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Tag Archives: author
Guest Blog Series
Beginning this week, Friday, May 22, I will have a guest blog about writing and/or publishing. These blogs, by invitation only, will be carefully vetted for content applicability and author background.
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Useful Information
Good information for writers of children’s literature, especially non fiction.
http://cbiclubhouse.com/clubhouse/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/2015-04.pdf
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The Copyrights of Co-authors
From an attorney…
If two authors work together to write a book, they become joint owners in the copyright to the book. Unless the writing was separated in some easily discernable way, both authors own 50% of the work and each have all of the rights that a single author would have. If both authors contributed to every chapter and worked together to decide on wording, there is no way to differentiate between their work and therefore no method to divide the copyright.
On the other hand, if each author wrote certain chapters of the book and those chapters could be separated without destroying the work, then there might be a way to divide the copyright. Typically, that is not the case. The applicable federal law states that “a ‘joint work’ is a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole.”
Co-authorship can be problematic because both creators have the right to commercialize and monetize the product and can easily (and frequently do) interfere with each other’s efforts if there is a lack of cooperation.
When co-authorship is contemplated, it is recommended that they enter into a written assignment of the copyright to avoid joint ownership of the copyright. One of the authors can assign his rights to the other author in exchange for compensation, recognition, and other negotiated terms.
If the co-authors cannot agree on one owner, they can both assign the copyright to a company in which they both have an ownership interest. The company, such as a limited liability company, should be governed by a written agreement between the owners. That agreement should include the rights and obligations of the respective members, how to deal with contingencies such as the death of one of the owners, buyout provisions by one owner of the other’s interest, as well as other operational matters.
When a creative work is owned by only one person or one entity, there is a clearer direction for commercialization of the work and there are far fewer disputes over the respective rights and obligations of the parties.
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Who is Responsible?
Robert Medak
Published Freelance Writer, Editor, and Reviewer
Who is ultimately responsible for the quality of writing that reaches the eyes of the reader?
First, traditional publishers don’t have the time or resources to copyedit or proofread books because of today’s publishing environment.
Second, many authors choose to self-publish or create digital books on various platforms.
Third, authors choose POD or companies like Lulu, Create space, Xlibris, Booklocker, and more publishing companies showing up daily.
Fourth, do publishers offer copyediting as part of a publishing package?
Fifth, but not final is the author.
As a reviewer who has reviewed over 100 books within a period of six years, I’ve seen what appears to be what I call quality writing becoming passé.
I have written blog articles about the trend of quality writing becoming obsolete; or has editing become outdated?
I have no explanation; I’ve noticed a trend in published books that makes me wonder if teachers still teach English in schools as it was when I was in school. In many books, I read for review, there are errors in grammar, punctuation, typos, and wrong word choices. I’ve also notice errors in punctuation consistency, and word usage.
Example: If the author uses the word, truck in a story, than car is used. It might be nice if the author would explain where the car came from. Am I the only one that finds this weird if the character arrived in one or the other in the story then they get in to a vehicle in the next paragraph that uses the other word? I’ve seen it.
I have noticed the use of old clichés, so old that they were old when I was young. What about taking a cliché situation and turning it around to make it new again. Authors are supposed to be creative.
What this all boils down to is, the author has the ultimate responsibility of the quality of the book that the reader purchases to read. If authors choose to publish a book, they need to obtain a copy and proofread it for any errors in the production and correct them before readers get to read the book.
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