Hello, to all my Indie Author friends, and anyone looking to publish their work. I thought I would share my copyright experience with you. Maybe you already know this, and I’m the last to get on board after publishing three books, but this is my experience and I hope it helps.
When you apply for a copyright, and you choose “unpublished” and upload your manuscript – you will get a certificate. If you choose “published” – you are required to send in two published copies of your work, with me so far? Both are copyrighted, so, what is the different?
– If you choose to copyright as “unpublished” and someone plagiarizes your work, you take them to court and win, your attorney fees are your responsibility.
– If you choose to copyright as “published” and someone plagiarizes your work, you take them to court and win, the guilty party is responsible for your attorney fees.
– You can copyright both ways, but you will have to pay twice. Unless you copyright the unpublished work, but change your mind, and want to copyright the published work, and they (copyright office) have not completed your application they will allow you one change without payment…so don’t waste too much time deciding, or it could cost you.
So, there you have it. Either copyright will hold up in a court of law, but to protect your pocketbook a bit, you might want to be sure and copyright your published work. Plagiarizing is a real threat to anyone who strings words together to create a piece of art. As starving (at least some of us) artists, it’s important to protect what we have created and make these thieves pay for any wrongdoing.
Until next time…happy reading, happy writing, happy life…
So, I’m back home after two plus months of traveling, and was it ever busy. I’ll give you a rundown, but it’s the special moments I really want to share.
Buckle your seatbelt, here we go…I flew into Colorado on April 29th and was picked up by my husband, Dan, who had driven there two weeks earlier. We spent a couple of days with my stepdaughter and family. Next stop was Shawano, Wisconsin for one night with more family, the Murdock’s (not blood-related, but we love them as if they were), then to Gladstone, Michigan for three nights with my sister-in-law, Bev, and her husband, Steve. Next stop was Newaygo, Michigan, where we stayed one night with Jack, a dear old family friend. Then headed to Brunswick, Ohio for my stepdaughter, Jessica’s, college graduation, which you can read about in my blogged posted 5/19/16, titled From Tragedy to Triumph. After a week we headed back to Escanaba, Michigan. However, while in Ohio I picked up a virus, and with a temp of 101.5 I slept for over ten hours straight while Dan drove us to Escanaba. I think he was silently rejoicing that he had many hours of quiet after a busy week of visiting…lol. When we got to Escanaba, he visited with his brother, Joe, and sister, Bev. Since it was only one night we camped at Walmart before heading back to Shawano, Wisconsin. We spent a week in Shawano, then back to Escanaba for a week, back to Shawano a week, back to Escanaba for a week, then Shawano for a week, and then wrapped up our trip back in Colorado……whew, are you tired yet? After three days in Milliken, Colorado, I was back on a plane heading home. But with all that driving, packing, and unpacking, hugs and laughs, some highlights shine in my mind.
During our time in Michigan (back and forth), there were the nights of laughing over card games with my sister-in-law, Bev, and her husband, Steve. If you’ve never played “Buffoon” or “Sevens” you should give them a go…so much fun. We parked and set up our pop-up camper on our property that sits on the Escanaba River since we’d be back and forth over the next few months. We had great visits with Dan’s cousins Tim and Tom Arbour, along with a couple of their boys, who came up to stay on their river property for Memorial weekend. Then enjoyed a big family BBQ at Bev and Steve’s for the holiday. Back on the property, Dan and I staked out where our future cabin will go…not an easy thing to do. There were time I simply watched Dan and his brother, Joe, interact over what to do and not do for the building process. More than once we had a deer watching Dan drawknife logs on our property…literally twenty feet away. We went with Bev and Steve up to Munice, Michigan for the best pasties ever at Muldoon’s Pasties & Gifts, took a stroll on the beach of Lake Superior where there are balls of weeds (I guess) scattered about the beach. They look like balls of yarn…amazing what Mother Nature creates for us to enjoy. We ended the day stopping at a couple of water falls…amazing. There was one day Dan and I drove to Crystal Falls, Michigan where they have a Catholic church built in 1890…a thing of beauty still. At lunch we ate at Barb’s Café in Florence, Wisconsin on our way back to the property…such good food.
