Book Publishing

Publishing, Copyright and Contracts

If Writer is your name - then Book Publishing is your game...

If you're a writer - then you're going to write.

If you're going to write - then write a book.

If you're going to write a book - then publish.

If you're going to publish your book - then you need to know about book publishing.

And if you're going to publish a book - whether self publishing (which I recommend) or by going through a conventional publisher - you need to know the ropes.

A contract with a conventional publisher isn't everything it's cracked up to be and self-publishing is both simpler and more complicated than you realize. Get it right and you'll be successful - get it wrong and you'll lose thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars, years out of your life - and it could get even worse.

Like anything else you need to Know-Before-You-Go or they'll eat you for lunch.

The following articles give a general overview of the Book Publishing industry.

And I'll soon be releasing a book "The Good, Bad & Ugly of the Publishing Business" which covers many of the details of this business including the costs and rewards of self publishing compared to conventional book publishing and the pros and cons of each. This is a must read for any serious writer.

"Digital Piracy or Digital Freedom"

While the Information Age exposes the entertainment industries to "Digital Piracy" it exposes countless artists (writers like us) to "Digital Freedom".

And while corporate executives of the book publishing and record publishing industries may be wringing their hands and gnashing their teeth - artists (that's us) should be dancing in the streets!

To understand what all the hubbub's about and why you need to know what's going on - (read more)

"Writing for Publication"

Writers tend to get confused about "why" they're writing - this article should help clear that up.

Writing for book publishing is the only legitimate reason to write stories. Creating "Art for art's sake" is a fool's errand.

Too often I hear otherwise intelligent and well meaning writers say things like the following; regarding their work when the subject of "Publication" comes up.

"I prefer to just have fun with my writing." or "I don't want publication to be the reason I write."

Then they turn right around with; "I have something to say and some stories I want to tell. For right now, that's enough for me. I write because I have stories I want to tell."

It's obvious there's a confusion of crossed purposes here. Because it's not a "story" until someone reads it... (read more)

"Publishing Contracts - Author Beware"

What authors need to know about book publishing contracts - before they sign on the dotted line. The key question is - What are you giving up and what are you getting?

Be very careful.

First - There is no such thing as a "standard" publishing contract.

This article applies equally to self or conventional publishing. The book publishing business, like any other business, operates on contracts and you need to know what to watch out for, when to get an attorney and when to run (not walk) away.

And don't think that going with a big publishing house is any guarantee of fairness. Their contracts are filled with loots of fine print and its all there to protect them - not you. (read more) to find out how to protect yourself.

Write on... and publish!

The world is waiting for your stories - and they ain't got all day!



Richard A. McCullough

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Richard

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