This press release Cookbook Author Sues Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld for Copyright Infringement and Defamation states: “Attorneys for Missy Chase Lapine, author of ‘The Sneaky Chef,’ today filed a lawsuit against Jessica Seinfeld and Jerry Seinfeld for copyright and trademark infringement and defamation in Federal District Court in New York.

The lawsuit alleges that Jessica Seinfeld blatantly plagiarized Ms. Lapine’s book, ‘The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals,’ a critically-acclaimed and commercially successful cookbook with an innovative approach to improving children’s eating habits. ‘The Sneaky Chef’ shows parents how to, among other things, camouflage purees of carefully selected fruits and vegetables as ingredients in less healthy foods that kids like, such as cheeseburgers, pizza and brownies. Running Press Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, published ‘The Sneaky Chef’ in April, 2007, generating positive reviews and quickly becoming a New York Times bestseller.”

You have to wonder whether this is a publicity ploy.

PublishersMarketplace notes that “Bookscan figures for 2007 tracked sales of approximately 581,000 copies for Seinfeld’s book through mid-December; Running Press says The Sneaky Chef currently has approximately 190,000 copies in print.”

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Many authors have touted the effects of publishing your book on the Web as a promotional tool for bookstore sales.

This New York Times article Crossover Dreams: Turning Free Web Work Into Real Book Sales reports regarding the Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which was published free online: “Mr. Kinney, a design director at Family Education Network, a unit of Pearson that operates Funbrain, where ‘Wimpy Kid’ first appeared, spent 10 years writing the book and always intended to publish it in print form. But after discussing it with his boss, Jess Brallier, the publisher of the Family Education Network, Mr. Kinney decided to serialize his book on Funbrain.com in part to attract children to the site during the summer. As an unknown author, he figured he might gain more exposure if he published the book — which looks as if it could be a hand-written diary of a mischievous middle-school boy — on a Web site with thousands of daily visitors in his target market.”

However, PublishersLunch Deluxe, from PublishersMarketplace says:

The NYT cites the illustrated children’s novel DIARY OF A WIMPY KID as the latest example that material available for free on the internet can still have value in traditional book form. In this case, Abrams has sold 147,000 copies tracked via Bookscan, and a larger version of what became the book (1,300 online pages in all) remains posted at Funbrain.com, where it has been a popular feature. But at least one retailer says the sales are due to good word-of-mouth for the book rather than viral attention driven by the web version.

So what’s best? Should you publish your book online free as a promotional tool as you write the book?

My gut feeling, if you’re a new writer, and don’t know much about selling your book is - yes.

You get these benefits:

* a readership

* publisher interest once the readership is big enough

* confidence in yourself - readers tend to give you confidence

* motivation to continue writing, because of the interaction with readers.

You’ve written a book. That’s great! Many, many kudos to you. It’s an immense achievement, and one you should always be proud of, because it takes a lot of time, energy and commitment.

Now comes the fun part - promoting your book. BTW, I tell my students to promote as they write, but most writers just want to get the book DONE.

Book promotion has many pitfalls. You can waste a lot of time on promotion - time which would have been better spent in writing another book.

How NOT to Waste Money & Time When Promoting your Book By Marion Cuba offers excellent advice: “Time & Money Waster: a Fancy, ‘Flash’ Format Website

Having a website is a definite plus. BUT - the flash format, though gorgeous - it moves and spins - unfortunately registers only as an image. That means it does NOT register as words and phrases. So, people surfing for information on my subject will not be drawn to my website.”

A Web site is essential for any writer, but don’t let yourself be talked into an all-singing or all-dancing Flash extravaganza. You just need a SIMPLE site, the simpler the better. And you can easily do it yourself.

Sensible promotion for your book includes: a simple Web site, a blog, regular news releases, and schmoozing online in discussion forums dedicated to the subject of your book. Many writers want to schmooze with other writers, but remember who’ll be buying your book, and interact with them.

Please don’t go overboard on promotion: spend most of your time writing your next book.