Tag: copyright

The Times, They Never Stop Changing

Published on by Michael McCandlessLeave a comment

It has long held true in publishing that 20% of the titles make for 80% of the profits. Whether the typical numbers are more like 40/60 or 10/90, the principle is the same. In any speculative business such as book publishing (or movies or music or gold mining), the best-sellers carry the rest of the list to profitability and sustainability. But if Lora Kelly, a writer for The Atlantic, is right, even this economic pillar of the publishing business is changing. See Taylor Swift Is a Perfect Example of How Publishing Is Changing for the story.

This may be very good news for other self-publishing authors like Ms. Swift. I’ve always thought that the best way for a self-publishing author to get a shot with an established, aka traditional, publisher is to wait for them to come to you. For years now, savvy acquisition editors have been training their sights on Amazon and other platforms to get a bead on the next best sellers. A single shot to an aspirational writer has sometimes landed a new super-star author. What are the odds? Better than a total shot in the dark, apparently.

So, be ready for that e-mail or letter from an editor at a big-name publisher. Know your rights, and your copyrights. Be prepared to sell some, but not necessarily all, your rights to the first big-game hunter who has their sights on you. In the meantime, dream big, and get back to writing your sequel!

How do I copyright my book?

Published on by Mike McCandlessLeave a comment

The right to make copies of any creative work belong automatically, naturally, and legally to its creator. There is easy-to-access information about copyright basics available at copyright.gov. Get started on this page. Briefly, you do not need to file a form or pay a fee to claim and hold the copyright to your work. At your first opportunity, you should simply add a copyright notice to your draft manuscript. That is enough to claim your copyright. Make sure that all copies of your work carry your copyright notice. The standard form for this is “Copyright [year] [name of copyright owner].” The copyright symbol (which can be rendered as (c) if you can’t insert the fancier version, ©) isn’t necessary but is normally used. Later, if you want to register your copyrighted work, you can do so starting at copyright.gov.