Helen Sedwick's Blog, page 2

Audio Book Options for Indie Authors

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The audio book market is growing faster than any other format. People are listening to books while they drive, exercise, or simply relax. Listeners don’t have to stop when they switch devices, since Kindle’s Whispersync enables them to move between audio and ebooks without losing their place.

Every indie author should consider jumping into this market.

What Audio Books Sell Best?

Fiction captures 77% of the market, and adult titles outsell children’s titles by almost 9 to 1.

Most listeners (...

The Problem of Orphan Works

Last week, I had lunch with a writer who is deep into revising her memoir. She showed me a stack of photos from her years in summer stock theater and Off-Off-Broadway plays. She told me how important they were to her book. Unfortunately, I put my lawyer hat on, and I asked her if she had permission to use the photos. Most likely a photographer or theater company or someone owns the copyright in those photos. Her jaw dropped. “How am I ever going to figure that out?”

Very good question.

When t...

Step-by-Step Guide to Dealing With Content Theft

[image error]Content theft is big business, whether it’s illegally downloading movies or reposting blog posts without attribution. Every month Google receives more than 30 million requests to remove search results that link to allegedly infringing material. Thirty million a month!

Sooner or later, every blogger and writer will find her work reposted or republished without permission. Or she may find websites offering free PDFs downloads of her books.

The good news is writers have various options for deali...

How to Handle Unauthorized Use of Your Blog Content

[image error]If you are putting blog content on the internet, then at some point you will have to decide whether to lock up your content and give it away.

Some bloggers protect all their work. They post a copyright notice on every page and register the copyright of their web content with the U.S. Copyright Office. They send DMCA takedown notices whenever they find their content reused without permission.

Other bloggers donate their work to the public domain by marking it with a Creative Commons public dom...

Blogging: Should You Loosen Your Grip on Your Content?

[image error]If you are putting blog content on the internet, then at some point you will have to decide whether to lock up your content and give it away.

Some bloggers protect all their work. They post a copyright notice on every page and register the copyright of their web content with the U.S. Copyright Office. They send DMCA takedown notices whenever they find their content reused without permission.

Other bloggers donate their work to the public domain by marking it with a Creative Commons public dom...

Law 101 for Bloggers

[image error]Today’s writers wear many hats. We are Tweeters, Pinteresters, YouTube-ists and most of all, bloggers. Maybe we have heard about privacy policies and COPPA, but we don’t know whether they apply to us. After all, we are not challenging Wall Street, City Hall, or Big Data. We are blogging to inform readers about our work and sell a few books. We don’t expect our little blogs to turn into big lawsuits.

Unfortunately, by blogging, writers are exposing themselves to new legal risks, primarily infr...

How to Hire an Attorney

Sooner or later, you may need an attorney.

Perhaps your publishing business is expanding to the point where you are considering incorporating and bringing in investors. Maybe your collaboration agreement needs a legal touch. Or, the worst has happened and someone is suing you for infringement, defamation, or some other wrongful act.

Many people have an unfavorable view of attorneys, which is not entirely fair. Yes, some attorneys are bullies, but they would have been bullies no matter what th...

Publishing a Book to Promote Your Expertise and Business

Want to be the author in authority? Want to create an instant credential? Want to be seen as the go-to person in your field?

Then consider writing and self-publishing a book. Not just any book, but a book that shows off your expertise and provides valuable, useful information to your readers and potential customers/clients.

Typically, I speak to writers about legal issues. Last weekend, I spoke to lawyers about self-publishing a book as the ultimate content marketing tool. I wanted to share m...

Overcharging Authors for Their Own Books!

Self-publishing authors give away a lot of books. First, to family and friends, especially those you can nudge into writing a review. Then, to potential bloggers, reviewers, bookstores, and other contacts.

And writers sell their own books at readings, book fairs, and through their websites.

To make a reasonable profit, you need to pay as little as you can for a decently printed book.

When deciding which POD provider or self-publishing service company to use, be sure to calculate how much you...

Sources of Public Domain Lyrics

My recent post on Joel Friedlander’s TheBookDesigner.com about getting permission to use lyrics has been a big hit. But a few writers have asked me for sources of public domain lyrics. I have a list below.

But first, a little about public domain works in general.

Any work in the public domain is free to use without permission or compensation. You should, however, always give credit to the original creator out of respect and to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is not a legal claim; it’s more of a...