Publishing News Roundup Series: Are Copyright and Intellectual Property Important for Authors?
by Maureen Crisp • October 5, 2018 • Follow
Published in News • No comments
Copyright and intellectual property are things that have arisen as publishing has become a mass produced business.
The internet has made it increasingly difficult to keep plagiarism at bay, and big business and contracts have made it more and more complex for a writer to simply get paid. On the other hand, however, the internet has been the biggest step in helping authors find readers, and without it many authors, particularly self-published, would not have been know to their fans. Additionally, big business contracts have developed things like royalties that allow authors to get paid for their writing long term. The invention of copyright and intellectual rights has been a complicated one, but it is also one of the biggest steps in appreciation writing as a career.
Are you ready to leave a legacy?
How important is your copyright to you? Is it more important to your heirs?
This week, Australian professor Rebecca Giblin wrote an interesting article on copyright. It needs to change. The accepted practice of rights reverting back 70 years after an author dies is outdated. Singer Bryan Adams testified to this last week in Canada. He wants a small but significant word change in contracts.
Kris Rusch talks Intellectual Property and the problems faced by heirs if there is no will. This is a timely reminder that we are all mortal and the creations we make have a life after we die. Are your heirs trained and ready?
Anne R Allen takes a look at publishing fiction sucessfully now. She has 9 great tips to follow. Every one of these tips is gold and comes from experience.
Anne also links to The New Publishing Standard (1 year old this week and read in 180 countries,) which has a focus on the global publishing industry worth $143 billion of which the US market is only $29 billion. If you are managing your own author business you have to think global.
Chuck Wendig has an interesting idea about writing careers. They are basically weird RPG’s. Writers are always looking to level up and what about the monsters they battle on the way?
Join Wattpad and you might just have the worlds biggest Literary Agent batting for you. Forbes highlights the power of Wattpad and its business model for writers. They are now brokering film and TV deals for their writers, cutting out agents.
Janice Hardy has a great post on character careers. The type of career your main character has directly informs the plot. She offers 5 things to think about when choosing fictional careers.
Have you ever read an historical novel and wondered if the author got something wildly wrong in the research? Accuracy vs Authenticity 5 tips for writing immersive historical fiction.
In The Craft Section,
12 common archetypes– Reedsy- Bookmark
How to describe settings– Bryn Donovan
Write more in 15 minutes– Elizabeth Spann Craig
Don’t over explain to readers– Zoe McCarthy
Writing a story better than its flaws– K M Weiland – Bookmark
Even villains need affection– Writescape- Bookmark
In The Marketing Section,
Getting the most out of events– Damon Suade – Bookmark
Book Description Generator– Kindlepreneur= Bookmark
4 ways to collect email leads from Facebook groups– Nate McCallister- Bookmark
3 steps for better book marketing ideas– Ingram Spark
7 presentation tips for speaking in an online world– Gigi Rosenberg- Bookmark
What does our branding promise readers– Jami Gold – Bookmark
To Finish,
Freewrite recently came up with their top 50 writing blogs. I endorse many on this list and some of the names will be very familiar to you. If you are looking for new blogs to follow take a look.
Maureen
@craicer
About Maureen Crisp
Maureen Crisp has been writing her weekly publishing roundups for over seven years. She is a traditionally published children's author as well as indie-published. She lives in New Zealand and is heading the team organising the 4th National Conference of Children's Writers and Illustrators. She is currently trying her hand at writing a children’s book series if she can drag herself away from forever tweaking her Mars novel or obsessing over space.