The Writer's Legal Guide: An Authors Guild Desk Reference

by Tad Crawford, Kay Murray

In an increasingly digitized and complex publishing world, writers need to know how to protect themselves against copyright infringement, legal trouble, and unwise concessions to publishers. Still the author’s foremost advocate for copyright protection, fair contracts, and free expression, the Authors Guild has once again partnered with Allworth Press to update this invaluable reference. Thoroughly revised to reflect the many changes in the publishing industry, the fourth edition offers plain-English explanations of legal and business aspects of the trade, from electronic rights and ebooks to contracts and accounting. Other topics include: 

Genres: Writing, Reference, Nonfiction, Business

352 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2013

About the author

I'm the author of the novel A Floating Life as well as The Secret Life of Money and a dozen other nonfiction books, chiefly on the business lives of artists and writers. My stories and articles have appeared in such venues as Art in America, The Café Irreal, Confrontation, Communication Arts, Family Circle, Glamour, Guernica, The Nation, and Writer's Digest.

I am the founder and publisher of Allworth Press in New York City.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good reference book about the ins and outs of publishing, copyright, contracts, agents and self-publishing. Adding it to my list so I can refer back to the chapter on Taxes.

[Martha Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won "The Writer's Legal Guide" on the First Reads give away and am so happy that I did.

It came just in time for me to review tax information for writers just prior to sending off my yearly tax return. Although this is my third year as an author to file taxes, I learned quite a bit of useful information from this book that helped me this year in filing. Another issue that I had been concerned with is dealt with in the last chapter on estate planning, wills for authors. I have found it difficult to find information on this subject elsewhere, so I was happy to find an entire helpful chapter devoted to it.

The best thing about this book is that it includes exactly what words to use in legal author matters as well as many sources on legal questions for authors, including websites that are helpful.

Martha Char Love
author of "What's Behind Your Belly Button? A Psychological Perspective of the Intelligence of Human Nature and Gut Instinct"

[Pamela D · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book through the GoodReads First Reads giveaway.

Before I review this book, I should say that I am not a professional and nowhere near publishing a book. For this reason, I cannot speak to whether the information is correct. Of course, with books that discuss legal matters, it is always a good idea to check out sources too (laws have a habit of changing). The book discusses a variety of important topics for writers including ebooks, copyright, and taxes; however, because the book is less than 350 pages and not a massive tome, he does not go into substantial detail on each subject (again, a good reason to check other sources). One last thing to know is that the book is a bit dense (lots of law to squeeze into a short book!). Overall, this is a great go to book for writers who need some legal help.