Copyright and Duplicates

Why you should change your article when you post it on a different site to the one you originally did, even when it is your copyright?

The confusion

People often find it confusing when writing for online sites. They assume that because an article is their copyright it must also be original content.' People seem to fall foul of this frequently and then get banned from some sites before they even start publishing.

Protect your own copyright

If you wrote it, then it is your copyright unless you sign that copyright away. Always read the small print of any site you want to publish your article on.

Be clear of the conditions under which you are submitting your content to any site and check whether people are complaining about the site using articles they have deleted.
There are unscrupulous sites that will make money out of your work whether you are still on that site or not.

Face book users should always put in that their work is their copyright with anything they post. Personally, I have stopped publishing anything I write directly to facebook and a lot of people put a notice on their page to say they retain copyright of their work.

Copyyright is NOT what is meant by Duplicate.

Whatever you put on the web is published and may show up as such even if you just placed it somewhere as a draft. Once it gets on the web, then it is published. Keep your work on your own hard drive for that reason alone until you are sure of where you wish to place it.

Once your article is on the web, then any further copies of it wherever you put them are seen as duplicate copies even thought they are still your copyright.

Search engines do not like duplicates. Google has clear web master tools that explain why they do not like this. They are worth reading.

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66359?hl=en

#copyright
#duplicates
#Google
#web

Hands on writing by doing

I think learning to be a write will be enhanced if we are aware of how we learn. I can tell you about my writing learning curve.

 Forget what they said at school

I was not that interested at school although good at English. I got told what to do and how to do it. For me that does not work. I need to do it in order to learn

What I tell new writers. 

My one recommendation to new writers is they forget all the failures of school. Often such lack of self confidence has been given that the person has no idea they can write.

 

My own approach to learning

My approach to learning how to write a book was not to learn how to use my word processor and then go from there. I had to actually start typing and think of a title. I can only learn by doing.

As I typed I had to find things out and try them out, like how to do the pages and so on. It all took time. However, as I learned each separate step it became a part of me. I had researched things and then practiced them and learned by trial and error.

Writing a book after going on some course that told me what to do would have been interesting but probably not have worked in terms of learning.

Education often needs to be hands on

I do know as I have also studied education, that practical, hands on trial and error with information is often the best kind of way to learn and of course, the Internet with its wealth of information is very helpful for that.

Why a great book cover is important

 A book is as good as its cover

A book, whatever we like to think, is largely sold by its cover. When I did edition 1 of  Firedance I did not know that. I guess we do some things (like buying books,) so often that we cease to think about what actually makes us do them. So I just uses a ready made cover from lulu.com and I made the book in A4 because that was what my word processor seemed to do.

I think you can see the difference between the two book covers. I began with this:

and for a long time I was quite happy. Now I have this:

I moved on and understood that things needed to look professional and not as if they were self-published. It is always easier to choose the online free cover on a self-publishing site but it really will look like you have done that and not be original.

Think about the books you buy and the covers

If you think about it, you will probably find that the books you buy were bought because you were first attracted to the cover and then read the blurb on the back. How many times have you passed a book by thanks to its unattractive cover?

How to format your book

  

Think Format before you Think Book

 

I have spent more hours formatting my books than I ever have writing them

If I knew now what I now know I would have formatted a document and made it my master copy before I began to write a word. I would then have written straight into it. Others may say this is the wrong way to go about things, but it works for me.

If you must self-publish, learn to format. Do this even if you then use a paid editor for your final draft and someone else does the final formatting. It will help you visualise the finished book and if you do run out of money, you can still publish a reasonable book.

Self formatting

Doing your own formatting does not mean having a perfectly formed book and you will still have had to do a lot of work, but I would have saved some of my valuable time when writing my first books which were self-published. I would have altered things as I went along, and then altered them again at the end.

Do the formatting as you go along

Create your format by writing your book. Don't just make a template and think that your book will fit it. Once you have chapter one written it means you then have the format for the headings and pages in the rest of your book. Please don't just write, find out how a book should 'look' and work to that.

