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REV5028

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Happy New Year, All!

I'm working on writing a non-fiction book. I feel fairly confident in the content research and writing aspects, but I have some questions more on the business/legal/publishing side of things. I would immensely appreciate any insight/guidance you'd be willing to provide.

I'm currently reading "The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How to Write It, Sell It, and Market It ... Successfully!" by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry. Perhaps my questions will be answered as I get further along, but I'm presently feeling a particular hunger for answers that my reading speed cannot satiate.

Anyway, your input, discussion, suggestions, and/or guidance would be incredibly helpful!

Questions:

1a. When/how do you need to get permissions to refer to someone, published content (other books, articles, etc.), a corporation, etc.?

1b. Does simply participating in an online forum (such as this one) give the forum owner permission to use what you post in a book related to the forum (without additional acquisition of permission)?

1c. What counts as published or copyrighted?


2. What about libel/defamation? I'm reading UNSCRIPTED and it honestly makes me a little nervous when @MJ DeMarco throws slight shade (e.g., Carnival Cruise, Ms. STIFford).

3. I suppose my overarching question is: How do you protect yourself? Do you hire a lawyer? Would going through a publishing company (assuming you can find one to take on your work) take care of much of this? Do you need to publish under an LLC or some other entity?

4. What advice would you give your past self regarding book writing/publishing/marketing/etc.?

More to come...
 
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Robdavis

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I see that you have tagged MJ in your post. There is a forum member named @Walter Hay who has also written some books on business.

EDIT: Just realised, @Fox has written a book as well.
 
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REV5028

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I see that you have tagged MJ in your post. There is a forum member named @Walter Hay who has also written some books on business.
Thank you, @Robdavis for pointing out another author. I tried searching the forum for "author" and "book," but got too many search results to go through.. I probably could have searched smarter, but I'm hoping the authors in this community will be willing to comment here.
 

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Happy New Year, All!

I'm working on writing a non-fiction book. I feel fairly confident in the content research and writing aspects, but I have some questions more on the business/legal/publishing side of things. I would immensely appreciate any insight/guidance you'd be willing to provide.

I'm currently reading "The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How to Write It, Sell It, and Market It ... Successfully!" by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry. Perhaps my questions will be answered as I get further along, but I'm presently feeling a particular hunger for answers that my reading speed cannot satiate.

Anyway, your input, discussion, suggestions, and/or guidance would be incredibly helpful!

Questions:

1a. When/how do you need to get permissions to refer to someone, published content (other books, articles, etc.), a corporation, etc.?

1b. Does simply participating in an online forum (such as this one) give the forum owner permission to use what you post in a book related to the forum (without additional acquisition of permission)?

1c. What counts as published or copyrighted?


2. What about libel/defamation? I'm reading UNSCRIPTED and it honestly makes me a little nervous when @MJ DeMarco throws slight shade (e.g., Carnival Cruise, Ms. STIFford).

3. I suppose my overarching question is: How do you protect yourself? Do you hire a lawyer? Would going through a publishing company (assuming you can find one to take on your work) take care of much of this? Do you need to publish under an LLC or some other entity?

4. What advice would you give your past self regarding book writing/publishing/marketing/etc.?

More to come...
Hello!

I'm not a published author but I wrote children stories that I want to make videos for and I had to hire an illustrator for that. I also had a lot of doubts. I ended up hiring a lawyer to draft me a contract that I signed with the illustrator whereby she fully assigned her rights to me. So I would say the same thing to you. Hire a lawyer and move on. You will only have that problem one time. I did a lot of research and asked ahout 30 quotes to several legal firms. I ended up finding a lawyer that was willing to charge me a lower fee. Athough she worked with intellectual property law, she had never done a contract for assignment of copyrights herself specifically but as she was part of a firm I felt comfortable to hire her. Good luck!
 
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Happyheart

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Happy New Year, All!

I'm working on writing a non-fiction book. I feel fairly confident in the content research and writing aspects, but I have some questions more on the business/legal/publishing side of things. I would immensely appreciate any insight/guidance you'd be willing to provide.

I'm currently reading "The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How to Write It, Sell It, and Market It ... Successfully!" by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry. Perhaps my questions will be answered as I get further along, but I'm presently feeling a particular hunger for answers that my reading speed cannot satiate.

