how do i get my literary work copywrited? will it be expensive?

Answer 1

Hi there. I think the copyright issue has been resolved, although I will add that the "poor man's" copyright plan of mailing it to yourself has been tested in court and failed miserably. Nothing is as good as a properly filed US copyright. The cost is about $35 and takes 6-8 weeks to get the filing back. You can file your book on CD now, so you don't even have to print out the two copies required by the LOC.

In my opinion, the best way for a first time author to get published is by finding a bona fide agent to represent you. That costs NOTHING. Unfortunately, most agencies have thousands of manuscripts sent to them every year and typically, they only select a few works that are worthy to represent. Submitting your work directly to publishers is almost a waste of time, as the slush pile for publishers is ten times what it is for most agencies.

DO NOT submit to anyone that requires up front money or "reading" fees. Most agencies will read your book for nothing if it's well presented and if they think it has merit. Reading fees are a rip off. You can check on legitimate agencies at the "Preditors & Editors" website. They keep an up to date list of current agents and any problems writers have had with them.

Now, once you find an agency, you need a great query letter to get their attention. Search Yahoo for an example that I posted on a question earlier. If your query letter is sloppy or has misspelled words, you're TOAST. Get a qualified copy editor to help you, if you can afford one.

Once an agency reads your query and agrees to look at your manuscript, MAKE SURE IT IS PERFECT before you send it off. Again, bad formatting, grammar problems or poor spelling will doom you from the start. Pay an editor to proof your work--it's worth a few hundred bucks to get your foot in the door with an agent.

After that, be prepared to wait up to 3 months for an answer from the agency. DO NOT submit to more than one agency at a time. If your work is good and the agency sees potential in it, they will offer you a contract. From there, it can be another 3-6 month wait for them to find you a publisher. Once you get a publisher, it takes about a year to actually see your book in print.

You can also go the eBook route, which is becoming more popular every day now that eBook readers and publishers are more readily available. I did that with one book and it worked out very well for me. I went from a very small online eBook publisher to a major hard cover print publisher, but it took several years. These days, it's much more acceptable to start out with an electronic version and move into print. However, you should think about doing your own eBook instead of paying some company to throw it together for a fee. Most of those services could care less if your book looks good, has typos or whatever. They may also OWN the ISBN's for all titles they produce--you do not--so keep that in mind.

I hope this helps. If you're serious about getting published, you can make it happen. It takes time, patience and a lot of luck. And as a note of reality, of all the fiction books published in a given year, only about 13% ever sell more than 1,000 copies. Most (75%) sell fewer than 500. Contrary to popular belief, most authors don't get rich.

Jon Baxley, author, editor, proofreader and ghostwriter

THE SCYTHIAN STONE (a medieval fantasy eBook)
THE BLACKGLOOM BOUNTY (a medieval fantasy epic in hard cover from Thomson Gale)

Answer 2

Do a poor mans copywrite. Make copies of your work and mail it to yourself. When the envelope arrives, DO NOT OPEN IT! This is your DATED PROOF!! The fact that it remains unopened proves when it was copy written. If you ever find yourself in a position where you need to prove (ie., in a court of law) that you wrote something, you have the unopened envelope with the copies of your work inside.

Answer 3

Your work is now considered copyrighted as soon as you put it down on paper. (The law changed a few years ago.) So you don't have to do anything at all except write. It is still possible to register your copyright, but it's really not necessary. If you want to be able to prove that you wrote something on a certain date, mail a copy to yourself, making sure the postmark date is clear, and DON'T OPEN THE ENVELOPE. Then it can be opened by a judge if somebody says he wrote it earlier.

Answer 4

In canada, it's automarically copywrited, however if you live in U.S. you can find out more info here and purchase your copywrite here:
http://www.copyright.gov/

Answer 5

Well.. you are not alone. I have a manuscript ready to go and cannot find a publisher.. HOw much will it cost? it is not known but probably $1,500 or so and even that is not sure.

Answer 6

Go to Library of Congress website. It's easy and cheap to do. And there is no 'w' in copyright.