The Writer's Guide to the Courtroom: Let's Quill All the Lawyers by Donna Ballman

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Paperback

It’s time to dig out the magic 8-ball app on my iPad and predict what will be coming in the writing and publishing industry in 2012. We’re in the midst of giant changes in the industry. Here’s what I think will happen this year:

Full-service e-books: With all the laid-off folks from the publishing industry floating around, we’ll see full-service shops opening up to assist writers who want to publish their own e-books. I predict the development of consortiums of displaced professionals. These shops will offer editing, cover design, formatting, special features such as links, matchmaking with illustrators, uploading to the major e-readers, and marketing. Without a doubt.

Consumer protection suits: Now that lawyers have discovered that consumer protection laws can be used against writers and publishers, we’ll see more lawsuits claiming readers were misled into purchasing fiction and nonfiction with advertising. Nonfiction writers have borne the brunt of these cases so far, but consumers will complain that books were advertised as fantasy when they were sci-fi; as nonfiction when they were fiction; as riveting when they fell asleep reading; and as good when the book was a turkey. The winners? . . . Read the rest in The Write Report.

So, do you think I'm right? What are your predictions for 2012?