In today’s Journal
* My (Our) Beginning-Writer Anti-Scam Efforts
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
I dropped in on my Facebook account this morning just to see what was going on. In a writing group (Arizona Writers) several days ago, I’d responded to a question from a new author who’d just finished her book.
Other apparently beginning writers and-or writers who have bought into all the most prevalent myths were telling her how much it costs to self-publish and talking about traditional publishers.
I wrote “Self publish. ALWAYS keep control of your intellectual property (IP) copyright and it will pay you for your lifetime plus 70 years.”
She replied with another question: “[D]o you have to pay for the copyright? I dont mind paying I just don’t know if it’s a thing lol.”
My response: “NO. Absolutely not. You own the copyright the instant the work is ‘in fixed form.’ You CAN pay a fee to have your copyright registered with the US Copyright Office, but that isn’t necessary either. I usually register only the first novel in each series and any major standalone novels I write. I recommend buying a copy of The Copyright Handbook by NOLO press. Then just browse it now and then. Copyright is property just like your house is property and it has real value.”
But even just scratching the surface of copyright like that almost exhausted me because I knew it probably would do no good.
Still, in what I know is probably a losing battle, I went back and added this comment:
“[Author Name] if you don’t mind me saying so, you are ripe for scammers. Please, never pay ANYTHING to ANYONE to publish your book. If you have to, hire a good cover designer, but that’s it.
“I recommend AGAINST hiring an editor. Why allow any conscious mind to dally with what you created with your creative subconscious? That’s always a bad idea. Have a friend read for typos and possibly wrong-word usages (waste/waist, etc.) and then slap a cover on the book and publish it.
“For ease of use and wide initial coverage, I recommend draft2digital.com for ebooks, and they’ll even guide you through setting up a paper edition.
“Good luck. I also recommend visiting my Journal at https://hestanbrough.com. Type Topic into the Search box and you’ll find tons of FREE and useful information. And I don’t scam people.”
And then I thought I’d share all of this with all of you.
PLEASE, if you know any writers similar to the author above, tell them about my Journal. Most visitors to the Journal never hire me as a mentor. Most visitors to the Journal are not patrons.
But even if new readers of the Journal never hire me as a mentor, etc. and even if they only skeptically browse the tons of free writing advice I’ve offered over the years in topics, at least we might help them avoid a scammer or two, and that will be more than worthwhile.
And for goodness’ sake, tell them about The Copyright Handbook (NOLO Press) so they can understand the value of their intellectual property.
Thanks.
As it turned out, I didn’t write yesterday at all. I will rectify that today.
Tomorrow is the 245th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. I stand by my oath. To any other Marines or other military brothers or sisters out there, Semper fi.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Unfortunately, I saw absolutely nothing of interest this morning.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 540 words
Writing of The Ark (novel)
Day 10… 4361 words. Total words to date…… 31495
Day 11… 3312 words. Total words to date…… 34807
Day 12… 2142 words. Total words to date…… 36949
Total fiction words for November……… 13280
Total fiction words for the year………… 376558
Total nonfiction words for November… 3160
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 169000
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 545558
Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 5
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 13
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 50
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 214
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31