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Blog postThe audio book market is growing faster than any other format. People are listening to books while they drive, exercise, or simply relax. Listeners don't have to stop when they switch devices, since Kindle's Whispersync enables them to move between audio and ebooks without losing their place.
Every indie author should consider jumping into this market.
What Audio Books Sell Best?
Fiction captures 77% of the market, and adult titles outsell children’s titles by almost 9 to 1. -
Blog postIf you are putting blog content on the internet, then at some point you will have to decide whether to lock up your content and give it away.
Some bloggers protect all their work. They post a copyright notice on every page and register the copyright of their web content with the U.S. Copyright Office. They send DMCA takedown notices whenever they find their content reused without permission.
Other bloggers donate their work to the public domain by marking it with a Creative Commons p -
Blog postToday’s writers wear many hats. We are Tweeters, Pinteresters, YouTube-ists and most of all, bloggers. Maybe we have heard about privacy policies and COPPA, but we don’t know whether they apply to us. After all, we are not challenging Wall Street, City Hall, or Big Data. We are blogging to inform readers about our work and sell a few books. We don’t expect our little blogs to turn into big lawsuits.
Unfortunately, by blogging, writers are exposing themselves to new legal risks, primarily i -
Blog postWant to be the author in authority? Want to create an instant credential? Want to be seen as the go-to person in your field?
Then consider writing and self-publishing a book. Not just any book, but a book that shows off your expertise and provides valuable, useful information to your readers and potential customers/clients.
Typically, I speak to writers about legal issues. Last weekend, I spoke to lawyers about self-publishing a book as the ultimate content marketing to -
Blog postSelf-publishing authors give away a lot of books.
First, to family and friends, especially those you can nudge into writing a review. Then, to potential bloggers, reviewers, bookstores, and other contacts.
And writers sell their own books at readings, book fairs, and through their websites.
To make a reasonable profit, you need to pay as little as you can for a decently printed book.
When deciding which POD provider or self-publishing servic -
Blog postVoila! My Certificate of Registration for my blog content!
Some people say it can’t be done—registering the copyright in a blog. It can, if you understand the quirks of the US Copyright Office.
I explained those quirks in September 2014 when Nina Amir asked me to write a post about protecting website and blog content. See, How to Protect Your Blog Content.
In that post, I explained that there are a few tricks to registering web content. Without -
Blog postReaders send me the most interesting questions, many of which I need to sit back and consider. I enjoy these questions and want to share them. I figure many writers have similar questions.
Here are some of my favorites:
Question: I’ve been enjoying your blog and I have a question. I have set my mystery novel in Ithaca, NY and used real businesses such as restaurants for the settings. Do I need the owners’ permission? I have a murder take place at one restaurant.
Answer -
Blog postTheir works have spawned countless remakes and retellings. Stately manor houses have been transformed into zombies hideouts. Characters have been transported to New York tenements. Star Trek’s Klingons recite Hamlet’s soliloquies.
And since Shakespeare and Austen’s works are in the public domain, all of these remakes are legal.
Books, settings, characters, and stories in the public domain are a rich source of material for writers, as they should be. When a classic tale -
Blog postI see this all too often.
A writer wants to self-publish without being a publisher.
She hands off her manuscript to a company like AuthorHouse, IUniverse or WestBow Press without doing any homework. She doesn’t even research the company's reputation until she realizes she’s made a mistake.
He buys a template cover, then discovers five other books that look just like his.
She doesn’t understand a contract, but signs it anyway, assuming it -
Blog postWith the successful adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s WILD, many authors are imaging their books on the big screen. What writer hasn’t cast a movie star into their leading role or heard the perfect song for their opening credits? I certainly have. (Matt Damon, Coyote Winds is ready for your review anytime!)
I suspect many independently published book could be transformed into powerful, money-making films, if only they made it into the hands of the right people.
But a word -
Blog postThe following is an update of a post I wrote for Joel Friedlander’s ever-helpful blog at TheBookDesigner.com.
On the path to self-publishing, your first decision will be whether to:Engage a self-publishing service company (SPSC) to do everything from editing to distribution. Some SPSCs are BookLocker, Mill City Press, Outskirts Press and Dog Ear Press.Do it yourself (DIY) by hiring editors, designers, and other freelancers, and uploading your finished, formatted cover a -
Blog postLong before I wrote the Legal Handbook, I wrote tons of fiction. I have short stories, screenplays, children’s books, and half-finished novels stuffed into drawers, both real and virtual.
