Yet more on the CPSIA and childrens' books

Publishers Weekly's latest article about the CPSIA might be the best treatment relative to books that I've seen. The key points are:

• For any "ordinary" book intended primarily for children printed after 1985, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued an exemption.
• Legislation has been introduced to extend the exemption to all ink-on-paper and ink-on-board books.
• The publishing industry has been given an extension until February 10, 2010 to have its testing program in place.
• Testing already exists for many books. Although the vast majority of books test negative for banned substances, a few have tested positive. "Green" materials with recycled paper are more likely to test positive than books that don't use recycled paper.
• Although many titles are being tested already, the CPSC is still trying to determine the testing protocols. PW indicates that although the rules require testing all component parts, it's unclear whether the assembled book will also need to be tested.

One author who testified in front of Congress said she thought, based on conversations with members of Congress and the CPSC that they don't want to allow changes to the rules.

We'll still have to wait and see.

CPSIA Update: Legislation Introduced to Exempt "Ordinary" Books

Not really a lot to add to this posting from Publisher's Weekly, except a vague feeling that knee-jerk rule-making is bad and it seems silly this has been drawn out so much. If you're a childrens' author, here's hoping this isn't screwing you up.

CPSIA Rules Ease, But Is It Enough?

The CPSIA took effect yesterday amid small fanfare and much confusion. The confusion stems from the applicability of the law, which may have been clarified substantially, at least for books, by guidance put for this week. According to the guidance, the law does not apply to books published after 1985, as long as they are not intended primarily for play, or have not been altered or processed in any way that might introduce lead.

In addition, vintage childrens' books that, because of their age and value, are no longer intended for children, are exempt. All other books intended primarily fall under the auspices of the law. Apparently, ink in childrens' books used to contain lead. However, according to this article, the lead would have to be ingested somehow for it to effect childrens' health.

This guidance will assist bookstores and many other organizations, but libraries, whose budgets are suffering from the economic downturn, may suffer disproportionately. In particular, libraries in poorer areas and school districts that lack the budget to turn over their books more regularly. The question is, how many of those books are more than 24 years old? The answer will become apparent based on the number of empty shelves in the coming weeks.

In summary, while this act still needs to be improved, some reasonable accommodations have been made. Here's hoping future changes will continue to add sanity to a necessary law.

And now the news...
Publishing and the Economy
HarperCollins lays off employees, closes division -- The bleeding continues as HC announces a layoff of a "small percentage" of it staff and closes its non-fiction division.

More details on HarperCollins layoffs -- Several editors and a PR director were let go.

Kindle/e-Books
Authors Guild Questions Kindle 2 Audio Feature -- The new Kindle will read your book for you. But that may present an intellectual property issue.

Battle Brewing Over Electronic Books -- Amazon appears to be modeling the Kindle business approach after Apple's iPod, but that may not work.

Self-Publishing
Be Your Own Book Publisher -- Createspace.com publishes your book on demand for free. You get a cut for each copy sold.

Osprey Launches Self-Publishing Offer -- The new service, AuthorHouse, is aimed at military writers. Unfortunately, it's a British publisher.

CPSIA Stay: Good News or a Mirage?

A number of small businesses breathed a sigh of relief when the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) granted a one year stay on enforcement of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The relief might be short-lived, however, as the stay, like the act, is not what it appears to be.

In short, the government isn't going to look for problems, but it will prosecute any problems brought to its attention. Perhaps more important, civil liability would apply to anyone found in violation. The result may be more waiting to see how things turn out.

As previously indicated, the Act's goals are noble and laudable. We need to protect children from lead. But we should not subject small businesses (such as small book stores), crafter, artists, and writers to its provisions if their products are already lead-free. Although this law provides some guidance, the threat of lawsuits still dogs anyone whose products would otherwise fall under the act's provisions.

Short help is better than no help at all. This small movement provides at least a little breathing room. But the issue still bears watching, to determine how the stay actually plays out, and whether the CPSC and Congress amend the Act appropriately.

And now the news...
CPSIA
When will regulation fit the size of business? -- The CPSIA oddysey shows a problem with most legislation and regulations: they're written for big businesses and applied to small businesses.

CPSC Delays Enforcement of CPSIA Testing for One Year, but Not Requirements -- Although the act will not be enforced for a year, if an item is found to be in violation, civil penalties and liability costs would apply.

Our Craft
How Twitter Can Make You a Better Writer -- Cramming everything into 140 characters is a great exercise in self-editing.

Marketing Your Work
Amazon Taking Submissions for Second Annual Breakthrough Novel Contest -- Good news: The winner gets $25,000 book deal. Bad News: The deadline is Sunday.

