In a bizarre story that would seem better suited for inside a tawdry novel, not because of one, author Tatiana Boncompagni, the first-time author of Gilding Lily (HarperCollins), has sued her sister for allegedly stealing her next novel, a book called The Hedge Fund Wives. The sister’s take? She thought they were a writing team.

Sounds like a case for a literary Judge Judy if I’ve ever heard one!

GalleyCat has the whole story HERE. Now if you’ll excuse me while I go password-protect my computer.

Do you have a future best-selling novel that your siblings will want to steal? Why not submit a query to The Stephanie Tade Agency? Tade specializes in romance and historical fiction. Hey, if she likes your work, maybe your days of being an unpublished author will also be history. Go WordHustler go!

We’ve all heard the buzz words being frantically tossed around about the impending financial crisis: “recession,” “banking bust,” and, everyone’s favorite “dot-bomb.”

What to do if you’re a freelance writer trying to survive these rocky times? Well, MediaBistro’s GalleyCat asked that very question to writer Michelle Goodman, author of: My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire. Among Goodman’s helpful tips were tidbits about getting health care, networking, and being resourceful. Above all, don’t be too cool to take writing assignments you might not otherwise take. As Goodman says, “Eating is always preferable to playing the prima donna.”

We second that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to finish my query letter to I Love Cats.

Read the entire article HERE.

Do you have some writing you’d like to not only publish but help pay the bills with? Why not send a query to a specialty magazine like Antiques & Collecting Magazine, or an intriguing essay to Isotope Magazine? WordHustler wants to help you not only weather this financial storm, but thrive.

Oh Starbucks. Will your caffeine-fueled dominance ever end? Evidently not. After being the outlet through which several books became best-sellers, like Mitch Alboms’ For One More Day and Beautiful Boy by David Sheff, the java-juggernaut’s entertainment division has ventured into co-publishing.

According to MediaBistro’s GalleyCat, Starbucks’ first project will not, contrary to popular expectations, be a juicy memoir written by an exploited coffee bean farmer in South America. Instead, it’s a children’s book called The Traveler, written and illustrated by two brothers named Daren and Daniel Simkin. Starbucks Entertainment is co-publishing along with Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Check out GalleyCat to see an interview of the authors, conducted by their sister. How cute. Then read GalleyCat’s aside about how Daren Simkin is not a “young author plucked out of obscurity,” as he’s being touted, but is actually quite hooked up in the literary world (and now probably gets free French Roast as well).

Why Starbucks, you cheeky trickster. You’ve gotten us hooked again!

Read the entire article HERE.

Do you have a children’s book you’d like to see in a Starbucks (or bookstore) near you? Why not send a query letter to Farrar, Straus and Giroux today and let WordHustler help you inspire some young (future coffee-drinkers) minds! I’d like one tall cup of success, please!

In the ongoing effort to make book trailers more viral and buzzed-about, a McSweeney’s author named Deb Olin Unferth hired a quirky animator and even quirkier comedian named Maria Bamford to bring her newest work to life. MediaBistro’s GalleyCat makes the good point that the video for Olin Unferth’s forthcoming novel “Vacation” is more colorful and interesting than the written promotional material it. Check out the video below, then look at GalleyCat to read the McSweeney’s blurb. What do you think?

Do you have a quirky book that needs a good home? Why not send a query letter to a genius literary agent like Max & Co: A Literary Agency and Social Club. They like humor, they like quirky, and hopefully they’ll like YOU! WordHustler wants to help your dreams become a reality, so get Hustlin!

According to MediaBistro’s FishbowlNY, WithThisRing-Magazine.com, an alternative online wedding magazine, has timed its launch perfectly with the new California Supreme Court-approved laws approving gay marriage in the state. With This Ring features articles about Straight, LGBT, Interracial/Interfaith, Destination, and even Pregnant Weddings. The site hopes to launch its print version in time for the Spring 2009 wedding season. Talk about a long-overdue rush to the altar…

To read the whole article on MediaBistro, click HERE.

Do you have an article, idea, or story about some happy (or humorous) nuptials you’d like to share? Why not use WordHustler to submit a personal essay about your wedding disaster…I mean experience…to Skirt Magazine today! Skirt publishes eight to fourteen personal essays every month relating to women and women’s interests. And we all know how interesting weddings are.

According to MediaBistro’s GalleyCat blog, publishers like W. W. Norton are the latest to jump on the Twitter trend. Twitter, for the uninitiated, is a text-based social networking tool that allows users to send and receive frequent, micro-blog updates from their friends. (See one Belgian man’s Twitter friend-graph below. That guy’s birthday parties must be insane.)

Twitter, in recent months, has been sidling into the advertising/publicity world and is being employed by companies looking to boost profiles or garner followers. One such company is stalwart publishing house W.W. Norton, who has set up their account HERE and are gathering fellow Twitter-ees. But what will this constant stream of chatter do for the publishing world? And is there such as thing as too much info?

Read more on GalleyCat HERE.

Do you have some information sharing to do? Why not submit a soul-baring poem to the 2008 Omnidawn Poetry Contest? First prize is $2000 and the deadline is June 30th so hurry! WordHustler wants to help you get your inner thoughts out there to the world…maybe you’ll garner a few followers of your own.