Since my day job is practicing law (a 95% left-brain activity), writing kept my imaginative right-brain alive. Whether or not you believe in the whole left brain-right brain dichotomy, I know when I don’t have time to use the creative (right and write) part of my brain, I turn into a grump. Just ask my fa -
Blog postLast week, I spoke at a conference where Keith Ogorek, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Author Solutions, gave a keynote address. I was curious to hear how he pitched the various Author Solutions self-publishing service companies. After all, their prices are high and their reputations dismal, yet they still pull in tens of thousands of new self-publishing writers each year. How did the marketing man himself sell his companies? Did he trash CreateSpace, Smashwords, Outskirts Press and
-
Blog postYou have probably heard the old joke,
What do you call 1000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?
A good start.
Okay, that’s unfair (unless, of course, I get to choose which lawyers), but I do think there are many matters that writers can handle on their own without paying an attorney.
All they need are tools and information. That’s why I wrote
Self-Publisher’s Legal Handbook and this blog.
With that goal in mind, Jessie -
Blog post© Hjalmeida | Dreamstime.com - Teen Shame Photo
Scarlett Johansson won a defamation suit against a French writer for creating a promiscuous character who happened to look like the movie star. A Georgia jury awarded $100,000 to a woman who claimed a character in The Red Hat Club falsely portrayed her as an "alcoholic sl*t."
Writers face three big risks when using real people in their writing: defamation, invasion of privacy, and misappropriation of the right of publicit -
Blog postRyan Hagerty of U.S. Fish & Wildlife ServicesLooking for a photograph of a bull elk? Or a 1890s baseball card? Or a space shot from the Apollo moon launch?
Perhaps you have searched Creative Commons images and haven’t found exactly what you want. And you don’t want to pay a fortune or an attorney.
I’ve compiled a list of some little known resources of public domain images. As you will see, I had a lot of fun putting together this list.
Inside a NASA simulator/ -
Blog postToday, I am going to answer questions posted by readers through emails, my website, and even Amazon reviews. I appreciated when readers take the time to ask questions. It helps me know what’s on your minds.
QUESTION: Oh no. I published my book last year and never registered it with the U.S. Copyright Office. Is it too late?
ANSWER: No, it’s not too late. You may register a copyright anytime within its lifetime (currently, life of the author plus 70 years). In fact -
Blog postYou have to be impressed by Amazon’s ability to generate news. Not about books or business or world peace, but about AMAZON. A week doesn’t go by when Jeff Bezos isn’t portrayed in the headlines as a pariah, a genius, or both.
On Friday July 18, 2014, the news was Kindle Unlimited (KU), a subscription plan that allows readers to pay $9.99 per month for unlimited access to over 600,000 ebooks. Interestingly, big publishers have not signed on. While there are some marquee titles (Harr -
Blog postLike many writers considering the plunge into self-publishing, I started my research on the internet. Without exaggeration, the best resource I found was, and still is, Joel Friedlandler’s THE BOOK DESIGNER.
His website covers everything from structuring your novel to choosing fonts for your cover. The advice is practical and professional, and writers can download free and inexpensive handouts, videos and templates to study and use.
Joel’s monthly E-Book Cover Awards&n -
Blog postMy piece about taxes on Jane Friedman's blog today.
Most writers don’t realize that their memoir, short story collection, children’s book, or novel could mean money in their pockets, even if sales are disappointing.... (read more) -
Blog postSelf-Publisher's Legal Handbook is now available on Amazon as a print and ebook.
Two reviews are already in.
Heisenberg rated it 5 STARS.
"Even if you are not going to self-publish, this book is what you need if you ever plan to sell what you write. Sedwick tells you in clear language how to set up your business as a writer, and then maximize your income and tax deductions. She explains copyright, trademark, and defamation issues every writer should know abou -
Blog postNow through Mother's Day, the ebook version of COYOTE WINDS is on sale for 99 cents on Amazon. Please help me spread the word
4.7 out of 5 Stars on Amazon.
Some of my favorite blurbs:
"Sedwick creates authentic moments that showcase the American West.” ForeWord 5-star review
“Sedwick's prose possesses an underlying beauty that captures the world in which her story takes place.” Publishers Weekly
"The book tells the story -
Blog postSelf-Publisher's Legal Handbook will be released in print on June 16, 2014. The ebook version will be ready a few weeks earlier.
In the meantime, I am looking for reviewers. If you would be willing to write a review, I'll send you a PDF right away! Free! Email me at helen@helensedwick.com.
The Handbook covers a wide range of issues, including:
Business set-up. From DBAs to sales taxes to crowd-funding, Self-Publisher’s Legal Handbook walks writers throu -
Blog postMy book, Self-Publisher's Legal Handbook, has been proofed and polished and is now in the hands of the layout designer and ebook converter. I am scouting out experts for book reviews and blubs. Interested? Please email me at helen@helensedwick.com.
Come check out my new website and blog at www.helensedwick.com. -
Blog postImage from Stockmoneys.comA mother of a middle schooler is sued for calling the principal a stoner.
