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A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: What Happens to Your Book When You Die?

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  It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic addresses what happens to a book after an author dies. We have certainly had a number of authors, alas, die over the years. Each death has special circumstances, and generally each case needs a lawyer's involvement. The following examples of situations we have dealt with are simple examples of real life (and death) in action and do not set us up as having any kind of legal expertise; rather, we seek that expertise when needed. The one thing that all authors who die have in common is that copyright continues after death; it does not die with them. The question then falls to heirs and publishers as to ...

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Avoiding Publishing Scams

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  It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic addresses book scams. Unfortunately, new authors, especially those who are independently minded or who despair of ever finding a publisher, are ripe for the picking by scammers.  Some of the scams out there include: Publishing companies that are scams or rip-offs They often "steal" your work; they may publish it, but they do not pay you. Check out the publisher's history of paying royalties . They contact you, offering to publish your already published book along with some kind of award program or other enticement. When MSI Press LLC authors forward me letters they get from such scammers, I...

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: How fair are your royalties?

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  It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.  Today's post addresses the topic of royalties. I suppose that topic was conditioned by the fact that the first quarter of the year is when MSI Press calculates royalties for the past year and gets ready to pay them out to authors. Of course, royalty issues should have been sorted out before a contract was signed, but if one is still pending, and for the future, perhaps some of the information here will help. Kinds of Royalties Royalties can be calculated on list or net. Royalties calculated on list are pretty easy to figure. It is generally a percentage of the selling price of the book, regardless of costs encountered in producing and m...

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Contracts You Should Not Sign

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  (photo by Frank Perez) It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic is about contracts--bad ones. We will state upfront that contracts are filled with legal terms that are often difficult for authors to understand. That legal information is important, critical, required. Also important, critical, required is that authors understand what they sign, reading the proposed contract as carefully as they would read any other document. AND RUN IT PAST AN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS LAWYER. OK, let's take a look at one can go wrong with a contract. Rights and copyrights (see our previous blog POST on this topic for more information): Never sign a contr...

Tip #24 from Teacher Secrets for Parents (McKinley & Trombly) - Displaying work

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  Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly (yes, those are the two talented teachers). #24 Displaying Work   If children live with recognition, they learn to have a goal. ~Dorothy L. Nolte   Your child will feel a great sense of pride when you hang up something she's made. Displaying her work shows that you are proud of her and what she's done. This will look different as your child gets older: from the first finger paintings to the cute little poem to the detailed reports she will write. If your refrigerator gets full, try displaying things on the bedroom doors or even taking something to work with you to hang by your desk. Could Aunt Debbie hang something at her house? Think about the picture or writing and find the perfect place or person for it. You could save "extras" in a special basket for times when your child writes a letter to someone (like a ...

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors -- and a Plea: Authors, Do Not Waste Your Precious Time

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  It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic popped up because I received three book proposals that were very easy and quick to turn down. Although perhaps some editors might not have responded at all, I do like to get back to authors who submit proposals. Often, if a book is almost viable, just needs some tweaking, I might give some suggestions for improvement. (Not all authors take these suggestions kindly, but in those cases, I consider nasty responses evidence that I made the right decision in rejecting the manuscript; I would not want to work with such an author.) In today's cases, I was presented with proposals for novels. That is an easy...

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Why Traditional Publishers Generally Will Not Take On a Self-Published Book

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    (photo by Frank Perez) It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic is  about taking a self-published book to a traditional publisher in hopes of getting a contract.  At least a couple of times a month, a self-published author approaches MSI Press with a proposal to republish his or her self-published book. They all seem to think that their  poorly selling self-published book would soar to best-seller status if only a traditional publisher would take it on or that their self-published book with modest sales would not thrill a publisher by how many sales had been made or had many polite reviews simply re-stated the content and refr...