… and how to put them right! Advice and opportunities for new, aspiring and upcoming journalists and writers of non-fiction
As writers, especially when active on social media, we regularly hear of stories of poor behaviour in the publishing world — abuse of copyright, vanity publishing rip-offs, accusations of plagiarism, terrible rates, and so on. These often serve as a warning — stay away! — and are shared among us. But if it is you …
I’m often asked this question. Is it ever OK to relinquish your grip on all-important copyright in your work? The ever-brilliant writing advisor Simon Whaley recently addressed this in a post, called The 0.01% Copyright Conundrum. In summary, Simon assigned copyright to some of his early non-fiction books, deciding to do so after going through …
Several days have passed … the debate has rumbled on – a lot of it on Twitter, under the hashtag #libertiespress. A tweet from writer David Gaughran gave me pause to reconsider my earlier post on this subject. And it was such a good, succinct point, that I’ve since been pulled the other way a …
Periodically, I get frustrated at greedy and unnecessary clauses in contracts – particularly in relation to writing competitions. All copyright-grabbing terms and conditions get my goat, but every now and then, one comes along which gets my whole herd. Step forward Vogue UK’s Talent Contest 2016, which is seeking out journalists under 25 “with an …
I will say upfront that the decision on whether to write for free or not is yours and yours only. As someone who has been making his living from words for 16 years – writing, translating, editing, proof-reading, tutoring – part of me, admittedly, thinks giving away words for free undermines the business in which …
I’ve written before about writing competitions of which I disapprove. You’ll find some background at the Copyright page on my blog. And as I said last year, it’s a mistake not to read terms and conditions. So here we go with another, this one from Cornish Traditional Cottages, who are inviting short articles for their …
They’re boring, aren’t they, the terms and conditions to writing competitions. Life’s too short to read them, really. It’s time wasted that could be directed towards writing. They’re written in legalese, and that’s impenetrable, isn’t it. Bi-ig yawn. And they can’t be that bad, anyway. You’re not going to be asked to sign away a …
If you enter into a business transaction with a buyer for words you have written you should see that transaction through to the end. The end is receipt of payment from the buyer. If you choose to donate a piece of work – for the exposure, because you believe in the cause the publisher represents, …
It comes to you in the bath – and you know instinctively it’s a good one. You leap out and run dripping to your computer, soap suds still hanging off your ears, to bash it out and submit to an editor. Job done. A few days later, it’s rejected. A few months later, you see …
I don’t believe there’s a writer out there who has never heard of copyright, but I reckon there are many who have little idea what it is. If you’re among them, there’s no shame in it. But not doing anything to rid yourself of this ongoing ignorance is, I have come to be reminded over …
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