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Six Things Authors Should Know About Copyright and Contracts

Author: Laura Resnick

Six Things Authors Should Know About Copyright and Contracts

This is it. You’ve made it. You’ve gotten a call from an agent, or you’ve received a contract from a publisher, or you’re taking that step to put your books up for sale as an indie author. This is your moment to shine and take on the world! But wait … let’s hit pause for a moment. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this business, it’s that creative individuals allow our emotions to rule us sometimes. We ride the highs and lows, and with that come amazing stories and artwork. But with those emotional...

business, copyright, legal, Publishing, publishing contracts

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Including Native Americans in Writing

As writers we always hear, “Write what you know.” In light of that truth, it is important that any person writing about Native Americans know the people and the culture they are writing about. It is important to know the current situation of the Native American people one is choosing to write about. It is also important to recognize that some things cannot, or should not, be written about given the culture and traditions of a people. Who are Native Americans/First Nations/Indigenous people? In...

characterization, craft, DEI, indigenous people, Native American, research, Writing

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Book Cover Trends in 2024

As I turned to face the thousands of options lining my library’s shelves, I asked my librarian, “How do you pick which books to read?” I hoped that she might tip me off to a trade journal or confirm the importance of word-of-mouth recommendations. Her neck blushed pink before she paused and leaned toward me. “To be honest? I read books based on their covers.” A nervous laugh seemed to indicate her shame in resorting to a less than “intellectual” way to choose her reading material. Yet the truth...

book covers, branding, cover art, genre, illustration, Marketing, Publishing

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You Got Your Rights Back: Now What?

In the early days of my publishing career, I worked as an editor for a publisher based in Ireland. While it started as primarily a digital-first romance house, it quickly grew into a multi-genre powerhouse. During that time, two of my titles were accepted by the publisher. The first was a little military thriller called Stray Ally, a story about a not-so-great guy who meets a dog in the wilderness after being targeted for an unknown reason and saves the dog’s life. As often happens with man’s...

branding, business, career, Discovery, indie, sales, self-publishing

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The Scar’s the Thing: Tropes in Advanced Craft

Tropes, characters, and story What do you think of when you hear the word trope? Do you think of a story building block? Or an overused concept? These days, we hear about tropes often, but the meaning is less specific. Some writers love them, while others loathe them. One constant is that tropes are a storytelling staple stemming from fairy and folk tales. Tropes are valuable storytelling building blocks because the audiences immediately understand them. Think of tropes such as loner, unrequited...

characterization, craft, Writing

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Libraries Under Fire: Lessons From the Front Lines of Book Bans

In 2002, I was a second-year English teacher in a struggling northern Ohio town. Poverty was rampant, and investment in education was inconsistent. That year, 15 percent of my students were parents; of the 88 counties in Ohio, our county had the highest teen pregnancy rate. My job? To get seniors to read and write at a level that would boost job opportunities—and occasionally, college acceptance. That year, our English department adopted several titles, including Mark Mathabane’s apartheid memoir...

banning, bans, book bans, books, libraries, reading

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