I was appalled to read the story about the woman who is now a devotional writer who worked so hard on her high school assignment. To get that poor grade just because “it doesn’t sound like you” was, in my opinion, totally out of line. With the stroke of a pen, this instructor destroyed the joy in writing of a young woman and kept her from decades of contributing to fiction and nonfiction, not to mention pleasure…
When pulling art or photography from the Internet, most authors know to be careful about copyright protection. Most of the work found online cannot be copied without the expectation of a DMAC take-down notice from an artist’s attorney, so most writers focus their searches on stock photo sites instead. These sites, usually owned by massive multimedia conglomerates, sell licenses to photographs and vector artwork at reasonable prices. Professional and DIY cover designers alike rely on stock sites as a source of affordable, safe art. Unfortunately, not all stock art is trustworthy…
I emailed you awhile back that one of the main characters in my new book is modeled after my client, who is in his 90s. There is an agreement/contract that I typed up and had him sign but it’s difficult for him to get around. I did not have the contract notarized at a local bank, etc. because of this. He was fine with everything and his daughter read over the contract as well and had no issues.
He’s become a very good friend and I don’t foresee any issues.
My success in writing – specifically freelance travel writing – happened very slowly, and it took a lot of perseverance to get there…