A North Carolina blogger is sued for questioning a judge wearing a political campaign button.
A blogger in Florida is sued by a real estate developer for alleging financial mismanagement.
With the rise of the internet, the number of defamation suits has ballooned.
The internet, after all, offers the opportunity for small voices to be heard. Misco -
Blog postBy Sean Loyless on FlickrHere's a scary thought--ideas are not protected by copyright law, no matter how unique and valuable. If you give your elevator pitch in an elevator, anyone who overhears you can snitch it.
Copyright law applies only when a work is fixed into tangible form, such as on a note pad or computer file. Even then, copyright law will not protect a core idea. But contract law will.
Before you pitch a hot idea to an agent, or engage an ed -
Blog postPhoto by Horia Varlan on FlickrIF by Douglas Malloch If you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley – but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie, then just be a bass -
But the liveliest bass in the lake! We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew,
There’s something for all of -
Blog postMargo Tanenbaum, a school librarian in Los Angeles, reviews COYOTE WINDS. Thank you Margo.
"Sedwick's novel succeeds in capturing the imagination of the reader with appealing characters, the spirit of adventure in the West, and the adversity of life during the Dust Bowl. We see this through the eyes of Andy, Myles' grandson, who stands in for the young reader. It's a novel I had a hard time putting down."
Here's the entire review:
The Fourth M -
Blog postPhoto by David Hardy on FlickrWell, not exactly. But they do communicate.
According to Dr. Constantine Slobodchikoff, professor at Northern Arizona University and well-known animal behaviorist and conservation biologist, prairie dogs have a large vocabulary of yips and barks. Some are greetings, and others, like their yip-jumps, appear to be play.
Much of their vocabulary consists of warnings, and their barks differ depending on the type and location of a threat. A warning a -
Blog postMy GrandparentsI want to thank Jessica Brown for writing a wonderful lesson plan on how the American Dream is explored in COYOTE WINDS. Below is the beginning of the plan. If you would like to see more, please email me at helen@helensedwick.com.
Coyote Winds Lesson Plan: American DreamsSubject: Literature/American Studies; Grade Level: 6-9Duration: Three to four class periods
Writing in 1931, historian James Truslow Adams described the American Dream as “that dream -
Blog post"Why do birds fly backward in a dust storm? To keep the sand out of their eyes.”
Making a joke out of hardship, commonly called “gallows humor,” has been around a long time. The people struggling through the Dust Bowl were no different from anyone else. They also used humor as a way to cope. Here are a few jokes born out of the Dust Bowl.
“Did you hear about the farmer who went to the bank to get a loan. They turned him down when they saw his land blow past the window.” -
Blog postTry to image what it was like to live on a prairie farm in the 1930s. What conveniences do you take for granted which would have been missing from a farm back then?I recently came across the following statistics from the 1930 census. Interestingly, many more farms had a telephone and a radio than had water piped into the house or electricity, other than the small amount they produced themselves with a wind generator. Imagine trying to stay clean with all that dust, but no shower, no
-
Blog postPhotos by Diddley Squat
In researching Vona, Colorado, where the historical chapters of COYOTE WINDS take place, I came across Ghost towns--Vona, a site full of fabulous pictures of hundreds of abandoned (or nearly so) towns throughout the United States and Canada.
I was somewhat distressed to see that Vona is among them. The photos are courtesy of Diddley Squat.
Wikipedia puts the population of Vona at 106 people in 2010, so it’s not completely a ghost -
Blog postThe new edition of COYOTE WINDS launched last week. It features a new cover and additional material.
Many readers have wanted to know more about Clare Vincent, the sister of the main character Myles. Throughout the book, Clare writes letters to friends, to Henry Ford and even to President Hoover. She writes and sells articles to Good Housekeeping and local papers. The new edition includes her letters and articles as an appendix.
Here is one of them.
C -
Blog postWhile walking the dog this morning, a beautiful grey fox kept a close eye on us. She didn't move, but she did bark at us. Foxes have a strange, rasping bark. And it's much louder than you would expect from such a small animal.
I have seen three kits in this same area. This is probably Mom. -
Blog postThe EPA has compiled a simple test of environmental literacy. See how you do.
1. There are many different types of animals and plants, and they live in many different types of environments. What word is used to describe this idea: multiplicity, biodiversity, socio-economics, or evolution? 2. Which of the following is a renewable resource: oil, iron ore, trees, or coal? 3. Which of the following hou -
Blog postAt long last, a review in Publishers Weekly. They liked COYOTE WINDS. I sigh with relief with every nice review. After all the rejections I received from agents, these reviews are a welcome treat.
