What Authors Should Know: Copyright, Piracy, and Digital Rights Management

You've worked hard on your book. Is someone going to steal it?

Even before they’ve published, new authors tend to be concerned (sometimes overly so) about copyright, to the point where some are reluctant to share anything about their book projects out of fear someone will “steal” their ideas. In general, such concerns are the mark of a novice; experienced, professional authors may choose not to talk a lot about a work-in-progress out of concern for mucking up their creative process, but they aren’t worried about theft at that point; they know that what makes a book successful isn’t so much the idea as how it’s rendered on the page, using all the talent, energy, and skill an author can muster. They also understand that as soon as their original work is “fixed” in “tangible” form, it’s covered under US copyright law, so something as simple as an email stored in a digital file is protected by copyright—there’s no registration or notice required.

You may hear of other ways to “copyright” your work, such as mailing your manuscript to yourself or showing it to friends. These were pre-digital safeguards for proving that you were the author and attaching a date to your work. If you save your files in your computer, the author and date are electronically attached automatically. Of course, if you want to pay to have your work registered with the US Copyright Office (the fee is $140), you can do so at any time, pre- or post-publication. The primary advantage to registering pre-publication is that should you need to bring a lawsuit against someone for copyright infringement, preregistered copyright entitles you to seek compensation for statutory as opposed to actual damages as well as reimbursement of legal costs. And in any event, before you can take legal action in the United States against someone for copyright infringement, you’ll need to register your copyright, but you can do this at any point during the life of your book, which for US copyright purposes (covering books published after 1978) is the life of the author plus seventy years.

Before you plunk down your money for copyright registration, consult an attorney who specializes in intellectual property and/or educate yourself on the details of copyright using an authoritative guide like The Chicago Manual of Style, a reference widely used by publishers not only for detailed explanations on matters of copyright and fair use, but also for matters of usage, grammar, punctuation, and style. There you’ll find specifics on copyright notice, which is no longer required under US law (if you’re publishing elsewhere, the laws are different) but is strongly advised as a deterrent against infringement. Copyright notice is printed on the copyright page—on the flip side of the title page in print editions, and more commonly at the end of an ebook.

Sadly, copyright protection has done little to combat the problem of piracy, which plagued the music and video industries before spreading to books. As the Google books project proved, little effort or expense is required to scan and upload a book. (For the record, Google attempted to include in their project only books for which they believed the copyright was expired or “in question"; much legal wrangling ensued with authors). 

As a deterrent to piracy, some publishers embed DRM (digital rights management) into their ebooks. If you're uploading your own ebooks with individual vendors, each will ask if you’d like to enable DRM. I don’t use DRM, because from what I understand, pirates can more or less instantly break through the DRM barrier, while DRM restricts readers to a single device for reading a book.

The truth is that pirates focus on “hot” titles, the ones from which they’re most likely to make a profit. If your book is one of those, use a service like Muso, which for a modest monthly fee will scour the internet daily for pirated versions of your books and, at your request, remove illegal files from hosting services—and you can try Muso first, for thirty days, free of charge, to see if your books are being pirated. 

One Author's Publishing Success: An Interview with Autumn Dawn

Author Autumn Dawn, a former student from North Pole High School.

Like many writers, I was a teacher first. Following a news article on my latest novel, I received an inspiring email from a former student, now a fellow author who writes under the name Autumn Dawn.

“I wanted to thank you again for teaching my North Pole High School class,” she said. “I’ve made good use of it. It makes me emotional thinking about what I would have done without teachers like you. So many stories would have gone untold, and I have over twenty works published now. Two were published in NY, two are with Amazon’s publishing arm and the rest are self-published.”

As teachers all over the country prepare to start a new year, I hope they’ll find encouragement in this example of what a difference they’ll make in the lives of their students. Not every one of them will find the success Autumn has, or take the time to acknowledge how you’ve helped them along the way, but your creative efforts in the classroom do have an impact.

