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

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/

Free Promotion for your Self-Published Book

When it comes to promoting your self-published book, nothing beats free! Here’s a quick little site where you can submit your book information for a free listing. There are a lot of these types of sites out there, but this one belongs to Dan Poynter, who promotes endlessly and drives many, many people to his website all the time. It will take about 5 minutes of your time. While you are on his site, I recommend exploring other options and opportunities he has available.

http://parapublishing.com/sites/para/resources/successstories.cfm

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

Self Published Book Review of the Week: Sammy the Panda’s World of Colors and Shapes

spwcs_coverSammy the Panda’s World of Colors and Shapes
by Haliyma Barrow
Illustrated by Danielle MacIndoe

READING LEVEL: ages 4-6

RATING: 5 stars

REVIEWED BY: Wayne Walker

Little Sammy Panda is sad. His cousins Milly and Tilly have misplaced the different colored shapes of his favorite toy set, “The Ship of Shapes.” His Mommy seems to know what will cheer him up, so she helps him look for the one gold star, the two green triangles, the three orange circles, and so forth. Will they find them all? And will Sammy be happy again?

What a neat idea! My wife and I homeschooled our children, and when they were little we were always looking for fun and colorful tools to help them learn their numbers, colors, and shapes. Whether you plan to homeschool your toddlers or prepare them for traditional school, this book is a great resource for accomplishing that very purpose. With striking full-color illustrations on every page that youngsters should find appealing, this is probably one of those books that they will ask to be read to them over and over. Parents who are interested in developing bilingualism will appreciate the added benefit that the text at each opening is in both English and Spanish. I give this book two thumbs up!

Visit the author’s website: www.sammythepanda.com