How the New York Times Selects Books for Review -- As you might expect, the process is long and demanding, and the odds are very slim.

Social Media
Comprehensive List of Publishers With Blogs -- The article also features six of the best publisher blogs.

Publishing and the Economy
Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt Faces Uncertain Future -- Credit rating woes, $6.7 billion debt, and and shrinking textbook market may doom the publishing giant.

Publishing News -- 1/25/2009

The Latest on the CPSIA
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act takes effect February 10. The act was a legislative response to the continued issues with lead-based childrens' products arriving from China. Unfortunately, the Act's cure may be worse than the disease, particularly for craftmakers, small businesses, and childrens' authors and bookstores.

Unfortunately, a lot of the worry about this particular act seems appropriate. And while the Act could be refined after implementation to resolve the problems, that won't provide protection in the interim, while the act is in force in its current state.

In a nutshell, the Act requires testing on all products intended primarily for children, even used products. Because most thrift shops, used book stores, and libraries don't have the means to perform such testing, there's significant concerns in the publishing industry, among other groups. Some clarifications have been made, but the exposure still seems high. Here's the latest:

How will the CPSIA affect you? -- "I think we can all agree that lead and other harmful chemical levels in our children’s toys needs serious attention and stringent monitoring. But what this law neglects to address are the small businesses who sell stuff for kids..."

Scrap the CPSIA -- The Act's sponsors, Henry Waxman and Bobby Rush, have supported an exemption for childrens' books, as long as there are no painted, pastic, or metal components (including staples for saddle-bound books).

Children's Book Safety Issue Heats Up -- Stores were given a little additional leeway with guidance from the Consumer Product Safety Administration that they can use their general Certificate of Conformity to seel after Feb. 10.

Digital Publishing
Google and the Future of Books -- Google is buying up manuscripts for its online library. This long, but informative piece wonders if that's a good thing and looks to history to find a precedent.

How Will Piracy Affect Publishing? -- Piracy could be a bigger problem for authors than for the music industry.

One Click Away from Abandoning my Kindle -- The author would dump his Kindle for his iPhone if he could download the entire NY Times.

Marketing Your Work
See the website, buy the book -- -- A new niche in book promotion is custom-built author websites, from the basic to the intricate. Problem is, no one has quantified the monetary returns.

What not to have on your book website -- Some issues to resolve to give your website the most bang for the buck.

Publishing News -- 1/10/2009

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CPSIA: Major issue for Childrens' Publishing
Before a week ago, I'd never heard of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). This week, its presence has become big news. Although doomsaying usually occurs before new regulations take effect, this time the hand-wringing could be valid. The CPSIA includes provisions aimed at protecting children from lead paint in toys, a laudatory goal. But the CPSIA required testing for each unit produced of any item that might be aimed at children, even if all the components were certified as lead-free. The penalties are stiff, a $100,000 for each individual item put on shelves, and five years in prison. Also, the law is retroactive. At the very least, this act will drive the price of childrens' books up and reduce reading by those who need to do it most.

Here are some relevant links:

Save the Children's Books: The CPSIA is a Road to Hell, Paved with Good Intentions --Publishers and authors are being wrongly targetted by this law which requires each print run to be tested.

Industry Scrambling to Comply with Child Safety Act -- The CPSIA is intended to protect children from lead in toys. But its application to books could be misguided and publishers promise it will be devastating.

Book burning on Feb. 10 Because of CPSIA? -- The new rules require testing on each unit, even when all the component products are certified as lead-free. The penalty? Up to $100,000 per item and five years in prison.

Marketing Your Work
How to Get Involved in Online Book Promotion -- Finding blogs that apply to your work is a magnificent first step.

Ghost Queries: Friend or Foe -- Nathan Bransford, an agent at Curtis Brown, isn't heavily against them, but says the query should capture the author's voice.

#88 (Another query letter critique) -- Critique from blog that takes and critiques query letters.

Publishing and the Economy
B&N Reports Decline in Holiday Sales -- Megabookstore reports 5.2% drop from last year. More troubling, website sales dropped 11%.

Pantheon Book Publisher Released -- Janice Goldklang, publisher at Pantheon was laid off in Random House restructuring after 25 years at the company.

AJC Drops Books from Arts Section Title -- The paper promises no significant content changes, but readers aren't so sure.

Self-Publishing
Author Solutions Acquires Xlibris -- Union of self-publishers accounted for 19,000 titles in 2008.

Digital Publishing
Digital Download Skyrocket at Libraries -- Online book source reports 76% increase in traffic over last year.