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Social Media Skills

Copyright, Right?

March 21, 2021– I’m answering your questions this month about publishing, being an author, and everything in between. I hope that you’re enjoying our theme this month, and if you’d like to send in your questions, drop us an email at pandapublishing8@gmail.com. Let’s dig in to today’s question:

Q: “I’m new to self-publishing. I’m wondering if I need to copyright the title to my book?”

A: Excellent question. The answer is NO. Why? Book titles are among a list of things that can’t be copyrighted because titles aren’t considered intellectual property. Here are the other items on the list that cannot be copyrighted:

• Names of businesses, organizations, or groups (including the names of performing groups)
• Names of products or services
• Pseudonyms of individuals (including pen or stage names)
• Titles of works (movies, songs, books, plays, etc.)
• Catchwords, catchphrases, mottoes, slogans, or short advertising expressions
• Listings of ingredients, as in recipes, labels, or formulas. When a recipe or formula is accompanied by an explanation or directions, the text directions may be copyrightable, but the recipe or formula itself remains uncopyrightable.

In Canada, we have the Copyright Act. Taken from the government of Canada website-Copyright applies to all original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works provided the conditions set out in the Copyright Act have been met. Each of these general categories covers a wide range of creations, including:

• literary works such as books, pamphlets, computer programs and other works consisting of text
• dramatic works such as motion picture films, plays, screenplays and scripts
• musical works such as compositions with or without words
• artistic works such as paintings, drawings, maps, photographs, sculptures and plans

For more info click here: A guide to copyright – Canadian Intellectual Property Office

That said, trademarking is a different story. Even if you can’t copyright a book title, or the other items listed above, you may be able to register the title as a trademark. For example, “Chicken Soup for the Soul” is a registered trademark, as is the “Dummies” series of books. Trademarks protect the brand of the company and from other businesses potentially infringing on it. Fun fact: Pandamonium Publishing House is a registered trademark.

I hope this helps! If you’re a Canadian author, as soon as you put pen to paper, the copyright act protects your work. Also, YOU the AUTHOR are the owner of the copyright to your work. A publisher that says they own the copyright to your manuscript, is grossly misinformed and unaware of the law. Copyrights are designed to protect the artist from unregistered use of their work.  As for other countries, please consult your government website for your specific country’s copyright information.

Publisher’s Corner…

August 16, 2019– Let’s dive right into the question of the week!

Q: “Lacey,  As a writer how do you keep yourself from getting overwhelmed? How can you possibly stay organized with all of the books and projects you have?” 

A: There are certainly days where I feel overwhelmed at times, but then I take a deep breath, remind myself that nothing is a crisis that can’t be handled, and I immediately stop what I’m doing to do something else. It’s very important that when you start to feel the walls closing in on you, that you change anything. Change your space, change your position in the room, stand up if you’re sitting, get a fresh perspective and stop what you’re working on! This is your brain’s way of telling you that you need a few minutes to regroup. Take as much time as you need, take the afternoon off, go do something wild or out of your comfort zone, do whatever it takes to make sure that you’re ok. You can’t be any good to yourself or anyone else if you’re burnt out and uninspired. It is ok to rest, it’s ok to let go, it’s ok to shut off your devices. It’s essential to your wellbeing every once in a while to just be. 

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I have pretty amazing systems in place that take a lot of the pressure off. I have a social media scheduler that allows me to plan my posts for 30 days at a time, I’ve got a dry erase calendar in my kitchen that has all of my things to do for the week in order of importance, and I use technology to streamline as many processes as possible such as pre-planning my blog posts and YouTube videos. If I had to post every day without this help, it would be near impossible to do so and would be a time-consuming pain. 

Find ways that you can help yourself get organized and how you can make your life a bit easier and less stressful by putting systems in place that become automatic.  X LLB

 

Publisher’s Corner…

June 21, 2019– Wow, this is an excellent question! Let’s dive right in.

Q: “Lacey, my family doesn’t support my dream of becoming a writer. They tell me that I won’t make any money and that I should focus on getting a real job. Writing is something I love, but I understand that I will need to pay my bills at the same time. How do I convince them that I’m doing something that I love and that this will pay off?”

A: Whoa…for a second after reading this, I was at a loss for words. I’ll break it down because there are a couple of hidden questions in here and I don’t want to miss them.