Anyway, your input, discussion, suggestions, and/or guidance would be incredibly helpful!

Questions:

1a. When/how do you need to get permissions to refer to someone, published content (other books, articles, etc.), a corporation, etc.?
You can refer to other publications, but you have to quote your source. If you quote literally, you should put in quotation marks. In the EU you can quote up to 15% of a certain source. I would research the local rules on what constitutes plagiarism.
1b. Does simply participating in an online forum (such as this one) give the forum owner permission to use what you post in a book related to the forum (without additional acquisition of permission)?
Ask the owner or look at the rules.
1c. What counts as published or copyrighted?
You will avoid many problems when you put other content in your own words. At least In certain countries thought and chain of argumentation are also protected.
The wikipedia articles on copyright and plagiarism are informative.

2. What about libel/defamation? I'm reading UNSCRIPTED and it honestly makes me a little nervous when @MJ DeMarco throws slight shade (e.g., Carnival Cruise, Ms. STIFford).
I am no expert on that.

3. I suppose my overarching question is: How do you protect yourself? Do you hire a lawyer? Would going through a publishing company (assuming you can find one to take on your work) take care of much of this? Do you need to publish under an LLC or some other entity?
It depends on what you want to say about whom. If you have a publisher, they will work with you, but you still have a responsibility.
4. What advice would you give your past self regarding book writing/publishing/marketing/etc.?

More to come...
I am more into academic publications.
 

REV5028

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Hello!

I'm not a published author but I wrote children stories that I want to make videos for and I had to hire an illustrator for that. I also had a lot of doubts. I ended up hiring a lawyer to draft me a contract that I signed with the illustrator whereby she fully assigned her rights to me. So I would say the same thing to you. Hire a lawyer and move on. You will only have that problem one time. I did a lot of research and asked ahout 30 quotes to several legal firms. I ended up finding a lawyer that was willing to charge me a lower fee. Athough she worked with intellectual property law, she had never done a contract for assignment of copyrights herself specifically but as she was part of a firm I felt comfortable to hire her. Good luck!
Thank you for sharing your situation and for the advice! It sounds like you have a fun project in the works :)
There are a lot of different kinds of law and firms to consider. You've given me a good starting place for things to consider. Thanks again!
 

REV5028

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I am more into academic publications.
I have two scientific publications out, but I'm trying to get a feel for how much overlap there is.

It depends on what you want to say about whom. If you have a publisher, they will work with you, but you still have a responsibility.
Just as with my scientific papers, I intend to do my due diligence to make sure what I write is truthful and as complete as possible. The journal/publisher found anonymous reviewers to give feedback, so I suppose I could have several people review it myself if a book publisher doesn't do that. The journal/publisher also provided all involved forms, and I mostly just had to do the science/writing and sign paperwork. I didn't have to think much about the legal aspects. As I get further along with the writing I'll have to contact book publishing companies to learn more about the process specific to books.

You will avoid many problems when you put other content in your own words. At least In certain countries thought and chain of argumentation are also protected.
The wikipedia articles on copyright and plagiarism are informative.
Thank you for reminding me of this - it's the same in the scientific writing community. Being able to paraphrase is an important skill. I'll check out the Wikipedia pages you mentioned.

You can refer to other publications, but you have to quote your source. If you quote literally, you should put in quotation marks. In the EU you can quote up to 15% of a certain source. I would research the local rules on what constitutes plagiarism.
Again, you've reminded me of something that is universally a good practice - just always give credit where credit is due. I'll take note on how other books cite their references and look into non-scientific referencing practices/formats.


The idea of writing a book rather than an academic journal article feels so different and new to me, but the process of publishing both is probably more similar than what I'm imagining. Thanks for all of your comments!
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Ill comment on this tomorrow, although I don't think I can add much without crossing over into legal areas, which I will not do.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Happy New Year, All!

I'm working on writing a non-fiction book. I feel fairly confident in the content research and writing aspects, but I have some questions more on the business/legal/publishing side of things. I would immensely appreciate any insight/guidance you'd be willing to provide.

I'm currently reading "The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How to Write It, Sell It, and Market It ... Successfully!" by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry. Perhaps my questions will be answered as I get further along, but I'm presently feeling a particular hunger for answers that my reading speed cannot satiate.

Anyway, your input, discussion, suggestions, and/or guidance would be incredibly helpful!

