Copyrights and Writing

Copyright

Billie Sue Mosiman and Graeme Reynolds both tackle writers who don't read their contracts. It appears a company (I have no knowledge of this) has been overreaching, taking too many rights. Even if this isn't what's going on, it doesn't hurt to be cautious. 

Sometimes, it might be a misunderstanding. My first or second sale involved an editor who asked for all rights to a story. A friendly discussion got the editor to change his contract--for everyone.

Note that Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith have long recommended The Copyright Handbook, which I've been dragging my heels because of its price.

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Workshops

I just heard great advice from a fiction writer from Pakistan, Shandana Minhas, author of Tunnel Vision and Survival Tips for Lunatics.

"[I]n a market like that where there is intense competition for a very small pie--I don't know if that's what brings out the negative aspect of human behavior, but you do have to be wary of the feedback that you will receive from your peers because it might not necessarily always be ego-free."

I wish someone had said this earlier to me. Fellow writers can be helpful, and they can be unpleasant--out to eviscerate in order to prove their superiority. It may or may not be good advice, but if it's not specific, it's probably not good advice. Advice coming from superiority generally spouts from this poisoned fountain.

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But StoryBundle has twelve writing books you should take advantage of--on sale, incredibly cheap.

Drawing on the Power of Resonance in Writing
by David Farland 

Million Dollar Productivity
by Kevin J. Anderson 

Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing
by Dean Wesley Smith 

The Pursuit of Perfection and How it Harms Writers
by Kristine Kathryn Rusch 

Million Dollar Professionalism
by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta 

Shadows Beneath
by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells & Howard Tayler 

Million Dollar Outlines
by David Farland 

21 Days to a Novel
by Michael A. Stackpole 

Charisma +1: The Guide to Convention Etiquette for Writers, Geeks, and the Socially Awkward
by Jessica Brawner 

The Freelancer's Survival Guide
by Kristine Kathryn Rusch 

500 Ways to Write Harder
by Chuck Wendig 

The Non-User-Friendly Guide for Aspiring TV Writers
by Steven L. Sears