After reconnecting, Autumn and I thought it would be fun to swap interviews; you’ll find her interview with me on her blog.

You pointed out that the two of us had something in common: school counselors/academic advisers told us that we’d never make a living as writers. How did you get past that?

I’m stubborn and competitive, and I like a challenge. Writing made me happy, and the stories didn’t stop just because someone disapproved. For the record, I was almost forty before my parents saw any sense in it. My father admitted he thought I was wasting my time with writing, which I knew, but at least he didn’t say it out loud.

Also, my husband and high school sweetheart, John, is extremely supportive. We’ve been married since 1994 and every day is a blessing.

You’ve not only made a living as a writing, you’ve also earned a six-figure annual income from your books. Tell us a little about that journey, and what the money does and doesn’t mean to you as a creative individual.

It was a huge validation, of course. Someone wanted to read my books! We’d just moved to Washington and I hoped to make some money to help with groceries, and suddenly my sales numbers shot up! We watched in amazement, and all the guys at John’s work were cheering like it was a sports event as John shared the latest stats. I could say “HA!” to all all the doubters.

As for the money, I had to find a good accountant to help with that. We did our best to be practical, opened a Roth, bought our first new car ever and paid it off quickly. I also got some professional book covers and editing, which were a huge part of my success. It paid for plane tickets to see family in Alaska, things like that. I’m a practical girl, and did my best to bring value to our lives. 

You’ve managed to write twenty books while raising three active children. What advice do you have for other moms who write?

A book is a good place to hide when the toddlers are running rampant. Invest in a set of headphones and place the computer so you can see the kids but not the TV. Also, I’m not a soccer mom. We keep things simple and relaxed here without a lot of running around. I simply don’t have the temperament for it. Sports are fine and every kid should learn to swim, but there should be balance. We eat dinner together every night and the house is clean. We talk about our day and if one of the kids is having a problem, I notice and we talk about it. I can’t do that if everyone is running full tilt at all times, and I can’t write if I’m stressed.

Honestly, housekeeping, cooking and dealing with teens is a big job, so I have to stay organized if I want to write. And sometimes, John cooks.

You said, “I didn’t know until I was an adult that I was a gifted person, but writing was always an outlet for a kid that wasn’t quite in sync with the others.” What encouragement do you have for other kids who aren’t “quite in sync” with the rest?

Skip childhood. Kidding! Best case scenario, I’d love to see gifted kids discovered in school and given the help they need. To my school’s credit, I believe they tried. I actually needed counseling as an adult, and once I suspected I was gifted, I devoured books on it and haunted websites. I read things and think, what? That’s unusual? I could do that, why didn’t someone tell me? My mother said I was a weird kid, and she hated to see me “waste all my time reading”. Little did she know I was preparing for my future job.

If your kid gets a 99% verbal on the PSAT, she’s probably gifted. It won’t matter if she doesn’t know how to sew. You should discuss college or a good tech school, however.

I didn’t realize it was odd to carry books from the library stacked to my chin. I finally learned to drive at seventeen so I could spend time in the bookstore. I didn’t know how to talk to kids my age, and later Mom told me that they wanted to skip me ahead a grade. She refused that and the gifted program because she didn’t want me to feel “pressured.” ARRRGH! I wondered what happened to my friends; they seemed to all disappear from my classes in middle school, and now I know they were in the gifted program.

I saw some of them again in the AP and honor classes, but by then I hated school. High school was a prison sentence and I wanted out. Being an adult was much better.

I don’t regret not attending college. If I want to learn something, I pick up a book and read. While you can’t learn to dance that way, it’s great for teaching yourself website design, Photoshop, computer stuff and gourmet baking. We tell our kids that apprenticeships, tech school and the military are excellent ways to get an education that won’t put you in debt for years, but never stop learning, and never give up. You were custom made for a job, and if it doesn’t exist yet, create it! 

You’re incredibly imaginative and prolific. How have readers discovered you and your books? After twenty books, do you find you still have to work to promote your new titles, or do your fans find them?