Find books by well known authors that are not self published, but a similar type to your own and look at how they are laid out.

When one thing changes in self formatting others do too

You need to remember that whenever you change something in a book draft, then the whole of your formatting will change. I think it is just easier to keep on top as I go along. Others may differ, but that is my particular working style.

When it like a book you think you are getting somewhere

I also feel I have something that looks like a book, which encourages me. I know how many chapters, can find them easily without resorting to complicated software and can cut and paste and alter to my heart's content.

Don't pay for book templates

If I knew what I know now, I would never have wasted time using or money paying for book templates. These are generally pretty useless as you are still going to have to alter things to fit your idea of what your book should look like and also as I already said, changes in formatting may affect other things in your book. If you must use these, at least get a free one.

Get to know your word processing program well or other softwar

Plenty of writers use a word processing program in order to write. Others use software that is designed for printing. My recommendation is that before you do anything at all you work out how to put in page numbers, headers and footers, right and left pages, and chapter headings with whatever program you are used to. 

For the first book I wrote, 'Not a Victim,' I did the first publication using Microsoft Word. That was not ideal, but it did produce a reasonable first attempt. I have most of the free programs on my computer, but always end up back with Libre Office. I got used to working with it and it suits my style of working.

A professional can tell but the average 'Joe Blogs' will not have a clue what you wrote your book with.

Any person from a reputable publishing company will be able to pick up a book and tell it is self published. Don't delude yourself into thinking they can't. That is fair enough. Every industry has standards and practices it needs to uphold. However, the average person in the street will not have a clue. As long as you are very careful to follow established conventions for book writing, edit well (preferably not by self editing,) and have a decent cover then most people will not even think about it. 

Self publishing companies will not do the work for you 

When self-publishing, it seems to me that you need to be sure to publish a book that looks like it was published by a reputable publishing company. What you see is what you get when you upload a book to a self publishing company. There are expensive places where they may offer to do all sorts of things to your self published book, but not all of these do a great job anyway. If you do use a company, make sure you have talked to other authors and seen some of the books they have published in print.

Your book will not be finished on publishing your proof copy even if you could technically sell it from that time

Never ever write a book, self edit, upload it and put it up for sale. This is a sure recipe for disaster. It will will look like a self edited book that has been uploaded and put up for sale and be full of mistakes. Your first copy of your self published book should never be for publication. With this you are looking at all the ways your book needs improving. This will include the formatting and the cover as well as what you have written. Take it from me, you will find mistakes.

Find a place that works for you to publish your book on then get to know that place

It amazes me how many people upload a book to a place like lulu.com and then complain that things do not work. Inevitably they have not taken the time to read how to do things and made sure they understand before they excitedly upload a book. Make sure you know what you are doing first. You can even write a very short book and 'publish' it to yourself. That will give you a practice run and also help you see what sort of standard the self publishing site is working to.

I found lulu.com http://www.lulu.com early in my writing career. I like it because I can upload a book for free and buy a single copy to see what it looks like. If, like me, you are, and this is NOT the best option, self-editing, then you may need to do this more than once. Be prepared to pay out for a fair few copies before you are fully satisfied with your book.

TIP

Tip:The cover and the way you format will be what sells your book! (Sorry, but that is true.)

My review of Lulu.com and Createspace.com and other stuff

 I wrote a review of Lulu and Create Space and put it on the writing site, Triond.

http://jacky-ann.quazen.com/shopping/a-review-of-two-places-where-you-can-self-publish-your-book-for-free/My Review of Lulu and Createspace-On-line Publishers

 

I am not ashamed of self-editing

I am not ashamed of the fact that I self-publish my books. I think it is a great way to get into print. I just do not want to be like one writer, I think it was Virginia Woolf, who papered her wall with rejection slips. I like writing and I like my writing to be in print. I want to see it out there and as I want to publish it, not hacked away at by someone who is more interested in selling books than in what I actually write,

Here is a link to where I prefer to publish and sell my books

I have used Lulu to publish a lot more than I now have on my store front which is found here:

A link to where I sell my books

I also made a book of my Mother's poems for her eightieth birthday so now we have a book of her poems. My Mother has published a book too.

