Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

More Copyright Information for the Self-Publishing Author

Copyright infringement is not a pleasant topic. Some self-publishing authors find themselves in trouble without even knowing it, by doing something as innocent as including the lyrics from their favorite songs in their book.

Music is one of the most protected copyrightable works; infringement of copyright can carry heavy fines for which the author is responsible. If you are going to use the lyrics from a song in your book, you will need to have permission from the original copyright holder. This includes cases where you are only using a stanza or two and sometimes even if you are using anything more than a single line.

Only song lyrics created and first published prior to 1923 are in the Public Domain in the United States. If the song was created after that, you will need permission to use it (or parts of it) in your work.

There are two great resources on the Internet for finding the rights holders for most music and song lyrics, from the two leading music entities, ASCAP and BMI, respectively:

http://www.ascap.com/ace/search.cfm?mode=search
 http://www.bmi.com/licensing

Book Reviews

Christian Book Review Lead for your Self Published Book

Does your self-published book fit into the Christian category? If so, here is a site you may want to check out to get your book reviewed:

christianbookreviews.net

Good luck and have fun!
Kelly Schuknecht
selfpublishingadvice.wordpress.com

Book Promotion

Become an Amazon.com Bestseller! – From one Self-Published author to another

Sally Shields is a speaker, radio personality and author of the Outskirts Press #1 Amazon.com bestseller, The Daughter-in-Law Rules: 101 Surefire Ways to Manage (and Make Friends with) Your Mother-in-Law!

This Bestseller Strategy is so powerful, yet so simple, it turned Sally’s book into a bestseller overnight, and she is passionate about helping others do the same.

So many authors can benefit from this type of knowledge, as the publishing industry has changed so much. Even if you are signed with a top Publisher such as a Simon and Schuster or a Wiley or Random House, unless your are Deepak Chopra or Wayne Dyer, you are going to have to do your own publicity.

With this program, you will discover one of the most powerful almost zero-cost internet strategies that will help you gain massive visibility, credibility and prestige, boost your sales, get the media and influential industry insiders such as literary agents, book editors, and foreign rights buyers to sit up and take notice!

A 5 week mentoring course with bestselling author Sally Shields— 100% money-back guaranteed. If you’re ready to reach more readers with your message and your book, this may be just the course you have been looking for. Begins in early January.

www.sallyshields.com/coaching/

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self-Published Book Review of the Week: Stepping Into Joy

Stepping C3.inddStepping Into Joy
by Randall Green

This self-published Twelve-Step Programs book was recently reviewed on bookpleasures.com.

In Stepping Into Joy, Dr. Randall Green bears his own soul in order to make clear the path he and countless others have taken to achieve authentic joy. In these pages you will discover a refreshing approach to our endless quest for spiritual fulfillment. Using the Twelve Steps of Recovery as the core solution to mankind’s “quiet desperation”, Dr. Green adds the spices of real-life stories, pithy slogans, humorous anecdotes, and a few “old Kentucky sayings” just for the fun of it. Building on the premise that addiction is a physical disease with a spiritual solution, the Twelve Steps are offered as “guides to progress” in the journey to spiritual wholeness. Although Randy Green is unashamedly committed to his Christian faith, the spiritual principles he extrapolates are non-partisan in application. This is not a book on religion. It is not a book for or against religion. This is a book about true spirituality and how to experience it amid the real stressors and challenges of today’s post-modern culture. Regardless of the addictions, compulsive behaviors, or attachments that may plague our lives, we will be led closer and closer to the joy we all seek as we commit ourselves to living out these twelve spiritual principles one day at a time.

Read the full review here.