Thank you. I’ve always enjoyed creating worlds no one else has dreamed of, and I’m very careful not to repeat myself. I like to keep things fresh, and my readers appreciate that.

I post new books on my site, blog and Facebook. That’s it. I should have a mailing list, but I don’t. I find that frequent releases are the best way to generate sales, and I usually have at least one ebook free. I think happy readers are the best word of mouth.

Autumn Dawn
autumndawnbooks.com

Autumn is a professional writer and stay at home mom with three kids, a dog and an active imagination. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, John, who is known to bring her flowers "just because.” After 34 years in Alaska, she moved to Washington with her family to enjoy a state with actual seasons. She started self-publishing in 2010 after a string of rejections that read, “We love your writing, but we’re not sure how to market it.” She published on Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, which lead to a number of bestsellers. After The Charmer hit #1 on Barnes & Noble for fantasy romance, she threw herself into editing and uploading her backlist.

Her income for 2011 was $100,000, far exceeding her best year with traditional publishing. In 2012, Amazon acquired Dorchester Books, which had picked up two of her books, and Autumn gave Amazon the rights to publish When Sparks Fly and No Words Alone (from the Sparks Series), believing that diversification is good business. While Autumn is grateful for the opportunities traditional publishing provided, she remains passionate about self-publishing. Keep an eye on her blog for news about upcoming books!

Iron & Hemlock

Life can change in the blink of an eye.

It was just an ordinary day when lightning struck and sent Jordan spinning back in time. Trapped in Victorian England, practical Jordan will have to abandon her disbelief in magic. Pursued by a sexy golden griffin and a dark fae who wants her blood, she just might rediscover the thrill of falling in love.

Smashwords I Amazon I Barnes & Noble I ibooks

Writing Exercises: Are They Worthwhile?

From the Writing Picture Prompts Pinterest board

Isn’t it wonderful, being a writer? The joy! The freedom!  Anywhere, anytime, inspiration may strike.  And we’re ready, with our notepads and laptops and smart phones, ready to spin our ideas in whichever direction they want to go.  That snippet of dialogue, that flash of insight, that exquisite image – from any of these, an entire poem or essay or novel can grow.  We just have to run with it.

But run where? There are so many possibilities. So many directions. Freedom, it seems, is also a curse. What is a novel, after all, but what author David Stevenson once described as a million ways to go wrong?

If brain research is any indicator, poets have the right idea when they work within forms.  While the rest of us run freely, poets quietly and mindfully hold the writer’s equivalent of a yoga pose, enjoying the broader creative perspective that paradoxically comes from constraint.

“We break out of the box by stepping into shackles,” Jonah Lehrer says, citing a study led by Janina Marguc at the University of Amsterdam which shows that obstacles of form force us to think in a broader, more interesting ways. Want to broaden your perception? Open up new ways of thinking? Find the connections between ideas that seem unrelated?  Find a roadblock, or as poets call it, a form.

Calling the brain “a neural tangle of near infinite possibility,” Lehrer explains that without constraints, our brains zero in on what not to notice, and as a result creativity suffers.  “The artificial requirements of the sonnet are just another cognitive obstacle,” he says, “a hurdle that compels the mind to think in a more holistic fashion. Unless poets are stumped by their art, unless they are forced to look beyond the obvious associations, they’ll never invent an original line. They’ll be stuck with clichés and banalities, with predictable adjectives and boring verbs. And this helps explain the stubborn endurance of poetic forms: because poets need to find a rhyming word with exactly three syllables, or an adjective that fits the iambic scheme, they end up uncovering all sorts of unexpected associations.”

This is why writing exercises can be so effective, even for experienced writers.  Cognitive push-ups, mindful poses – these actually nudge us toward originality, not away from it.  Plus the stakes are low, and that never hurts.

