unpublished & copyrighted good or bad
- Thread starter Mogiz
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Copyrighting your own work doesn't affect your chances of publication, but it does mark you as an amateur. Legit publishers will copyright your work under your name for you.
Thank you so very much for your reply. I wrote a children's book and its all In a rhyme 117 pages. To me its pretty cool but i was told that i needed to copy write it first so I did. But now i understand that is not the thing to do. thanks again I thought i had relay screwed up
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Your work is automatically copyrighted the moment it is fixed in a tangible expression. What you have done is REGISTER that copyright, which gives you certain recoverable damages if you need to go to court.
Its not a major snafu, don't worry too much about it.
Its not a major snafu, don't worry too much about it.
Thanks I am more relived now. I know your understand my concern after having put months and alot of effort and heart in to the work thanks agian
Just out of curiosity, what age range is the book for. Rhyming books are usually for young children, but triple digit word counts are way out of their range.
(And FWIW, when I asked about copyrighting what amounts to an original character I wanted to protect before posting on-line, someone suggested trademarking would be a better route. If it's the text you want protected, then you're covered. If it's a specific character copyright will only protect the specific image you submit.)
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Registering a copyright before publication is basically no more than a huge waste of time (and $$). The odds of someone stealing an unpublished work are slim to none.
It's the last thing you should be worrying about now - there are a lot more things to give you gray hair.
It's the last thing you should be worrying about now - there are a lot more things to give you gray hair.
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The cost of researching and registering a trademark is much higher than copyrighting, ($30 US) and a more difficult process. (ONE of the elements necessary for trademarking is that you must USE your mark in 'trade' - IE business purposes - so essentially you HAVE to put your story ON THE MARKET in order to 'trademark' an element)
As other's have noted - you have not damaged your marketability - don't worry about it.
As other's have noted - you have not damaged your marketability - don't worry about it.
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I have been writing for about 5 years as time permits, and am not sure exactly what age range this story falls in. Its 29.345 words all in a rhyme.
I have found that it appeals to almost any age group (the child in all of us). I am just starting to do something with it. I have put it away for months then read it again and I like ti more every time i read it. But I wrote it with children in mind , as if I were reading and telling a story to young children say 8 to 12 years old. Now I this found this wonderful web site AW and am looking for advice on step 2 editing and critiquing.
At the moment i have all of the text centered in the page in short one line phrases as you would write a normal poem. I find it is easier to read out loud. In paragraphs some times the rhyme can get lost. So I am now looking for advice and help from experienced writers and anyone willing to help. I enjoy when some one reads it and is honest about what they think, I do not get discouraged i find it drives me more to perfect my stories. I have no education in writing and am very rusty with grammar and so forth , but I love to tell and write fiction stories to children that will open there minds to the possibility of a fantasy world existing.
I have found that it appeals to almost any age group (the child in all of us). I am just starting to do something with it. I have put it away for months then read it again and I like ti more every time i read it. But I wrote it with children in mind , as if I were reading and telling a story to young children say 8 to 12 years old. Now I this found this wonderful web site AW and am looking for advice on step 2 editing and critiquing.
At the moment i have all of the text centered in the page in short one line phrases as you would write a normal poem. I find it is easier to read out loud. In paragraphs some times the rhyme can get lost. So I am now looking for advice and help from experienced writers and anyone willing to help. I enjoy when some one reads it and is honest about what they think, I do not get discouraged i find it drives me more to perfect my stories. I have no education in writing and am very rusty with grammar and so forth , but I love to tell and write fiction stories to children that will open there minds to the possibility of a fantasy world existing.
As others have mentioned already, If you wrote it, it's copyrighted. There is a difference between copyright and registering that copyright. You don't have to register it for it to be copyrighted.
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In any case registering copyright is for your own security. I am not sure you would need to mention it in a query.
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One additional consideration, many awards are tied to year the copyright is registered. So if you copyright it, and it is published in a later year, it may be ineligible. Small consideration when still unpublished, but another reason not to do it.
~suki
~suki
To my knowledge, most companies won't sign a NDA (for fear of limiting their opportunities with other developers), but if they have and then use your idea, aren't you free to sue them? I rather thought that was the point of having them sign it in the first place, so you don't have to say, "Oh well..."
Good news travels fast.
Have a lawyer I can borrow? Naw, it's part of the business. If I had sold the item, then the lawyers would line up. Without it, they stole an idea. It is much different than a book but my point is hide your best ideas until you have the skill to sell them.
I started a new thread about ideas being free. I think that is what newcomers are most concerned about, Sleipner.
Have a lawyer I can borrow? Naw, it's part of the business. If I had sold the item, then the lawyers would line up. Without it, they stole an idea. It is much different than a book but my point is hide your best ideas until you have the skill to sell them.
I started a new thread about ideas being free. I think that is what newcomers are most concerned about, Sleipner.
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