Comments on: A Potpourri of Questions & Answers

By: fontanna czekoladowa

fontanna czekoladowa — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:25:33 +0000

Websites you should visit…

[…]below you’ll find the link to some sites that we think you should visit[…]……

By: Janet

Janet — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 01:28:00 +0000

>Thanks for the answer, Rachelle. I will confess, I’m not much at ease with the idea of writing my own advertising copy (like back cover copy) but I guess I’ll grow into it.

By: Alexander Field

Alexander Field — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 01:40:00 +0000

>Rachelle, thanks for your answers to the questions above…no wonder your proposals rock by the time we see them! : )

By: CRT

CRT — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 03:05:00 +0000

>Well I guess I should take up singing then.

That way if people don't want to hear my words they can pay me to shut up.

By: Susan Cushman

Susan Cushman — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:20:00 +0000

>Ooops, somehow my comment didn’t link back to my blog. Trying again.

By: Susan Cushman

Susan Cushman — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:17:00 +0000

>Just found your blog through Twitter and it’s really helpful. I’m a fairly new writer (7 essays published since Nov 07)with a memoir-in-progress and a book proposal I keep tweaking as I continue to query agents. Your advice is excellent and enjoyable. I’m a follower now. Have a great weekend!

By: LUCI

LUCI — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:57:00 +0000

>Oh, please do talk about pen names, because I'm planning to use pen name if one day I get my book published...

Many thanks!

By: Timothy Fish

Timothy Fish — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 02:38:00 +0000

>My thought on fair use is that it’s better safe than sorry. It’s one thing to quote someone and comment on something they have written, but when we start using the work of others as the primary piece of value, such as the quotes from a gardening book, Laurie mentioned or if we plaster someone else’s poem in our pages, we are crossing a line, albeit a very vague line. I would much rather spend a couple hours getting permission than to spend days in the presence of lawyers because I didn’t want to be bothered.

The concept of fair use is defined by court cases, not written law. It seems to me that it is an attempt to balance the right of free speech, allowing someone to say something in reference to something someone has written, and the right of a person to make money from his intellectual property. These are two very fundamental rights in America and it is difficult to guess which a judge will favor. When in doubt, get permission and take it out of the judge’s hands.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 02:20:00 +0000

>Nice pic Rachelle!

Interesting about stylists and storytellers. I'm not sure which one I am but I'll be thinking about it.

Thanks guys!

By: Heidi the Hick

Heidi the Hick — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:00:00 +0000

>Thanks for the advice!

I suspected it would be like this (my husband's an engineer and has had to learn a lot about the legal side of the music biz) but I wanted to hear it from somebody in the book biz.

Alright I've got more homework to do!

By: Laurie

Laurie — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:12:00 +0000

>Rachelle,

I love your blog! It's so informative. The "fair use" discussion is especially helpful.

In my novel, gardening is a central metaphor and I would like to begin each chapter with a quote from real gardening books. Since I would only be using one or two sentences (properly credited of course) from a whole book, can I assume that is "fair use?"

By: Kristy Colley

Kristy Colley — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:55:00 +0000

>Thank you Rachelle!

By: Beatriz Kim

Beatriz Kim — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:58:00 +0000

>Thanks for this very informative post! I’ve started writing my memoir online, which now I realize may have legal consequences. Now I have to figure out what 10% looks like!

By: Sharon Ball

Sharon Ball — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:42:00 +0000

>As always, Rachelle, great information that is very helpful for us writers. I do have one unrelated question for you, however. It’s about proposals. How imporatant is it for a writer to include market analysis information in the proposal? Is it something most agents will require?