How a Lone Bookkeeper Killed a 49-Year-Old Literary Agency
It feels like we’ve been watching an episode of American Publishing’s Most Wanted. Not many news stories have had me fired up as much as this one!
legal
ROYALTY REFUSAL? A Charity Gets RUDE After I Try to Fulfill an Author’s Last Wish
I hated to be snarky (actually, I didn’t hate it that much) but I had to tell her that…
“My friend left me the rights to his book. His estate disagrees. I have email proof! What do I do?!”
“My friend left his book rights to me via an email message, and verbally. The estate claims it belongs to them. What do you think?”
AUTHOR ALERT! Can Your Book’s REVIEWS Get You Sued? Yep!
Authors often think they can use emails from readers for marketing purposes without asking permission.
“My cousin and I co-wrote a book but then she left my name off of it!”
Did the cousin, who is now deceased, do this on purpose? And, what recourse does the co-author have?
“Can I use old yearbook photos in my book or on my blog?” NOPE!
Old yearbook photographers could seriously get into the litigation business with all of the copyright infringement occurring online right now!!
“Can I publish other writers’ short stories in my anthology without permission?”
Can you pull short stories from the Internet and include them in your book? NO!
“Can I base my fictional character on a convicted criminal?”
What liability would an author face basing a fictional character on a living politician who committed crimes…
PUBLIC FIGURES AND LIBEL: “I want to write a tell-all book about a celebrity I once knew. Can a public figure sue me?”
Libel, defamation, invasion of privacy, stress, and LEGAL FEES. Is writing a tell-all book about a public figure financially (and morally) worth it in the end?
“I need my old book, published under my real name, removed from the Internet completely but it’s not happening! What can I do?”
I re-wrote my book under a pen name, and asked my publisher to have the old version removed from the Internet, but to no avail…