The nice thing about self-publishing is that if you wrote something you can now be sure it can also get published.


Here's a link to some of the other things I write.

Some of the latest things I wrote

Who is the best online publisher?

 So many places to go to publish online

There are so many places to upload your book when it is edited and formatted. You can even get a free ISBN. More about ISBNs in another post. I have been happy with both createspace and lulu, but you could use so many other places.

 

Be warned you will not make a fortune with online publishing

Be warned. You will not make your fortune. However, you will be a published author. :)

A list of online publishing places to try out

Here is a list of places to try. The best thing to do is to look at them all and try out the software. If you are satisfied with a publisher, then stick with them. Most sites have very useful forums where you can ask questions. Here are the main ones.

http://www.lulu.com
http://www.createspace.com
http://www.blurb.co.uk (has software you download)
http://authorsonline.co.uk (wants you to pay for their expertise, but not for actually publishing the book)
http://www.wordclay.com

Don't forget about ebooks

You can also make ebooks on Lulu and Createspace but might also like to check out
http://www.smashwords.com

Firedance - The Book and a bit about the isbn number and copyright page.

Waiting for the postman

Today I am waiting for the postman. It is about time the proof copy of my book arrived. I want to see the off-line version of the cover. This copy is not for sale, even if perfect and there is a reason for that. I initially forgot that I needed to put the isbn on the copyright page.

Note to self. Put the isbn number on the copyright page before you get the proof in future.

Here is the front cover. My first edition just had a lulu cover done with the cover wizard at http://www.lulu.com- For a first ever attempt at producing a book that was OK but Amy's design brings things into a professional realm. I guess as we get braver our standard goes up and now I have something nobody else will have for a cover.

In the next blog upload I will talk about making the cover.

From start to finish

Getting a book properly edited

I wrote my poetry book,'Firedance,' using a proper human editor and cover designer. This book wentthrough many different stages in design.

It was such a rewarding experience. Firstly, I was no longer alone, and had the confidence that my mistakes would be picked up. Most of us do not realise that when we write our brain registers what we 'think' we have written and not what is actually on the page and so errors will always abound when we try to self-edit.

I got a cover designed

I enjoyed choosing a cover that matched the theme, Amy, my designer found the pictures and designed the cover. Her superior ability to use software I do not have anyway means that she made a really professional design. You can see the results by clicking on the link.

 http://www.lulu.com/shop/jacky-hughes/firedance/paperback/product-20299851.html;jsessionid=2CA1A3845424247AACC876CADEBCED69#productDetails

A Publisher's View of Book Covers

The publisher told me this

It is the cover that sells the book, What you write inside needs to be good but many people will only read about two or three pages of the book they buy.

This is depressing but then again it probably depends what market you write for. Anyway, designing a cover is fun.

A good way to get a decent book cover

One way you can get a good book cover is to collaborate with an artist friend and agree to share a percentage of royalties. You may also be able to get some black and white illustrations for the inside of your book.

Keep expenses down

Don't go for colour inside because it will push the price of the book out of any kind of reality if you self publish. Use black and white pen drawings inside your book and keep the pretty stuff for the cover.

Format the interior of your book

 Have a uniform format

Make it look like you care!

The important thing about the interior of your book is that it is uniform. I am always amazed at the people who come to church and sell their book. They get away with charging 10.99 or something like that for a book that has different fonts in the same paragraph, headings that are all over the place and often they do not have a great deal to be spoken of on the editing side.

Learn how to use the headings

In order to sort the book you are going to create out you need to understand how to use headings. In  programs like Open Office the headings are what you use to create the Contents Page so they need to be uniform across your whole book.