Questions:

1a. When/how do you need to get permissions to refer to someone, published content (other books, articles, etc.), a corporation, etc.?

1b. Does simply participating in an online forum (such as this one) give the forum owner permission to use what you post in a book related to the forum (without additional acquisition of permission)?

1c. What counts as published or copyrighted?


2. What about libel/defamation? I'm reading UNSCRIPTED and it honestly makes me a little nervous when @MJ DeMarco throws slight shade (e.g., Carnival Cruise, Ms. STIFford).

3. I suppose my overarching question is: How do you protect yourself? Do you hire a lawyer? Would going through a publishing company (assuming you can find one to take on your work) take care of much of this? Do you need to publish under an LLC or some other entity?

4. What advice would you give your past self regarding book writing/publishing/marketing/etc.?

More to come...

The following is NOT LEGAL ADVICE and is simply my personal interpretation of US copyright laws.

1A) Like many things in law, it is a gray area. Regardless, you should always give credit and attribute to any potential source material. The larger portions and more you source, the more likely you will need permission. Google "Fair Use" any you will discover just how big of a "gray area" it is.

1B) That would be covered in the forum's TOS which people have to agree to.

1C) There are two forms as far as a I know, actual copyrights that are with the copyright office, and copyrights you can claim via publication. The former is stronger. Copyright, as far as I interpret it, is express copying of material and claiming it your own (plagiarism), or using material for commercial purposes that might cause financial harm to the person who owns the copyright.

2) Again, gray area. Anyone can sue anyone for anything. Ms. Stifford is a fake name I used for that purpose. Private people are generally off limits. People who throw themselves into the public square and are considered public figures are offered less protections from critique. Corporations don't tend to sue customers who've had poor experiences and voice displeasure publicly, like public reviews (but again, it doesn't mean they can't).

Now if I wrote a book titled, "XYZ Cruises are Scammers" and posted veritable untruths, then I'd likely expose myself to a legal challenge.

3) You protect yourself by not publishing anything. Secondary protection would be to correctly attribute any 3rd party material. Other protection is actual permission for larger pieces of content, or better, any pieces. Again, research "fair use" -- which in itself, is a legal minefield.

4) There are several books on this topic on Amazon, I would start there. I own several books on the topic which will only demonstrate what I said here ...

Some things are strongly defended, such as lyrics. I sought permission to use Nickleback lyrics in Unscripted in its first run, which I later promptly deleted because it wasn't worth the license fees or the hassle.
 

REV5028

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The following is NOT LEGAL ADVICE and is simply my personal interpretation of US copyright laws.

1A) Like many things in law, it is a gray area. Regardless, you should always give credit and attribute to any potential source material. The larger portions and more you source, the more likely you will need permission. Google "Fair Use" any you will discover just how big of a "gray area" it is.

1B) That would be covered in the forum's TOS which people have to agree to.

1C) There are two forms as far as a I know, actual copyrights that are with the copyright office, and copyrights you can claim via publication. The former is stronger. Copyright, as far as I interpret it, is express copying of material and claiming it your own (plagiarism), or using material for commercial purposes that might cause financial harm to the person who owns the copyright.

2) Again, gray area. Anyone can sue anyone for anything. Ms. Stifford is a fake name I used for that purpose. Private people are generally off limits. People who throw themselves into the public square and are considered public figures are offered less protections from critique. Corporations don't tend to sue customers who've had poor experiences and voice displeasure publicly, like public reviews (but again, it doesn't mean they can't).

Now if I wrote a book titled, "XYZ Cruises are Scammers" and posted veritable untruths, then I'd likely expose myself to a legal challenge.

3) You protect yourself by not publishing anything. Secondary protection would be to correctly attribute any 3rd party material. Other protection is actual permission for larger pieces of content, or better, any pieces. Again, research "fair use" -- which in itself, is a legal minefield.

4) There are several books on this topic on Amazon, I would start there. I own several books on the topic which will only demonstrate what I said here ...

Some things are strongly defended, such as lyrics. I sought permission to use Nickleback lyrics in Unscripted in its first run, which I later promptly deleted because it wasn't worth the license fees or the hassle.

Thank you, MJ. Publishing outside of academia has seemed like a black box to me; your insight has provided me with some clarity and great places to start (researching "Fair Use" and looking into the books related to my question #4).
 
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