Thousands
of books will enter the public domain in 2019, including classic works by
iconic writers such as Marcel Provst, D.H. Lawrence, Agatha Christie Edith
Wharton, Robert Frost, and Rudyard Kipling.
A large body of works will lose their copyright this year, which means
some author estates and publishers will not make as much money as they used to,
while the public will be saturated with a variety of editions to choose from
and they will likely be available at cheaper prices.
As a result, some of these books may get greater exposure with more publishers hawking their editions.
As a result, some of these books may get greater exposure with more publishers hawking their editions.
Why
the sudden surge of books losing their copyright status? According to The New York Times this “traces back to legislation Congress passed
in 1998, which extended copyright protections by 20 years. The law reset the copyright term for works
published from 1923 to 1977-- lengthening it from 75 years to 95 years after
publication – essentially freezing their protected status.”
So
what’s wrong with that you say?
Plenty.
No.
1, writers – or likely their estates – will no longer control the content. This means that anyone, for any reason, can
republish the work, write unauthorized sequels or spin-offs, or even alter the
original book. As a writer what protects your legacy?
No.
2, the writer and heirs should still cash-in on the works. Why should they suddenly have others selling
their product and seeing money they should be getting go into someone else’s
pocket?
No.
3, now free copies of the book can circulate.
Just post an e-book of a 1923 classic and give it away. Do we need more free books flooding the
marketplace? Google Books, which has
more than 30 million works scanned in its vast online digital library, can now
release its newest ones from the past, including Tarzan and the Golden Lion,
and Edith Wharton’s A Son at the Front.
“Publishers
are right to be concerned about a proliferation of unreliable editions, some of
them probably not very good,” said John Kulka, the editorial director of library
of America, a nonprofit that publishes American literature, classics, according
to the Times article recently.
The Prophet and the Zombie, a slim book of
spiritual fables, was published nearly a century ago and has sold nearly nine
million copies. This January 1st
it entered the public domain. Anyone
with a smart phone or laptop can start selling it – or giving it out for free.
In
2021, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby comes up for an expired
copyright. Next year Billy Budd, The Magic Mountain and Winnie-the-Pooh’s
When We Were Very Young will be in the public domain.
Just think, in 2115 your book published this year will be available to all -- and you won't earn money from it or have a say in your legacy..
Just think, in 2115 your book published this year will be available to all -- and you won't earn money from it or have a say in your legacy..
DON”T MISS THESE!!!
Book Trends For 2019
SCelebrate National Thesaurus Day
Step out of your book marketing prison
Have You Set Your Book Marketing Goals?
The Book Marketing Strategies Of Best-Sellers
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-book-marketing-strategies-best.htmlStep out of your book marketing prison
Do authors have the
right attitude to succeed at book marketing?
While popularity of
social media grows, traditional media still leads the conversation
Authors should see
book marketing like going to a gym regularly
How to model success
of authors for your own book publicity
How to be persistent
when marketing books effectively
How authors convince
media of their uniqueness
Authors should zoom in
on book marketing now
How authors can
communicate better when promoting a book
How authors can sell
more books
No. 1 Book Publicity
Resource: 2019 Toolkit For Authors -- FREE
Brian Feinblum’s insightful
views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific
blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and
should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in
the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2019. Born and
raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often
featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.
This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the
top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best
resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America.
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