While in Wisconsin, we drove to Appleton to meet Dan’s cousins, Geri Petersen, Geralyn Budde, and her husband, Dan. Visiting through memory lane filled with lots of laughs, along with a few tears over lost lives. Another stop in Appleton, for a visit with Dan’s oldest sister, Maryanne, and her husband, John. Back in Shawano, my Murdock family took us to the Sun Drop Museum. This soda pop is only distributed in Wisconsin. If you ever get to Shawano, Wisconsin, stop for a visit, it’s free and worth the time. They even have a flavor tasting room…so many different ones…loved it. I watched Jen Murdock’s three girls play their last soccer games of the season (only one child, Jordon, got a bad bonk on the head). Two of her daughters played against each other while the youngest played in the field next door…it was so much fun going from one game to the other. There was the Flea Market to visit filled with amazing antiques and goodies. Not to mention the huge Green Bay Farmer’s Market where Dan’s cousin, Tom Arbour, had a booth for his Chiropractic practice. Another day I watched silage mounding for cattle feed…that’s quite a process. We watched goose banding where they corral the geese into a large pen. Each goose is checked for sex and age (mature/immature) and banded accordingly…it’s quite a process too. There was the trip to the strawberry fields where we drove through a town called Embarrass…had to get a shot of that town sign. 
There was the morning I went off by myself to Main Street in Shawano and spent a couple of hours visiting with the owner, Cindy Van Belkon, of Anew Tea Emporium. If you ever get a chance, please stop by…she is awesome, and so is her store. It’s not just teas; she has wine, olive oils, balsamic vinegar and more. Then there were the times spent watching Trevor and Jen’s house building project (the main reason for us being in Shawano).
Of course, what would a traveling vacation be without mishaps…we had another trailer tire blow…which, mind you, is so powerful that it rips the fender right off and sends it sailing down the road…scaring the you-know-what out of me. We took two wrong turns heading back to Colorado from Wisconsin. Who manages those highway signs anyhow (insert frustrated face here). But I’ve saved the best for last, so here it is…the morning we were going goose banding, I felt something in my rubber boot. Mind you we had to get up at 4:30 am for this experience, so I wasn’t quite awake. Anyhow, I put my hand in my boot and yelped as my fingers came in contact with something quite swishy and mushy…YUCK!!! Once I recovered, I was able to pound my boot enough to have a tree frog pop out. Yes, that is the little guy there in the photo. 
He usually is around the outdoor shower we use while staying at Todd Murdock’s…yes, an outdoor shower where you not only enjoy the fresh air while you suds up, but you get to look over acres of beautiful land. Well, I hope you enjoyed my journey; it was a very adventurous time. I’ll post other photos on Facebook as time allows.
So, until my next blog, check your boots my friends…you never know what might be lurking there.
That’s me…sixty-six and sassy. As another year came to an end, whether I liked it or not, my mind seemed to go into memory overload. I found my somewhat sleepless nights leading up to my birthday filled with memories. I was forced to reflect on my life. Some memories good, some great…and, of course, some not so great. No matter what memory was flooding in at the time, I tried to focus on the positive areas of my life. Bringing beautiful children into the world has been my greatest joy, my hardest job, and the most rewarding for sure. I look at their faces and know the world is truly better because they are in it. I have loved a few men in my days…two of which fathered my children, and though love was lost I look at what I gained, my babies. The husband I share my life with now has been the one to teach me what marriage is all about…the ins and outs, the ups and downs, the good, bad, and indifferent. If I had only know younger in life what I know now…but then I wouldn’t be where I am today, and that I cannot imagine.
It’s hard to push away the memories of bad choices I’ve made, but I try to learn from them. Because without mistakes, mishaps, or whatever you call them, I wouldn’t have the strength to try and do it better next time. Life is all about learning…and I continue to learn daily. It doesn’t matter how small or how important what I learn each day is…it’s about learning. I try to share my “old age” knowledge whenever possible. I figure someone, besides me, should gain from my mistakes. Whether they take that advice to heart, or not, is up to them.
So for all the joys, all the fun, and all the tears shared with those I love, here’s to another year passed and a new year to explore what life has to offer.
Yes, that’s right…this is the blog I’m sure will captivate you the most, because, let’s face it, eBooks are the “in” thing. For me having a paper book in my hands is like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s night, and I couldn’t imagine my life without that anticipation of turning the page. I purchased my Kindle when a research book I needed only came in eBook form. I had no intention of putting my paper back down for this electronic thing, but I was wrong. Having 50+ books at my disposal, no matter where I travel has been wonderful. I always keep a paperback with me in case my battery goes dead, but I do love my Kindle. But this isn’t about how I’ve crossed over to the paperless world we were all told would be our future, it’s about how those little books become a reality.
