As I’ve worked my way through this series, I’ve panicked many of you. I’ve panicked myself. Switching your focus from being a writer of a few books to running a business based on licensing is a lot of work, not just mentally, but with time management and yes, with money management. If you haven’t read […]
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In the middle of September, an article on Medium.com went viral. In an article titled “How To Lose A Third of A Million Dollars Without Really Trying,” the writer managed to blame everyone but herself for her stunning ignorance of the business of writing and publishing. I wouldn’t normally link to that kind of ignorance, […]
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So, those of you who regularly read this blog are thinking, now are we going to talk about how much we can earn? Yeah, kinda sorta. I want those of you who haven’t yet read this series to read two posts: the decision tree and the first post on money. (Actually, I’d love to have […]
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The eagle-eyed among you will note that we changed the cover of the brand-new Kristine Grayson release about two weeks after the book came out. Allyson Longuiera, the publisher of WMG and our designer, discusses the reasons why in her blog of a few weeks ago. The short version is really simple: the art on […]
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At WMG Publishing, they call me Tom Hanks in The Room. What they’re referring to is the movie Big, in which 13-year-old Tom Hanks works for a toy company. He’s the guy in the room, playing with toys, and saying, “Wouldn’t it be cool if the toy did this? And that? And what about a […]
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If you don’t understand copyright and you consider yourself a professional writer, then you do not understand the business you are in. If you have published a novel, traditionally or indie, and you do not understand copyright, you are volunteering to get screwed over and over and over again. I say this often, and I’m saying it loudly again, because the trend for 2019 and beyond is that every organization you do business with will try to take a piece (if not all) of your copyright on each and every one of your projects.
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Gloria and Emilio Estefan have an estimated net worth of 700 million dollars. Jimmy Buffett has an estimated net worth of 550 million dollars. What do those artists have in common? They kept control of the copyrights to their songs. They maintained control of those copyrights starting in the 1970s, when other musicians signed away […]
Continue ReadingI just had the most illuminating conversation. I had been consulting with someone about one of the TV deals I’m currently negotiating. I had run into a situation I had never encountered before, and I needed help evaluating it. No one I knew personally could help me. Either my good friends had not done a […]
Continue ReadingI was trained in traditional publishing, where writers go begging for opportunity. Writers are taught to beg, from professors (let me into your class!) to critique groups (is my writing good enough?) to agents (will you take me on?) to publishers (will you buy my book?).
We’re not trained to value what we’ve built.
Continue ReadingLast week, the death of Prince hit me hard. I was in the middle of teaching the Romance Workshop, here on the Oregon Coast, and working my tail off. A satellite radio station that I always listen to had breaking news—something they never do (which is why I listen to them)—that I could barely hear. […]
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