Keep every single heading of the same kind the same 

Every title of every chapter has to appear formatted in the same way and at the same point on the page.  Every other heading needs to be the same as other headings like it.

Chapter headings go on the right half way down the page

The place for your chapter heading is always on the right of the page and about half way down. Put it on the left or somewhere else if you like, but that is always the best place for a chapter heading.

The format of your chapter heading must never change

Don't, whatever you do, change the chapter format at any point in your book. If you do insist on having some on the left they need to look the same as the ones you have on the right. If you just carry on with the chapter heading wherever it falls every chapter heading still needs the same font, the same font size and the same format.

Subheadings and minor headings and any other kind of heading need to look like each other. They too should have the same font, the same font size and the same format.

The Front Bit of the Book

I am assuming you are new to self publishing, or think you need to know more, but did you know the front bit of your book will often be a dead give away it is not published by a professional publisher?

Books do seem to vary a bit on what goes at the front, but some things have to be there. 

How to lay out your book:

For now:

Font and size of letters

Use Times New Roman and 1.5 spacing and don't put the page number on any page which begins a chapter.

Important about page numbers

The way your pages are numbered can be a dead give away that a book is not professionally published. Never ever number the first page, the isbn and copyright page, the book title page or any other page unless with i, ii, iii, and so on until you get to Chapter one, page two.

Never ever put a page number on a chapter page that is a new page for a chapter on any chapter in your book. Carry on numbering on the back page of the Chapter heading page.

Your first page

The first page is what you see when you first open the book. It needs to be on the right hand side. ALL it should have is the title of the book and possibly your name - although some publishers also put their publishing mark at the bottom. If you use numbers before chapter one, use roman numerals.

The back of the first page and beyond

Page 2 is on the left hand side of the book and it contains the copyright notices and isbn numbers.

Page 3 can have your dedication and acknowledgements. You can also include a little bit about YOU -but not too much, just maybe a short paragraph and it can spill over onto page 4 which should otherwise be blank so that your contents page starts at page 5.

You may also include and Introduction if it is appropriate. Do not, as yet, number your pages with 1, 2,3, 4 use Roman numerals.

Chapter One

THIS IS THE POINT TO CREATE A NEW FILE FOR CHAPTER ONE. It is a good idea to have seperate files then you can easily edit just a single file if needed rather than scrolling through the whole book. However, I personally find it easier not to and to keep the whole thing in one file. The main aim is to keep the way each chapter looks consistent with the way all the other chapters look.

Chapter 1 needs to start on an odd page. That is, page 1, on the right hand side of the book.

You place the chapter heading about half-way down the page.

Headers

Where not to put a header

No page with a chapter heading half way down the page should have any kind of header. Your next header goes on the back of the chapter heading page.

Where to put headers and what they should look like

You need a header on all pages that are not a chapter heading page.

The right hand side of the book needs to be the book title and the left hand side needs to be the chapter title.

Page numbers

It is personal preference whether you put the page numbers at the top or bottom of the page.They should all be in the same position throughout the book.

To be sure everything looks the same

To be sure you get the same chapter heading placement for each chapter use the rulers in your word processing program and also copy and paste and change it from your first chapter heading page. A chapter heading which does not line up with all the other chapter headings is a give away that you are an amateur.

TI cannot emphasise this enough: Chapter headings need to happen in the same place and in the same way, same font, same heading size and always on the right hand side for every chapter.

Subheadings 

Your subheadings need to be in the same size and the same font.

Text 

Text should be justified.

You need to keep everything the same space from everything else throughout the book.Make sure your text is even.

Don't allow 'rivers of white' (more about this later.)

Watch out for situations where your sub headings land at the end of a page and are separate from relevant content.

The space between each line of writing

In self-publishing programs it is best to stick to 10 or 12 point for letter size and I use 1.5 spacing because I feel I am writing to people who are going to be stressed. I believe, however that single spacing is ok. (You use the double spacing for your college essay and if you submit the book to a publisher.)