Blocked? In a rut? Stuck in the forever-middle?  Indulge in an exercise, ten or fifteen minutes of writing push-ups and poses, and see what creative ways of thinking you unleash. Then as O’Connor suggests, start looking for the limitations imposed by your work as it unfolds.

Not sure where to start? You'll find writing exercises at The Self-Made Writer, at Poets & Writers, and at the Warren-Wilson website. Pinterest even has a board of Writing Picture Prompts.

This post also runs at www.49writers.blogspot.com.

Blurbs for Your Book

There’s a lot of confusion out there about book blurbs: what they are, what makes a good one, how many you should have, and how to get them.

In theory, the term “blurb” has two meanings: a commendatory assessment of a book written by its publisher (aka jacket copy, flap copy, back cover copy), and a commendatory assessment of a book written by someone else (aka endorsement). In traditional publishing, “blurb” generally means the latter—an endorsement by someone else—with the other terms (jacket copy, flap copy, back cover copy) used to describe promotional material written by the publisher. Especially when they come from respected authors, blurbs (endorsements) are a means of discovery for readers, and they offer social proof.

If you publish traditionally, your publisher (and sometimes your agent) may contact respected authors with blurb requests, following up with Advance Reading Copies (arcs). But your publisher will also ask you to suggest authors who might blurb your book, and of course if you’re publishing your own work, the entire task will rest on your shoulders.

How to get blurbs for your book? Here, a few tips:

·         Readers are important, but reader reviews aren’t blurbs. A blurb should be an endorsement from a respected author of a similar book or, if the book is nonfiction, someone highly respected in the field.

·         Quality matters more than quantity. Years ago, I received a copy of a novel that had 27 blurbs, including endorsements by bookstores (no names given), pastors, institute directors, authors of nonfiction, and professors. Lost in the shuffle were a five-star review by Midwest Book Reviews and an endorsement by a well-known author. The overall effect of all these blurbs was that the author was reaching too hard to impress. The best blurbs come from respected authors of books that are similar to yours, authors with which you hope to share cross-readership, along with snippets of reviews from respected publications (well-known newspapers, Booklist, Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Foreword Reviews).

·         When deciding whom to approach, think first about which books are most like yours. Then narrow the list to authors with whom you have meaningful relationships, either in real time (through conferences, workshops, writing groups) or online. There should be a good chance that these authors will like your book, and that your work is similar enough that they might benefit from crossover readership with your readers.  

·         Your request should be simple, straightforward, and personal. Say a little about the book, how and when the arc will be delivered, and how and when the blurb should be returned (generally, by email, to either the author or the publisher). If you sense hesitation, don’t press it. We’re all busy, and some authors have a no-blurb policy.

·         Use blurbs on your back cover (one or two), on the first page (“Praise for . . .), and on your website (I use my favorite excerpts on my home page and provide the full text on a separate “Praise”page.) Blurbs that don’t make the print deadline can always be added to the digital edition.

·         From a friend who writes mysteries, I learned that some authors in some genres don’t read the books they blurb; the blurbs are done as favors within the industry, with wording provided by the publishers. It’s different in literary fiction, which I write: authors read the books they blurb. One who blurbed my novel Cold Spell even took time to write after the fact, “Listen, I know there's a lot of tit for tat in the book world, but I just want to say that my admiration for your book is sincere and profound. I'm still thinking about it. It was such a delight--to open it and see your talent pooling all over each page.”

·         Besides helping readers find books, blurbs can be a wonderful “feel-good” for the author—plus they help us see our work in new ways. About my novel Cold Spell, author David Vann (whose work I hugely admire) wrote, “Cold Spell is Greek tragedy.  From the very first pages, these lives are out of control.  You’ll care for Sylvie, and also her mother Ruth, and you’ll want them not to hurt each other, but of course they will.” I hadn’t thought of the story in quite that way, but he’s absolutely right. In her blurb, author Cindy Dyson spoke of the “tenderized realism” in Cold Spell, applied to both setting and characters. I like that term—along with other observations by blurbers, it helps refine my vision of my work.