Link to Publishers Weekly Review of COYOTE WINDS
Coyote Winds Helen Sedwick. Ten Gallon Press (www.tengallonpress.com), $9.99 paper (244p) ISBN 978-0-615-69261-6 "Out in the grass, a coyote pup ran in circles. All around him, he sensed fear. It wasn't snow, for the -
Blog postDon't miss out.
On Goodreads, you can enter to win one of five autographed copies of COYOTE WINDS.
Click here: Coyote Winds Giveaway on Goodreads -
Blog postMy novel, COYOTE WINDS, was inspired by my father’s stories of growing up in eastern Colorado during the Dust Bowl years. In honor of my father, I decided to run two FREE KINDLE DAYS on Amazon starting Father’s Day, June 16, 2013.
For those of you unfamiliar with Free Kindle Days, if you sign up for KDP Select (Kindle Direct Publishing Select), you agree to offer and sell your ebook exclusively on Amazon for 90 days, and in return you earn higher royalties on some foreign sales. Plus -
Blog postPlease join me at one of my upcoming events.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013, 6 to 8 PM, Wine & Dine with Authors – Readings by Five Local Authors, Redwood Café, 8240 Old Redwood Hwy. Cotati, CA
Sunday, July 14, 2013, 2 to 5 PM, Redwood Writers Launch Party, Readings by 20 Local Authors, Flamingo Hotel, Santa Rosa, CA
Sunday, July 21, 2013, 4 PM, BOOK PASSAGE, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera, CA More information
Wednesday, July 31, 2013, 7 PM, Hot Summer Nights -
Blog postIt's Father's Day. Since COYOTE WINDS was inspired by my father's stories of growing up during the Dust Bowl, I want to honor him by getting the novel into the hands of more readers The Kindle version of COYOTE WINDS is free today and tomorrow on Amazon.
Yes FREE. $0.
Please spread the word.
There’s no limit on downloads, but the special will end Monday, June 17 at midnight.
Click here http://www.amazon.com/Coyote-Winds-ebook/dp/B00B4YMDPQ/re -
Blog postCOYOTE WINDS won First Place for Historical Fiction from the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards. I am all smiles. Purple Dragonfly Book Awards 2013
-
Blog postMy Grandparents, LaPenne and Clare In 1816, long before the Irish Potato Famine, my great-great-great-great-grandparents, John and Alice Carroll, and their two children Biddy and John, left Ireland for New Castle County, Delaware. Their passage was paid for by John’s new employer, the E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, now known as DuPont. John joined other Irish immigrants working at DuPont’s gunpowder mills along the Brandywine River. The work was dangerous, as the powder mills were known
-
Blog postA dire prediction about the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer due to widespread irrigation of the Great Plains.
LINK: A New and Irreversible Dust Bowl Looms by Rupert Cornwell of THE INDEPENDENT
-
Blog postGreat news. COYOTE WINDS just received a Compulsion Reads Endorsement and was added to their Irresistible Collection. Here's the Link Compulsion Reads. This is a selective site, so I am thrilled they gave the novel five stars. I've reprinted the review below.
COMPULSION READS BOOK REVIEW 5 OUT OF 5 STARS
Andy Vincent-McKay is an underperforming suburban teen who suffers beneath the expectations of demanding, helicopter parents. He doesn’t h -
Blog postThis poor guy took on a cholla cactus and almost lost the battle. I am so glad they saved him.
Cholla Coyote -
Blog postMy main character Myles loves to tell puns, just like my father did. Here are some groaners.
It's raining cats and dogs. Well, as long as it doesn't reindeer.
I once heard a joke about amnesia, but I forgot how it goes.
When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
I relish the fact that you've mustard the strength to ketchup to me. -
Blog postThank you Allison!
"There are days when I tire of being a reviewer, but then along comes a book like Coyote Winds by Helen Sedwick that makes me feel excited about my role. Coyote Winds is a bittersweet story, full of sadness and hope. As a historical novel, it’s about Myles and his family who struggle against overwhelming odds to maintain a farm during the depression and the Dust Bowl. As a young adult novel, it’s about thirteen-year-old Andy who lives in our modern time -
Blog postI am starting a companion blog today at Keeping It Legal, a step-by-step guide to the legal issues of self-publishing, blogging and marketing your book. For a living I practice law, and I have noticed that many writers find the legal issues quite daunting. Please check out my posts and feel free to ask me questions in the comments sections of Keeping It Legal.
Books By Helen Sedwick
Self-Publisher's Legal Handbook, Second Edition: Updated Guide to Protecting Your Rights and Wallet
Jun 14, 2017
$5.99
Other Formats:
Paperback
Self-Publisher's Legal Handbook: The Step-by-Step Guide to the Legal Issues of Self-Publishing
Jun 6, 2014
$4.99
Other Formats:
Paperback
$0.99
$0.99
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