iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 18h

Yikes. The Eversource guys who did the repair for me were wearing the big electroshock-preventing gloves, so I suspect that would not have been a wise move on my part.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 19h

Ugh. My fear was that that would happen but fortunately it didn’t. If the whole drop had come off the house, tho, it would have been a different story.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 06/10/2026

Today in shit I did not need: a big tree branch came down in the street, and yes those are the overhead wires that connect to my house underneath it. Power back on after a stressful few hours of phone calls and waiting (no internet till tomorrow tho). Thank goodness for the kindness of neighbors.

Big leafy tree branch down in street, with my electric wires underneath it

The upper corner of my house after the falling tree branch ripped the electric wire right off the service drop

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 05/10/2026

Scammers are impersonating Goodreads groups, w/ writers invited to "reading challenges" or group discussions--for a fee. This "12-month residency" is most elaborate I've seen. See tiny text I've underlined in red. Yes, this is yet another iteration of the AI-generated scams driving us all nuts

OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
OVERVIEW
12-Month Managed Reader Experience
Goodreads Community: The book you like
most
Lead Moderator: Tom
📍 TOP 100 Goodreads Group 👥 51,155+ Active Members 📚 Vision & Story Project Hub
What Is "The book you like most" Community?
We are a global Goodreads community of over 51,000+ active members. Originally established as a dedicated hub for
the "Vision and Story" project and centered around motivational and self-help literature (such as Between Every
Silence), our platform has evolved into a premier destination for deep reader engagement, book recommendations,
and active reading challenges. Our members join with high buying intent—they are avid readers, book club hosts, and
collectors seeking their next great read.
HOW OUR 12-MONTH MANAGED RESIDENCY WORKS
1 Dedicated Feature Thread
Your title receives its own permanent thread on our general
board for reviews, Q&As, and discussions, driving ongoing
views long after creation.
2 Moderator Endorsement
Introduced with authority by group leadership, carrying
trusted weight across our 51,000+ members who recognize
our curation.
3 Thematic Shelf Alignment
Positioned naturally within key ongoing themes:
motivational/self-help, thrillers, general literature, and
annual reading challenges.
4 Active Community Prompts
Structured reading prompts encourage deep engagement,
key takeaways, and member shares across external book
clubs.
5 Permanent Bookshelf Indexing
Cataloged directly into our group bookshelf and discussion
archives, securing organic backlist discovery and sales for
years.
6 Peer-to-Peer Recommendations
Organic word-of-mouth momentum as members
recommend your title inside high-traffic daily discussions
and rating threads.
Why This Matters for Your Book: Standard promotions disappear in hours. Our residency embeds your work
directly into an active, living reader ecosystem. You aren't interrupting readers—you are contributing to what 51,000+
active book buyers are already searching for, genera…

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 03/10/2026

Not a new recall (announced by the company in August) nor a new cause (jalepenos--also August, and the FDA just announced that outbreak is over). This designation comes almost 2 months later. Weird. www.growfoodpacking.com/jalapeno-avo...

growfoodpacking.com

Jalapeno Avocado Dressing Recall — Grow Food Packing

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Reposted by Victoria Strauss

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Voter registration deadlines are SUNDAY in Alaska, Rhode Island, South Carolina. And MONDAY in: Arizona, Arkansas Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and *Texas*. If you live in these states, verify your registration now, literally.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 02/10/2026

I agree. But they've said it twice now, so they must know something? I'm really curious to know how this will work (or not) in practice.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 02/10/2026

Yes, I think this is weird. They've said it twice now; the only thing I can think is they must have an arrangement with the settlement admin.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 02/10/2026

Anthropic copyright settlement news: Good news for authors of Wiley's For Dummies series. After outcry over the high % claimed by Wiley, Wiley is changing split to Default (50/50). Announcement below. (They're still saying that payment will be via literary agencies, rather than direct to authors)

From: Wiley Anthropic Settlement Communications <WileyAnthropicSettlementComm@wiley.com>
Date: Friday, 2 October 2026 at 21:48
To:
Subject: An update to your For Dummies claim in the Anthropic settlement

Dear Author,

We recently wrote to explain the claim percentage we submitted for For Dummies titles in the Anthropic settlement. While we continue to believe the classification of these works as Education Works is accurate for the reasons set out in that message, we are sensitive to the concerns raised

