Free advice.

Went to a workshop last night with Michael Kahn done through the St. Louis Artist Guild (SLAG). It was on writing and the law. Kahn is not only a lawyer who has represented creative people in copyright cases, he's also a novelist, and has a continuing series going. The series all have Rachel Gold as the main character and are set in St. Louis. The series includes: Canaan Legacy, Grave Designs, Death Benefits, Firm Ambitions, Due Diligence, Sheer Gall, Bearing Witness, and Trophy Widow. His newest book is a collection of Rachel Gold short stories A Handful of Gold.


 

The best advice he gave for writers was to watch out for the indemnification clauses in book contracts. These clauses mean that if the publisher gets sued over the writer's work, then the author must pay the publisher's legal costs. He said it's in every book contract, and you must negotiate about it.

People had a lot of question and he answered all of them. He emphasized that copyrights are for expression and not ideas. That is, you can tell a story with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, just so it isn't a replay on the story.

However, because you can be sued over anything, of course, you can still be sued on it. Question is how far can it go in court? I asked him about fan fiction and what one has to do to cleanse it for publication, he said he didn't know. I asked him about what it means in writing credits when it says a particular writer "owns the characters." He said he didn't know. Both questions might be pertinent to me, as I am planning on adapting the fan fiction novel for sale. To do that, I have to cut out all the fan fiction elements. (That's three projects from now.)

Afterward, I went out with the writers in my group. One of them thought the sale was immanent after he got an agent. That's not true. The agent now has just been informing him of rejections. Another friend said that getting an agent is like working for years only to be paid with a lottery ticket.

I am still of the opinion that people don't read enough. Yes, there certain people who read a lot, but in general, entertainment is done through the Internet, TV and video games. I mean, the time has to come out of somewhere. It's not like people today have more than 168 hours a week. Same as last century, same as with any time.

By the end I was very tired, so much so I was having short-term memory problems, introducing myself to the same woman twice in five minutes. Earlier, I felt like I should nap at four, but only got to rest a half hour. No sleep. Then I got up at five and fixed a three egg omelet with bacon onions and bell peppers. I barely got it done and ate it in time to get ready, my ride came at 6.

No huge disasters from cooking so hastily. I find I have to give myself 45 minutes for an omelet.

Today, I've been out of it. In theory I have to get my laundry done. In fact, all I'm going to do today is pay my bills, do some writing, and find out how I can sell my Saturn.