1. My family doesn’t support my dream of becoming a writer. Sometimes, families aren’t supportive of our dreams. They mean well, but then again, some of them don’t. Some families don’t support the arts, and they don’t understand or appreciate any form of artistic expression. This can be very difficult. You have to follow your OWN path and whatever journey that leads you on. No one can decide what you should do with your life. If you want to be a writer, by all means, do it! Find others that will support you in all of your endeavours no matter what they are.
2. They tell me I won’t make any money and I should focus on getting a real job. I can tell you from first-hand experience that this has been said to me time and time again. “Writer’s don’t make any money,” “How are you going to pay your bills?” “No one is going to buy your books,” “Who do you think you are?” Yep, it hurts. But, that’s what makes victory so sweet. The fact is, there are millions of writers out there who make plenty of money writing books. And there are so many ways to make a living writing! You can write for magazines, you can do copywriting, editing, content creation, blogging, journalism, and hundreds of other things that revolve around writing. Focus on honing your skills and getting as much experience as possible. Last time I checked, which was 56 seconds ago, writing was a real job.
3. How can I convince them that I’m doing something I love and that this will pay off? You can’t and you never will convince them so stop trying. Do what you want to do because YOU want to do it. Life is way too short to be living your life based on what other people want you to do, say, or think. Getting up in the morning is a gamble, crossing the street is a gamble, travelling is a gamble, and the list goes on. There are no guarantees in life except that we only have one shot at it. Don’t spend your life wondering what if. If this is what you want to do, you don’t need anyone else’s approval. I can’t tell you that this will pay off, but what I can tell you is that you won’t regret trying. We only regret the chances we never take.

Keep your head up. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?

If you have a question you’d like answered, please send us an email to pandapublishing8@gmail.com.

X LLB

Special Opportunity for Our Canadian Friends!

November 13, 2018– I’m very excited to tell you that my company is expanding by the day; I have a unique opportunity, dear fellow Canadians, that I think you could be interested in! This is perfect for those who want to earn some extra Christmas Cash.
We are looking for ambassadors to join our growing team! Pandamonium Publishing House is looking for moms and dads who love to read and who believe that literacy matters. Our home based business opportunity is as easy as 1, 2, 3, and you can work as much or as little as you want.

Here’s all you have to do:

1) Send us an email inquiring about this post to pandapublishing8@gmail.com
2) We explain what we do, how the business works, and what we need from you. No multi-level marketing and you work from the comfort of your own home.
3) You decide if you want to do it and if we are a good fit for you. That’s it!

Contact us today. Pandamonium Publishing House, where reading and writing is exciting!

So, You Want to Kill a Character? Let Me Help;)

June 18, 2018– This complete guide to knife blades is totally awesome and useful when it comes to killing people. Let me be clear because I know the FBI or whatever we have in Canada is reading my posts… and I’m on a list somewhere after writing Obsessed with Her. What I mean is, this is a cool guide for killing off your character in your novel should you choose to do so by way of stabbing. Or cutting up into bits. Or dismembering. Sigh, I love the smell of murder in the morning! This guide will lend to your credibility as a writer and nothing is better or more important than getting your facts straight. Check out the guide below!

Around the World Reading Challenge…

April 23, 2018- This list is totally fab! Check out these reads from countries around the world! Where will you start your adventure?

Writing Prompts-(This is going to be fun!)

December 1, 2017- I absolutely love coming across new writing prompts. Not only does it help writers sharpen their skills, but it also allows us to write about things that we may not normally write about. There are different types of writing prompts and here are a few examples below. Try a couple of these per day!

See You at Supercrawl Hamilton! Is There a Pre-Release of Deer Diary?…Wait and See!

August 11, 2017-We are so excited! Know why? Because we’re going to SUPERCRAWL! That’s right, the whole weekend of September 8th to 10th we will be on James St. North with our books. Tamara Botting, author of Unfrogged, will be there and so will I. There’s a rumour going around that Deer Diary may be released in time for this event. I have no comment;)  We have a ton of surprises in store and a few more up our sleeves during the event. We hope that you’ll join us and that you’ll stop by our Pandamonium Publishing House booth and say hello! Looking forward to it Hamilton! See you in a few weeks:)

XO LLB