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Think your family members will play nice once you kick the bucket? THINK AGAIN!

TRUE STORY: A BookLocker author who earned more than $200K in royalties died. Extended family members then took his widow to court. A link to that story is below.

TRUE STORY: One author’s relatives went to court, and spent thousands, not even knowing the paltry amount of unpaid royalties that were due. We share that amount in this episode!

TRUE STORY: In an attempt to steal his dad’s royalties, an author’s adult son falsely claimed his dad had died. How did Angela figure out the author was still alive and what did the dad do next?

TRUE STORY: One relative, who was not the beneficiary, claimed to be the author’s only living relative. The author’s living, breathing widow was very surprised to hear about that!

AND, WE SHARE MORE EXAMPLES!

When an author dies, what can happen to their royalties and rights? In this episode, Angela and Brian share several examples of the lengths some people have gone to in an attempt to steal (yes, that’s what they’re doing!) the rights (and future royalties) of an author’s work once they are gone. Their greed can cause years of turmoil and legal battles for surviving friends and family. You’ll be shocked at how devious some people can be!

And, think it’s just relatives? Nope! Some “author reps” and “editors” have been caught trying to steal from authors’ heirs as well! In this episode, we not only provide egregious examples of greed, but we also present you with the steps YOU can take (and pitfalls you should watch out!) for when assigning beneficiaries for your work.

YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS ONE!

And, as always, we’d love to hear your comments and ideas!

LINKS REFERENCED IN THIS EPISODE:

• How we got Rocky the cat: This Guy Scared Me to Death…and Then He Moved In!
• FAMILY FIGHT! BookLocker Author Died After Earning More $200K in Royalties, and Then…
• BookLocker.com takes excellent care of its authors while they are still living…and their rightful heirs after the authors pass!
• Why you should NOT let your editor or “author rep” complete your publishing contract for you!
• Decades-Old Family Feud Over Steinbeck Estate And Control Of His Works Finally Concludes
• What Is a Slander of Title Claim?
• 25 Legendary Literary Feuds, Ranked – Ding Ding Ding: Let the Fight Begin by Emily Temple