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Google Launches Shakespeare Site
From: www.writerswrite.com

" Search engine giant Google has launched a new website which features all things Shakespeare. The searchable site, http://www.google.com/shakespeare allows users to read the entire text of his 37 plays and search by keyword.

Readers can even plug in words, such as "to be or not to be" from "Hamlet," and immediately be taken to that part of the play. The site, which was introduced in conjunction with Google's sponsorship of New York City's "Shakespeare in the Park" performance series, also provides links to related scholarly research, Internet groups and even videos of theater performances of Shakespeare plays. It also encourages users to "take a literary field trip" by searching for London's Shakespeare's Globe Theater on Google Earth, which combines satellite imagery, maps and a search engine to find historic locations around the world.

Google Book Search, the Google product which houses the Shakespeare site, allows users to view books or parts of books through their Web browsers if the copyright has expired or a publisher has given permission to do so.

It's been more than 20 years since two books--Iacocca and In Search of Excellence--first turned business titles into a hot category. Since then, for better or worse, thousands of CEOs and consultants have been inspired to get in touch with their inner Hemingway. A few such efforts have become bestsellers, but most wind up as gifts to clients, required reading for employees, or just nifty adornments for credenzas. But that doesn't signify failure. For many writers, the hoped-for payoff from publishing a book comes not from bookstores but at their day jobs, where the halo and image-boosting created by literary efforts can help generate new business.

In the past, most would-be business authors tried to get their books published by a big publishing house, usually by agreeing to a small advance and a "buyback," in which the author promises to purchase thousands of copies himself. But lately publishers have soured on these deals, which usually aren't very profitable. At the same time, a host of new online services has made self-publishing easier and cheaper than ever. And anyone can list his or her book on Amazon.com.

What's more, the perception of self-publishing has changed. "Even two years ago, I'd have said independent publishing is really stupid--you're acknowledging you can't get a real contract," says Paul B. Brown, author of Publishing Confidential: The Insider's Guide to What It Really Takes to Land a Nonfiction Book Deal. But today even A-listers like Tom Peters and Jim Collins have self-published titles. And as self-publishing gains cachet, more businesspeople are looking at books as effective promotional tools.

His novel "The Master," is a portrayal of 19th century novelist and critic Henry James. Toibin, whose previous novels include "The South" and "The Blackwater Lightship," collected 100,000 euros ($125,800) as part of the annual International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, fending off competition from nine other short listed writers.

The 10 short listed titles for the prize were selected from a long list of 132 nominated by 180 libraries from 43 countries, says Reuters. Among judges, Scottish novelist Andrew O'Hagan and Italian poet Paolo Ruffilli, acclaimed Toibin's work as an "outstanding narrative" and "crisp, modulated writing." Other contenders for the award included fellow Irish writer Ronan Bennett for "Havoc in its Third Year," Britain's Jonathan Coe for "The Closed Circle" and Nigerian author Chris Abani for "Graceland." "The Master" was previously shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker prize.

"This probing portrayal of Henry James is not merely an outstanding narrative....Its preoccupations are truth and the elusiveness of intimacy, and from such preoccupations emerge this patient, beautiful, exposure of loss, and the price of the pursuit of perfection."

U.S. District Judge Richard Owen ruled Steinbeck's son, Thomas Steinbeck, and his granddaughter, Blake Smyle, deserve the legal rights to ten novels including Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath. The rights had previously belonged to publisher Penguin, dating back to 1938, as well as to the estate of John Steinbeck's late widow, Elaine.

In his ruling Owen noted that U.S. copyright laws now recognise that young writers and artists such as Steinbeck, who died in 1968 but began writing his first book in 1929, "cannot predict the high stature they would attain" when signing early contracts with publishers. The judge ruled that Penguin failed in its arguments that a 1994 agreement with Elaine Steinbeck, who died in 2003, gave Penguin continued publication rights to the novels.

"My clients' primary concern here is to protect and preserve the legacy of John Steinbeck," said Mark Lee, lawyer for Thomas Steinbeck and Blake Smyle. "They are gratified that the judge recognised the correctness of their position." Maureen Donnelly, a spokeswoman for Penguin, said the company was "evaluating its options" following the ruling, noting the decision "would not take effect for many years in the future." Susan Kohlmann, attorney for the estate of Elaine Steinbeck, said: "We are disappointed in the part of the opinion that relates to the Penguin termination notice and considering what to do."

Every June for the past 20 years or so, people from around the world have trekked here to attend lectures about Howard. They also tour the white clapboard house where he sat at a small wooden desk, peered out of the window at the peaceful West Texas prairie and on his Underwood typewriter spun tales of sword-wielding heroes in faraway places and centuries. For this year, what would have been Howard's 100th birthday, organizers had been planning to expand the celebration to three days in hopes of attracting up to 300 fans, triple the attendance of recent years.

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Cross Plains hasn't always embraced its most famous native son, who some called "crazy" for his wild tales, talking to himself and sometimes pretending to box while walking down the street. Those negative feelings intensified for some after he committed suicide at age 30 after learning that his ailing mother would not awaken from her coma. Although many assume Howard was distraught because he was too close to his mother, signs indicate he had been considering suicide ? although he had several close friends ? and shot himself in the head when he no longer had to tend to his mother, Burke said. She died the next day.

But his popularity grew as his works were reprinted in magazines and subsequently published in paperbacks in the 1960s Then his Conan character ? a thief, mercenary and pirate who slayed dragons, winged apes and savage tribes on his way to becoming a king thousands of years before recorded history ? was featured in comic books in the 1970s. Howard's work inspired the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game and later led to a series of movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. While the plot of the 1982 movie Conan the Barbarian differed from Howard's tales ? which, like his stories about other characters, had been published only in Weird Tales and other magazines before his death ? it widened the audience and made Conan part of pop culture.

Almost two months after most Hollywood studios started selling movies via online download, The Walt Disney Co.'s Buena Vista division has entered into an agreement with online distributor CinemaNow to do the same.

Beginning today, CinemaNow users will be able to choose from 30 Disney titles, including National Treasure, The Pirates of the Caribbean and Chicken Little; the studio will also begin selling online downloads "day and date" with their DVD releases, beginning with the June 6 release of Glory Road. The deal does not include movies from Pixar, the animated movie studio Disney acquired earlier this year.

The agreement is yet another sign that Hollywood studios are willing to tinker with the profitable DVD distribution channel they have relied on since the late 1990s by selling movies directly to consumers. Last month, both Movielink and CinemaNow, which had previously only allowed customers to rent movies via the Internet, began letting customers buy and download permanent copies of the movies to their PCs.