small business | Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – Copyright

May 4, 2023
mandyevebarnett

We celebrated Copyright Day on 23rd April, but what does it actually mean?

Copyrights are an important part of securing your work against a number of things, such as plagiarism. It allows you to take legal action against anybody, who has copied or reproduced your work without consent. It is a lifetime protection, although generally, copyrights last for the life of the author, or the remainder of the calendar year in which the author dies, and then for 70 years following the end of that calendar year.

So why copyright?

1. It’s beneficial to have your work on record when you register

Registering your book with the copyright office provides you exclusive rights.

2. It prevents others from copying your work

Copyrighting your book legally protects you if someone tries to steal ideas, characters, plot, or any likeness from your work.

3. You cannot sue for copyright infringement unless your book is registered

If someone does steal from you, you cannot do anything about it unless you registered your book.

4. You can produce derivative content related to your copyrighted book

Since you own the rights to your characters, story, and anything unique to your work, you have the freedom to produce more content related to it.

5. Your work can be performed or displayed publicly

If you apply for copyright, you have the freedom to use your book in any public way you wish since you own it. You don’t have to worry about someone else using your work in a public way without your permission.

So in essence all your writing is covered under copyright.

If you are unsure investigate with your publisher or the platform you are publishing with.

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – Countdown to WFSC Writers Annual Conference

March 30, 2023
mandyevebarnett

The countdown is on for the annual writers conference hosted by the Writers Foundation of Strathcona County. This year they are exploring several facets of the writing life, which will aid writers in all stages in their writing career.

The conference title is Expanding Your Writing

They have secured three incredible presenters.

Leif Gregerson – Magazine Writing

Katherine Koller – Dialogue in Play Writing

Brenda Hennig – Alberta Foundation for the Arts – Grant writing

Dr. Jenna Butler – unable to attend – new presenter to be advised

Each session will give expert information on how you can expand your writing, your career and your knowledge of the art of writing.

Whether you are a novice, or a well seasoned writer, this conference is open to all. It will aid you in exploring new aspects of writing, opportunities available and new avenues to prospect.

You can register here:

https://www.wfscsherwoodpark.com/annual-writers-conference

Venue: Community Room 2, Community Center, 401 Festival Lane, Sherwood Park, Alberta

Time: Registration 8:30 am Sessions 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Authors: there is also an opportunity to promote your books.

Want to get your book promotion included on their Facebook Page on the day of the conference? Send them your short book write-up–think ‘book blurb’– front cover jpeg image, and a link to where it can be purchased.

Your book promotion will be posted for $15 during the conference.

Have a book trailer or video? Promote your book for $25 for the day.

Wordsmith’s Collective Thursday – Tips on Maintaining Your Writer Blog

February 9, 2023
mandyevebarnett

Once you have set up your blog and identified your target audience and know what theme/topics you will cover, now you need to maintain it.

One of the most important tasks is to ensure you have a regular schedule, so your readers know when to expect a post from you. Set days and times that are manageable for your lifestyle and time constraints. Be realistic about how much time you can give to your blog, do not overwhelm yourself with unrealistic goals. Posts can be weekly, monthly or quarterly – as long as the schedule is recurring.

Remember having a schedule allows you to write posts in advance and schedule them. Make use of this option by dropping a quick sentence into a draft post of an ideas you have for a post. We all know we won’t remember the idea later!

So why do you need to blog consistently?

In short it establishes author credibility. Readers become familiar with your work and it attracts new readers to your site. Consistent blogging means you are continually attracting a stream of potential new readers to your site with fresh, updated content. Readers love to get an intimate view into the life of their favorite authors along with any upcoming events and book launches. The more you share the more they will want to come back.

Remember to keep your author information, pages, books and events current. It doesn’t take a lot of time to ensure any changes are corrected or updated. This includes the copyright statement for your blog content to ensure it is not pirated. This is essential for the safety of your content should you need to take action on unauthorized copying. Unfortunately, this does happen.

Make Connections to Grow

You want your blog’s reach and popularity to grow so connect with authors in similar genres and also readers of your specific genre(s). This should be a constant work in progress in the maintaining of your blog. Don’t let it become static. The more you connect the larger your reach. To attain growth here are a few tips.

Research similar authors, who have blogs and offer to guest post on each other’s websites.
Run regular interviews with people who fascinate you.
If you have a specific genre connect with other writers in the same genre as well as their following. See what they are posting.
Visit forums and post your blogs there.
Link your blogs to your social media platforms to gain exposure.
Encourage your established readers to post your blog links on their social media to spread the news to as many new sets of eyes as possible.
Utilize hashtags when you post to your social media sites. Twitter, Facebook, and other social media networks always offer—as part of your static profile—an opportunity to link to your homepage.
Create a special introduction for people who visit your website from your Twitter profile, Facebook fan page, Goodreads page, etc.
Remember your SEO (search engine optimization) and include your ‘top’ search words in every post.
When creating the link from your website offer an intriguing question, lead in, excerpt, or explanation of why the post might be interesting to people on your social networks.
Write book reviews and use the author name and book titles as keywords. This will draw their readers to your site.

Additional Maintenance and Updating Tips

Create a dedicated page on your website for each and every book title.
For each book page, make the page title identical to the book title.
Use a full or extended description for each book.
Link previous blog posts related to each book to tell the story of its inception and launch.
Include links to your social media and other book related sites onto your front page.
Create a newsletter sign up form.
Include videos and/or podcasts you are featured on or host.
Share any upcoming events you are involved in.

Wordsmith Collective Thursday – Xmas Book Events

December 1, 2022
mandyevebarnett

At this time of year there is a multitude of events which could fill our calendars. The chance to meet readers in person and to sell books for Christmas gifts is a pleasure. Explaining how our stories developed, what we know about the characters and their journey and how we hope the story transports our readers is a special opportunity.

Even if sales are slow, you have reached readers you would not otherwise have met and that is worth your time. On the flip side you may have the opposite ‘problem’ and run out of books to sell. This is where a business card with your links on it are a bonus. Hand them out and let people know your books are available at other places, such as bookstores, libraries and online. You might not get that immediate sale, but there is potential for sales another time.

With so many events on the same weekends, it is difficult to know which one(s) to attend. It is a lottery of sorts. Even if an event doesn’t have super traffic, it is still an opportunity to connect with other authors and artisans. The bonus being you pick up some individually crafted items, rather than from a box store or retail.

I was so happy to find a ladder planter for my deck and a beautiful Xmas decoration at the last event I attended.

How do you pick which event to attend?

Bibliophile’s Collective Tuesday – Bookstore Romance Day

August 23, 2022
mandyevebarnett

I was very happy to be asked by my local bookstore, The Sherwood Park Bookworm to be included in this fun event. Copies of all my books can be found in the store, but of course the main five for this specific event were – The Twesome Loop (reincarnation/romance), The Commodore’s Gift (steampunk/romance), Life in Slake Patch (speculative fiction) and the two Rython novellas – The Rython Kingdom & Rython Legacy (medieval set fantasy/romance)

As we all know it is so important to support and buy local. Chain stores use their buying power to cut prices, but it is the personal touch and knowing you are helping an entrepreneur that is so important.

Do you have a favorite local bookstore?

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