We value our relationships with our For Dummies authors and the work we've built together across this series. With that in mind, we're changing our claim for For Dummies titles to the settlement's Default Option for non-Education Works. Under the Default Option, the payment for each title is divided 50% to the author and 50% to Wiley

Here's what this means for you:

i. We'll enter the 50% allocation for your For Dummies titles in the settlement portal.

ii. To confirm your allocation, visit https://secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/allocation, enter your assigned claim and PIN number, and enter 50% as the author share (subject to (iv) and (v) below). If you've already entered 50%, your entry matches ours and no further action is needed. Additional instructions for updating your allocation are located here: Allocation Portal Instructions.

iii. Once all entries match, the Settlement Administrator treats the claim as undisputed. Payments go out in tranches, with undisputed claims paid first, so confirming promptly helps you receive your payment sooner.

iv. If your work has more than one royalty-bearing author, given your work agreement already specifies a royalty split between the authors, we suggest that same split apply to the claim allocation. For example, if the two authors of a work split royalties 70%/30% under their agreement, Author #1 would claim 35% and Author #2 would claim 15%.

v. If su…

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Reposted by Victoria Strauss

Laura Anne Gilman @lauraannegilman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

You want to know how fucked up the Anthropic settlement BS has gotten? @harpercollins.bsky.social has acknowledged that certain books have reverted entirely to me, but they’re still claiming ownership of one IN THE SAME REVERSION LETTER as the others. I can’t even. @victoriastrauss.com

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

Agreed. I'm planning a blog post about this mess--I have some context to add.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

That could be, if the print book was pubbed before ebooks or at a time when ebook rights were sold separately.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

I think that does seem likely, unfortunately.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

They are really making us work for our payouts. 😡

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

It acquired iBooks in the bankruptcy auction after Byron Preiss died. Does that help at all?

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

Australian publisher Starfish Bay, which took money for publication, is accused of leaving authors high and dry. Writer Beware is collecting info on this disaster; if you've been affected, pls contact me. beware@sfwa.org www.nine.com.au/australia-ne...

nine.com.au

Australian publisher accused of taking thousands and ghosting children’s authors

A grieving mother paid $12,000 to publish a book written in memory of her late son. She was left without a finished book and completely ignored.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

This article about the financial windfall publishers will get from the Anthropic settlement is behind a paywall, but the headline says it all www.vulture.com/article/publ...

vulture.com

Publishers Hit the AI Jackpot

The industry stands to gain the most from Anthropic’s $1.5 billion copyright settlement. Many writers aren’t happy about it.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

Yeah me too. I know I should check but I haven't yet been able to summon the will.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

I suspect you’re right about that.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

The problem is not knowing what that will mean in practice, or whether we can trust what we are being told, given the mistakes and changes we’ve already seen.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

I don’t think it’s vindictive. Just a badly designed process inadequate to complicated realities of publishing that unfairly puts the burden on rightsholders to figure out how to navigate the mess. Not for nothing, but if publishers hadn’t been included a lot of problems wouldn’t be happening.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

The case of the disappearing books. Any other Anthropic settlement authors who’ve experienced this?

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

You’re the second person tonight who has told me their books vanished. Heard it from a couple of others over the past few weeks as well. WTH is going on ?

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Reposted by Victoria Strauss

Loch Ness Monster 🎃🇨🇦 @vriccithode.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Like Jason, I can push back and i absolutely am and will. My DMs are full of support from people too afraid of becoming one of Emily's targets to so much as *like* a post. This is the culture of fear that surrounds her and it has to stop.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

It's all really confusing, and my brain does not want to work on figuring it all out

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

Prime Publisher USA is a ghostwriting scam. They rely a lot on advertising; I've gotten some reports of email solicitations by such scams, but no phone calls (other types of scams, on the other hand, do a lot of phone soliciting).

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 01/10/2026

This is just a nightmare, with all of these changes happening with zero explanation of how to interpret them--or alternatively, not happning when rightsholders try to make corrections.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 30/09/2026

Yes, I can't see how Wiley can just apparently unilaterally make that decision (and I can't imagine that agents would welcome it--more work for them).

