When An Author Dies, The Vultures Will Rise!

Angela,

Thank you for this article and the beneficiary clause! I don’t know why–given how dodgy some can be–but I was truly shocked by the lengths people will go to in order to latch onto copyrights and royalties.

M.

How to Get Art for Articles

In response to George Arnold Hall’s letter in the 12/14 issue:

While it’s true that the writer generating art or taking photos owns the copyrights, it is not always in the writer’s best interest financially to be the source of the art/photos. Most of the time, I conduct phone interviews with people who live too far away to warrant driving the distance to photograph.

For example, if I drive three hours round-trip to take photos of a source, I could have written another two 1,200-word articles during that time. It essentially would reduce my pay because of all the wasted driving time. Even if I tried to line up several photo shoots in one day (a logistical nightmare with most of my busy interviewees), I still couldn’t make a full-time living at freelance writing because I would spend too much time on the road.

Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
https://www.skilledquill.net