Laura Owen
Staff Writer, PaidContent, GigaOM
- Business and Finance, Technology
- New York, NY
- • Website
About
I write about ebooks, Amazon, pricing, trends and other digital publishing issues for paidContent/GigaOM.
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Interview View Full Interview →
What was your first job as a journalist?
When I was eight, I wrote an animal rights email newsletter called "Kids Who Kare." I sent it to about ten subscribers on AOL.
Have you ever used a typewriter?
Yes, at my grandparents' house. The sound is very satisfying.
Twitter Feed
8,538
followers 5,491
tweets 
Thank you @PublishersLunch for this master BEA schedule that is infinitely more useful than anything on BEA's site docs.google.com/spreadsheet/cc…
hmm, guess it's time to put together my #bea schedule
Behold: How Amazon wins the sales tax wars even when it loses gigaom.com/2013/05/24/beh… via @gigaom
Behold: How Amazon wins the sales tax wars even when it loses
gigaom.com — Taxes aren't a sexy story. And the story of Amazon's long war against collecting sales tax tends to be reported in dribs and drabs, with coverage generally focusing on battles in individual states, which can make it even more boring to keep up with the issue (or maybe that's just me).
Kinda stupid, but I'm a sucker for Family Circus parodies. parkslopefamilycircus.com (via @dancow)
Six book publishing lessons from @OpenRoadMedia's first three years paidcontent.org/2013/05/23/fiv… via @paidContent
Six book-publishing lessons from Open Road Media’s first three years
paidcontent.org — When the former HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman launched Open Road Media in 2009, the publisher was one of the first of its kind: The idea was that it would mine the backlist for books that had never been available as ebooks, snap up the digital rights and publish the ebooks for the first time, thus introducing authors like William Styron and Alice Walker to new audiences.
Twitter does the two-step, gets serious on security with new authentication feature gigaom.com/2013/05/22/twi… via @gigaom
Twitter does the two-step, gets serious on security with new authentication feature
gigaom.com — After a series of high profile hacks, Twitter is finally getting serious about log-in security with a new feature that will require users to enter an extra pin code when using non-familiar devices. The feature, known as "two-factor" authentication, is already used by companies like Google and Apple and works by sending a pin code via text message to a user's cell phone.
Penguin agrees to $75 million class action settlement in ebook pricing lawsuit paidcontent.org/2013/05/22/pen… via @paidContent
Penguin agrees to $75 million class action settlement in ebook pricing lawsuit
paidcontent.org — Book publisher Penguin has agreed to a $75 million settlement with consumers and states in the ebook pricing lawsuit, several months after it settled with the Department of Justice. The other publishers in the case - HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette and Macmillan - had already settled with both the states and the DOJ.
Amazon is only accepting some works for Kindle Worlds. Amazon Publishing retains the rights and sets the prices - this is not KDP.
Amazon's new Kindle Worlds gives authors a way to sell fan fiction without legal hassles paidcontent.org/2013/05/22/ama… via @paidContent
Amazon’s new Kindle Worlds gives authors a way to sell fan fiction without legal hassles
paidcontent.org — 50 Shades of Grey, which started out as Twilight-inspired fan fiction, raised a few copyright questions that didn't stop it from selling millions and millions of copies. But when a work is more directly based on another author's creation - using the same characters and setting, for instance - the legal hurdles can be greater.
How CopyrightX managed to convince hundreds of online students to stick with a course on copyright law cjr.org/cloud_control/… via @cjr
Copyright 101.2 : Columbia Journalism Review
cjr.org — CopyrightX, an online course run out of Harvard this spring as part of the EdX program, was unusual in a couple of ways. It might not strictly be called a MOOC-a massive open online course-because it wasn't open. More than four thousand people applied, and enrollment was capped at 500.Have a Story?
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