the site Smart Bitches who Love Trashy Books.

From the AP story, a comparison between Ms Edwards’ novel and her source.

Nora Roberts says peer lifted material - Yahoo! News: “From ‘Savage Longings’:

‘The women who belonged to this society created ceremonial decorations by sewing quills on robes, lodge coverings, and other things made of the skins of animals. Snow Deer had told Charles that the Cheyenne women considered this work of high importance, and when properly performed, it was quite as much respected as were bravery and success in war among the men.’

From ‘Cheyenne Indians’:

‘Of the women’s associations referred to the most important one was that devoted to the ceremonial decoration, by sewing on quills, of robes, lodge coverings, and other things made of the skins of animals. This work women considered of high importance, and, when properly performed, quite as creditable as were bravery and success in war among the men.’”

Always attribute your sources, whatever you’re writing

The AP reports Ms Edwards said: “Edwards, interviewed earlier this week by the AP, acknowledged that she sometimes “takes” her material “from reference books,” but added that she didn’t know she was supposed to credit her sources.”

This is undoubtedly so. A romance novel isn’t a feature article in a magazine. If you were writing a magazine article, you’d send your sources with the copy, so the fact checkers could look over it.

However, even if you’re writing a novel, if you’re using reference material, you should always make a clear distinction between the sources you’ve used, and your own words. The above example is pretty close to the original - Ms Edwards should have used a little creativity to make the information her own, so to speak.

If you’re relying heavily on a source, as Ms Edwards obviously was, then it’s only polite to attribute at the end of the novel, with a “Thanks To” or “Sources” page. Many novelists do this, in many different genres. It’s a commonly accepted practice. It’s also polite and courteous to do this.

The fact that her publisher didn’t request this, really doesn’t absolve Ms Edwards; she owns the copyright of her novel (I assume) and if so, she’s responsible for what’s published under her name.

So if you’re using sources for your novel, do remember to include a “Sources” page, whatever you call it. It saves hassle - and most importantly, it’s polite to do so.