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 30/09/2026

Yeah, same for me on the corrections, which I've tried several times to make myself. Also, you aren't the only author who has reported that a book has disappeared. So frustrating.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 30/09/2026

How bizarre. Last I checked, mine were still "no disagreements" even though I DO DISAGREE and have tried several times to make corrections

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 30/09/2026

Me too on the stress. Sympathies.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 30/09/2026

Sympathies. Me too. I've tried multiple times to make corrections that haven't taken and am now afraid to look.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 30/09/2026

I agree it's odd, which is why I mentioned it. Seems like a unilateral decision I have no idea if Wiley is empowered to make. No idea if it will--or even can--work this way.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 30/09/2026

Your 3rd dose today of Anthropic settlement madness (at least from me). Authors, CHECK YOUR CLAIMS! Your situation may have changed, per this email from the settlement administrator that some authors are receiving (subject heading: Anthropic Copyright Settlement: Allocation Updates)

We made updates that may affect your claim.
What Changed?
Wed, Sep 30,
2026 at 5:35 AM
Based on feedback from claimants, we updated how certain works are categorized.
In particular, where multiple claimants submitted default claims for the same
ownership interest in a work, we changed those works from agreement to
disagreement.
In addition, the portal is updated to reflect that some claimants changed their sole
ownership claims to default claims, and some claimants withdrew their claims.
What This Means for You
As a result of these updates, some works on your claim may now be categorized
differently. We encourage you to review the current allocations for your works.
How to Review and Update Your Allocations
Please use your claim number and PIN above to log into the portal below.
Claim Summary and Allocation Portal
For help making updates, please visit the allocation portal instructions.
If You Already Submitted Updates
If you already updated the allocation for a work, then you do not need to
submit those updates again. Any changes you submitted previously
through the online portal are recorded, but the portal is not being
updated in real time. If you submit multiple updates for the same
copyright number, your most recent submission will replace any earlier
submissions

What’s Next?
We will continue to work with claimants to help resolve disputes.
For works where all rightsholders are in agreement and where all necessary
payment information is provided, we expect to send a first round of payments in
November 2026.
If You Have Questions
Please contact us at 1-877-206-2314 or info@AnthropicCopyrightSettlement.com.
Regards,
Settlement Administrator

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 30/09/2026

More Anthropic settlement stuff: here's the email Wiley is sending For Dummies authors to explain the percentages it's claiming. Also note that they're saying payment for the author share will go to agencies rather than directly to authors.

Dear Author,

A number of For Dummies authors have asked why the claim percentage Wiley submitted for their titles in the Anthropic settlement differs from the settlement's Default Option for trade titles. We want to explain why.

Wiley classifies For Dummies works as Education Works, based on their instructive nature and the substantial editorial and production investment Wiley makes in developing each title. The For Dummies trademark, series format, and visual identity are owned and controlled by Wiley. Each title is developed within a Wiley-established voice and structure covering organization, icons, and design, and Wiley edits and produces every title to this pedagogic standard. The terms of Wiley's author contracts for For Dummies works reflect this level of publisher investment and control.

Because For Dummies works are Education Works, Wiley's claim reflects the electronic royalty rate set out in your author agreement rather than the Default Option reserved for trade titles. The percentage due to you under that rate is what you should claim. If a work has more than one royalty-bearing author, that percentage divides proportionately based on the author royalty split in the agreement.

If sums due under your agreement with Wiley are payable via your literary agency, your agency will receive the settlement payment for your share, and you should receive it from your agency, as with any other sums due under your agreement. If you and your agent are already paid separately, the allocation will reflect that division.

If you have questions, or would like to provide documentation you believe supports a different percentage, please reach out to your Wiley editor.

If Wiley and an author are unable to agree on the percentage, the dispute is resolved by a Court-appointed, neutral special master, as described in Question 24 of theAnthropic Publisher FAQ. Claim percentages can be updated by navigating to the following link (https://secure.anthropiccopyrig…

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 30/09/2026

Thanks for pinging me--I really appreciate when people do that, as thanks to the random nature of scrolling, it's so easy to miss important information

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 30/09/2026

More Anthropic settlement madness. If you're a co-author on a self-published book, READ THIS THREAD

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 30/09/2026

Would you be comfortable forwarding that email to me? beware@sfwa.org . Thanks.

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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 30/09/2026

Thanks--appreciate the ping. I am definitely interested!

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