After I had written my first novel, Do I Know You, I knew I wanted to do an eBook…have to keep up with the times you know. Anyhow, every minute I had between dealing with editing changes and the like, I was checking out how to put my first novel in an eBook as well. Okay…so I didn’t get far due to impending deadlines and instead hire someone to do it for me. Now, as a “starving artist” extra cash is only in our imagination…there is no money tree in the backyard…no matter how much we close our eyes and open them hoping it will appear. So, the next best thing was to figure the process out. So, here’s the skinny on how all this went down.
During my research I found a program, Jutoh, that was running a special. The offer gave me the opportunity to try it out first…I couldn’t ask for more than that, right? Here I am with my second manuscript, Taking What Is Mine, and I started playing with the program. Yes, it was a hair puller, a bad word creator, and even a tearjerker…but I figured it out. By the time I published my third book, As If Yesterday, I had gained ground regarding the process and though it still required some hair pulling I was successful. Yay…I created two of my books into eBooks.
Some of the tricks I wanted to pass on were to 1) keep your original manuscript void of page numbers (this is the copy you will use for the process). 2) If you use symbols in between scenes, you have to be careful which ones you use, or the program could give you errors. 3) Do not include a TOC, because the program creates it for you, at least Jutoh does. 4) I use the Createspace Kindle version of my book cover, but sizing will be necessary.
I have gone through the trials and tribulations of working out the bugs, and now that I have a handle on it I started a service, Dragonfly E-book Services. If you need help, please contact me. My fee is negotiable, depending on your manuscript size…but I’m here to help.
If you desire to attempt this challenging process, I wish you the best of luck, and I’m always around if you need a shoulder to vent on, a question answered, or just need some support as you venture into the world of conversions.
As an Indie Author, I can say I’ve grown through my experiences, and I love it more each time a challenge hits…okay, sometimes. I hope you enjoy whatever you are doing and thanks for reading my ramblings.
Until later…happy writing, happy reading, happy life.
Through my sixty plus years, I’ve attended many commencements…my own being one of them. All commencements hold a place in my heart, even those I didn’t attend. Why? Because of the success that person holds. To accomplish any goal deserves an “attaboy” – but this particular commencement holds so much more. Today is about my stepdaughter, Jessica James Vermote. I met Jessica over five years ago when her dad and I were married. We were dating when she graduated high school, and though I wasn’t there, I enjoyed the bright light of pride in her dad’s eyes when he returned from Ohio.
Now six years later, on May 14, 2016, we watched Jessica walk on stage and receive her Degree of Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology. Any graduation is a ceremony of pride, but a college graduation holds a different meaning because that person has chosen a field they plan to move forward with as a means of etching out a life for themselves. At that age, I thought I knew what I wanted, only to change my mind five years later. Many young people change their majors in mid-stream, trying hard to understand where they will fit best in the adult world. But not Jessica, she knew what she wanted and never waivered. She is very much like her dad in the sense that they understand the mechanics of things…not my strength at all. I listen to them talk about the subject, all of which goes right over my head, and I see a common interest as they decipher, examine, and re-engineer something into a better product. I simply enjoy watching their bond grow as Jessica continues to blossom into adulthood.
We spent a couple of days before commencement getting her mother’s house ready for the big party to follow the next day. My smart husband created a new fire pit, so s’mores could be cooked outside for a late night snack. The food was on order, chairs picked up, decorations adorned the rooms, and a cake in the shape of books sat deliciously on the dessert table. Jessica’s friends and most of her family members were there to share in the celebration. As I took pictures of the event, there were conversations of laughter, pride, and excitement for Jessica’s new adventure in life…but it was bittersweet…because just shy of eight months ago Jessica lost her brother to suicide. He had turned nineteen less than a month earlier. Freshly graduated from high school, with potential for the future. Here was Jessica, her last year of college, and now her heart and soul are shattered. Her buddy, her pal, her confidant, her brother has left her. Many siblings in this situation would crumble, and who would blame them…grief takes over, and nothing else matters. But that is what makes this graduation so special because Jessica is a fighter…she turned tragedy into triumph. After taking time off school, she made up the work, persevered and kept a promise to herself, and likely to her brother, to complete her goal. What drove this young woman through the toughest eight months of her life will surely drive her forever. Her courage is so powerful that nothing will stop this girl, making me wonder if I could have been so brave. Would I have pushed that hard to the finish line, or faded into the night like a lightning bug at the end of their time?
Whatever it is that drives a person to push him or herself, Jessica has tenfold, and though I am very proud of her, my pride pales in comparison to what her parents must feel. An “attaboy” will never be enough for this young woman. Even congratulations seem to dim in the light of what she has accomplished. As tears fill my eyes with happiness, I can only say thank you, Jessica James Vermote, for letting me have the privilege to witness this fantastic time with you.