We’re guessing that the publishing industry, like most industries, isn’t one for deep introspection. You know, a scandal here, a scandal there. Given the number of books published every year, the percentage of horrors is relatively low. But we like to think that the Kaavya Viswanathan story is starting more than a few discussions in the halls of publishers — or at least in the halls of the blogosphere — about the role of book packagers in what we like to think of as a creative industry.

Publisher’s Weekly is reporting that Little, Brown has officially decided not to revise and re-release How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life. Apparently, the second book under the contract is also a no-go. PW also speculates about the status of the advance received for the book, wondering if the publisher will ask Kaavya Viswanathan to return the money. Though…since it’s our understanding that Alloy is the copyright holder (and possibly the contracting party), it seems that the book packager would be on the hook for legal action and whatnot. While we’re not cynical, we fully expect

We spent a lovely morning at UCLA yesterday, enjoying the overwhelming sights and sounds of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books — including, of course, being part of the rollicking Tod Goldberg entourage* — and we were absolutely amazed at the number of readers there are in a town that we’ve heard doesn’t read. And then the conversation happened. We were talking to Wendy Duren about important PaperbackReader stuff and then romance fiction in general. You know, little things like, “Wow, you’d think they’d bother to devote at least one measly panel to romance.” Then, “No, no, they don’t

Let us all agree that Kaavya Viswanathan has had a lousy week. The kind of week you shouldn’t have to have during your sophomore year at Harvard. And we don’t know if she’s truly at fault or if it’s a fine mix of circumstances. But it does appear that plagiarism happened. We all know that authors frequently borrow ideas and sometimes even phrases from other works of art. Art builds upon art. The key is to make your own art, not to slavishly copy someone else’s work. And when it’s done repeatedly, even the most forgiving of us begin to