At your advice, I am preparing a clause for my publisher which will be retroactive (as the publisher said I could do) to include all my book contracts. My lawyer confirmed, too, that such an arrangement was between me and the publisher.
There are many ways to make a lot of money from print on demand (POD) books, especially in niche markets. Because of the low setup costs and quick turnaround time, POD printing can be used to produce books in situations where it was not possible to produce them before. One example of this is in college courses where, before, there might have been only a course packet, jumble of handouts, or nothing at all.
I’ve been fighting a croupy bug for almost two weeks now. I’d get a little better, then worse, then better, again. I felt better on Friday and ran some errands. We then went to our friends’ for dinner that night. On Saturday, I woke up very ill and spent the day in bed. I can count on one hand how many days I’ve spent in bed for an illness…and that includes childbirth.
This Week:
Tim Bete, humor writer and coordinator for the annual Erma Bombeck’s Writing Workshop, teaches that to become a paid humor columnist, you need to submit your column to someone who will pay you…
I have a book contract. However, while I received the first part of my advance, I did not receive the second half. Nevertheless, the book is already for sale. Now, I have another manuscript that I submitted to the publisher, and he said it was too long, but, that he liked the writing and the work, so he broke it up into two works. He has indicated the second will be coming out on his next list. I am gratified to have such a reception, but, the second work has no written contract, I have not been paid the second part of my advance on the first, and there has been no discussion about money on the second. I do not know what to do. I know I need an agent, but, I am in a bind. My work is already sold! However, I need money to live as well! I have no “new” work to present to an agent.
On New Year’s Eve in 1994, I gave birth to a baby girl and a new business. Crazy, yes, but it was something I had to do. Determined to be a stay-at-home-mom, I began to make my living as a home-based publicist and freelance writer. This was especially challenging since I was an orphaned single mom with no one to help me. I had to figure out a way to raise my child and earn a living in an environment that catered to both. Thank God for the Internet!
Zach (age 19) got two new Beta fish over the weekend. You can’t put them together because they’ll fight to the death, so Zach’s aquarium has a separator in it. Since Zach is such a busy guy and is rarely home, and since we have four cats, the rest of us placed a friendly family wager on how long the fish would survive. Frank bet three weeks, Ali bet six weeks, I bet three months (the 4th of July to be exact), and Richard just rolled his eyes and shook his head.
Some publications are so hungry for content they’ll publish anything – even content that ultimately hurts their readers. This is really no different from running ads (and accepting money from) companies that engage in questionable business practices or companies that do not serve writers in a positive way.
This Week:
