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.
In the definition literary works include books, anthologies, journal and newspaper articles, reports, conference papers, working papers, computer software and programs, letters, emails, novels, poetry, song lyrics, databases, tables and compilations.
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.
I started to write when I was 21 years old. I had completed my Associates Degree in Creative Writing then decided to put myself out there as a screenwriter.
2. Is poetry a self expression for you?
It is more than self expression. Its me finding the seedling that sprouted the roots of my emotions that run at high velocity. Once the ecstasy, dark or light, of my anxiety passes, I write a poem. Almost as if I took off the anvil that kept me in the depths of the salty water of an ocean, rose up for air, then anchored my darkness in the ocean while I make it to shore.
3. What made you want to write a fictional book rather than publish a poetry collection?
I plan on putting a poetry collection together sometime in the near future. But for now it is self therapy and a writing exercise for flow in my novels.
4. Do you belong to a writers group? If so which one?
I bounce around from group to group on Facebook but mainly I follow YVR Authors.
5. Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in the book?
Boone is a sarcastic, goofy, playful kid, who has a longer path to growing than his best friend Jacque. A foster child taken in by a rich snobby British family. He is articulate, polite, honest, an avid reader, can monkey his way from tree to tree, and loves to solve mysteries. Shammy, Boone’s love interest, is wonderfully weird, blunt, sweet, un-apologetically herself, loving and caring. Flint is a high functioning autistic boy who depends on Shammy and loves his mom.
6. How did you come up with the idea of the story?
When I was a screenwriter, I always wanted to write a series. I didn’t know what medium or what it would be about, but I knew certain things would remain the same. It’s like Stephen King once said: Good ideas stick around.
I wanted to write something that doesn’t involve much technology. I feel that if it is too modern, it creates too much convenience. A gripping story requires characters to rely on their wit and what is at their disposal. When your back is against the wall, you better know how to fight like hell. This series is about that. Testing the human spirit.
7. What is the theme of the book – the message you want to convey to your readers?
That we don’t need peers and parents to teach us everything. Sometimes the good and bad that happens in life, is what helps us grow. Test us on what we are able or not able, willing or not willing, too afraid or not at all to try. But I don’t want my readers thinking they don’t need guidance. We all need it. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. But who we get help from isn’t always who we expect or hope it will be.
8. Is this a standalone book or will there be a sequel(s)?
As mentioned earlier, this is a series. I’m not sure how many volumes. I go by how the characters grow. If they have gone where they need to go, and completed their life’s arc, then I’ve done my job. This is my third book of four. First two were unpublished by me because amazon has strict rules about using only one name for the author by line. It is Urban fantasy.
Volume 2 of Boone and Jacque will be available in October 2020. Subtitle is The Brothers’ Odyssey. Follow A.G. on his social media pages and message him for teasers.
I am a self published author who always had difficulty speaking his mind without fumbling his thoughts. What he believed to be right and wrong. Storytelling is my passion.
a) Money – we would all love to be a best seller and have fame and fortune like the ‘big’ names, such as Stephen King, J.K. Rowling and the like. However, we need to be realistic – firstly can we manage to get a publishing contract with a big publishing house? How many years are you willing to wait for that? If you use the self-publishing route how much of your time (unpaid) can you sacrifice for promotion? Should you give your work away?
These links will give you an idea of the practicalities of writing with monetary visions foremost:
b) Success – once again we should temper our expectations. Global sales are a dream we want to make real but maybe measure our success on more of a local level. Do you have your books in local bookstores, the library, offered at local events? The more you attend and promote within your own locality the more your ‘success’ becomes tangible. Articles in the local newspaper could have people approach or question you in regard to your being an author. Social media allows us to expand our locality, of course, but starting small will give us a firm basis from which to start. Never under estimate the power of word of mouth for promotion.
c) Satisfaction – Although this is third on the list, I feel it is the most important of all, as having your words, ideas and stories readily available for people to read now and for future generations, is the penultimate success. Our narratives will be enjoyed and relayed long after we are gone. It is our legacy.
Authors and their books – Great reading suggestions!
Mandy Eve-Barnett
Mandy Eve-Barnett
What is your latest release and what genre is it?The Rython Kingdom – adult fantasy
Quick description: Set in medieval England a travelling troubdour is the unwitting pawn in an vengeful witch’s plan to escape her confinement and kill the king.
Brief biography:
A Canadian resident, Mandy Eve-Barnett has a wealth of experiences to draw from for her writing. She has lived in South Africa, England and Canada and the uniqueness of each continent left its essence within her. An avid reader her whole life, it wasn’t until she joined a local writing group, the Writers Foundation of Strathcona County, that the writing ‘bug’ gripped her. Now Mandy writes with an all-encompassing passion and is deeply involved with the foundation and its members. Writing in various genres, Mandy has been published in anthologies, on numerous web sites and in the local newspaper as well as regularly blogging about her writing journey. She has successfully completed three National Novel Writing Month challenges in 2009, 2010 and 2012 with the subsequent volume of work resulting in three novels. September 2011 saw the launch of her first children’s book, Rumble’s First Scare, and August 2012 her adult fantasy e-book, The Rython Kingdom was released on Smashwords, Amazon.ca & Amazon.co.uk., and is now available through Create Space as a print version. Currently, she is editing a magical/fantasy children’s book, Ockleberries to the Rescue and has completed a collaboration for a ‘how to’ write your memoir workbook, Your Lifetime of Stories.
What are you working on now?
My 2013 NaNoWriMo novel, Willow Tree Tears, which is a cowgirl romance & a children’s chapter book, Ockleberries to the Rescue.
Mandy’s reading recommendation:
I love all Stephen King’s novels and his non-fiction, On Writing, as well as The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.
Peculate – definition: to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds or property entrusted to one’s care) : embezzle
Unfortunately, there are numerous sites offering inexperienced authors a publishing ‘deal’, just as long as they pay lots of money. While researching this post I found a great article on this subject. See here: http://www.authormedia.com/3-signs-of-a-publishing-scam/
I often use Writer Beware – http://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/ which publishes known scamming sites and companies. Do not be put off by the science fiction association, there is a lot of relevant information for all authors.
My own experience has been good and I count myself fortunate on having found Dream Write Publishing ( http://www.dreamwritepublishing.ca/) to publish my novels. This company has published a couple of novels of authors who were unfortunately, the victims of scams. Their money is lost and there is no recourse unless they want to spend even more money pursuing these fly by night companies through the courts, with no guarantee they will be successful. Many of the scamming sites change their name or dissolve to appear elsewhere on a regular basis. They use these loop holes to avoid detection and prosecution.
It is understandable to get wrapped up in the excitement of getting your first work published but please take the time to do thorough research and find independent reviews on the companies you are viewing before committing yourself to paying any money.
Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers 