Don't Do It?

I was always taught to put the copyright symbol on all of my submissions. My college writing professor said to do it and the first version of Writer's Market that I ever owned further reinforced this. So, after years of submitting works with the symbol, only now have I learned that this is definitely NOT the thing to do!

Since our work is copywritten from the moment we put it in a tangible format and since editors are well-aware of this, it screams 'newbie' when we insist on including the symbol. Some have even reported that certain editors have been downright offended by the gesture (I guess they feel like we're suggesting they might steal our work, otherwise).

For more on copyrights, in general, here are a few informative articles I'd like to share. Brad Templeton debunks 10 myths about copyright HERE. And here's an article, by Moira Allen, written to help us all better understand rights and copyrights. For a quick review on determining the life of a copyright (and what's in public domain and what isn't), check THIS quick reference out.

Also, as mentioned in an earlier post, I'm in the process of querying and submitting 9 different articles. Not to mention that I had that little back and forth thing with the magazine that hired me a few weeks ago (btw, there's still no word from them after my last contract edits...I've pretty much written them off at this point [for a few reasons], but I'll keep you posted if I hear any further). I needed to brush up on the various rights that need to be negotiated and was directed to a really good reference HERE.

Speaking of those 9 articles, I really thought I could get everything finished this week, but it looks like I'll be submitting them next week as well. I'm finding out that writing is only half of a freelancers job. Seems like the bulk of our work begins only AFTER the last word is written (and rewritten, lol). There's researching markets, writing queries, submitting queries, keeping records and, when appropriate, finally submitting manuscripts. No complaints here, though. I find it all immensely challenging and am optimistic that my efforts will be well-rewarded soon.

I'm turning in early again tonight (well, at least by 1 am...lol), so that's it for now. I do wish everyone well and hope that you're closing out an awesome week in preparation for an even greater one next week!

Take care and God bless,

BabyBlogger