What Should You Expect as an Author?

This is a question that I have asked myself over and over again since beginning my journey of writing my book.  While doing research as part of my class on media publishing and distribution at Full Sail University, I came across an article by one of my collaborative partners in the class entitled, Self-Publishing Your Book: Reasons to Self Publish.  This article is found on the About.com Book Publishing website http://publishing.about.com/od/SelfPublishingAndVanityPresses/a/Reasons-To-Self-Publish.htm. Valerie Peterson wrote it.

In this article, Peterson says that if fame and fortune is why you are writing your book, then you may be sadly mistaken.  Even the traditionally published authors don’t experience fame and fortune says Peterson. Even though there are those who have experienced fame and fortune, Peterson goes on to explain that the average self publisher only sales between 150-200 books and that those are usually sold to their family and friends. 

When I read this, I became somewhat disillusioned.  I know that I want to write and become rich.  This prompted me to continue my research to find out what should I really expect as an author.  It could be that many don’t have realistic expectations and need to find out more about this profession before they begin to write their books.

In the article, What You Should Know about Being A Published Author: Facts About Being an Author, Peterson gives insight into what it is all about. http://publishing.about.com/od/BookAuthorBasics/a/Six-Common-Misconceptions-About-Being-A-Published-Author.htm.  First, the vast majority of writers have to keep their day jobs.  Even the bestseller had to keep their day jobs for a while.  Second, the editor and publisher will no doubt adjust your book content. Third, there will be a lot of work you will have to do to market your book.  You have to work hard at developing your platform.  You will not be able to solely count on the book marketing and publicity staff.  You will have to be prepared to work at it hard. Fourth, you will not be picking your book jacket.  It will be a product of the art department, editor, PR, marketing department and sales representatives. Fifth, will you get that book party?  Sorry to say, book parties are real expensive and unless your friends and family fit the bill( if self publishing), you probably won’t get one unless you have a best seller. Lastly, will you get that book tour, maybe.  It all depends on if you have that best seller or not.

I hope this article will ground you more in regards to what to expect as an author.  I am sure though if you have that burning desire like I do to get your message out to your audience and to fill that need in the marketplace, this article won’t discourage you.

My blog article this week will focus on how to write a successful non-fiction book proposal.  I chose this topic because in order to get published, you need to introduce your book to the editors and publishers.  They need to know why should they publish your book out of the thousands they see on a daily basis.  I chose to read article by Robert Lee Brewer of Writers Market.Com. http://blog.writersmarket.com/whats-new/3-keys-to-successful-nonfiction-book-proposals.  For over ten years, Writers Market.com has been providing listings and tools to help writers get published. 

Robert listed three ways to write a successful book proposal. Robert came up with an interesting perspective on how to pitch your book.  Most people would start by telling the publishers about the content of their book hoping that this would intrigue the publisher and their target audience.  All writers are well aware that if you don’t have good content then you have nothing to sell. The flip side of this is that most writers must be aware of.  According to Robert, you must pitch the benefits of your book.  In other words, “How does your book help your audience”?  It’s the benefits that will get you published.  It’s the benefits that will get you paid!!

The second way to write a successful proposal, you must show a need.  There must be an audience for this benefit.  The question is, “How do you find a quantifiable audience that need these benefits?” Brewer says all you have to do is find other books, television programs, magazines, etc. that sell well and then show how your book fills a hole in the market or is fulfilling that need better those already on the market. Your book has to be unique.

Brewer says the third way to write a successful proposal is to have an author platform.  You have to have a quantifiable connection to your audience.  He used his newsletter as an example.  His newsletter goes out to 100,000 people interested in being published every week.  You must develop your connections to your targeted audience(s).  WritersMarket.com has a service http://www.writersdigestshop.com/platform-consultation-service?lid=RBwmblog02 which costs starting at 199.00 and up to $2,000 which will provide you with textbooks, tutorials and one-on-one consultations with platform development specialists.  These services will show you how to effectively use Twitter, Facebook and blogs, etc.

Today I will be writing on topics that involve important legal matters in the entertainment field.  One such legal matter involved the “Crystal Skull” from the Indiana Jones moviewww.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/indiana-jones-lawsuit-seeks-hollywood-399236.  There was a skull uncovered in Belize in1924 by two archeologists. They brought the skull to the United States and put it on display and made money from showing.  The National Institute of Archeology in Belize is suing the archeologists for illegally taking the skull out of Belize and Walt Disney and Lucas/Paramount for using a similar skull in the Indiana Jones movie for profits they made from the look and feel of the skull that they have trademark claims in. According to Gordon Firemark, an entertainment attorney it would seem to be ridiculous that they would be able to win any trademark or punitive copyright claim from the movie’s use of the look and feel of the skull, especially since the claim is over 100 years old.  The archeologists have since died, but had given the skull to a friend, who is now also being sued. 

The second legal issue involves copyright infringement.  In the case UMG v Veoh http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/viacom-youtube-lawsuit-334889, the lawsuit involves an ISP video-sharing site (Veoh) downloading videos from another site and uploading them to their site.  The Ninth circuit court had found that in order for there to be infringement of a copyright there has to be actual knowledge of infringement material. The copyright holder must first alert the ISP of the infringement material.  Then in a later case, Viacom v YouTube, the Second Circuit Court drew a distinction between actual and red flag knowledge and whether this distinction effects the disposition in the Veoh case.  The second issue that was raised involved the question of, “if there is no knowledge requirement”, does a copyright holder need to show that the service provider possesses more than the ability to move and block access to the material on the site in order to have a right to infringement claims.  According to Firemark, this is a hot issue and it seems that the Ninth and Second circuit courts are trying to reconcile their interpretations on the issue before it goes to a higher court. These two cases are going to lay the ground rules for what ISP has to do to discover and deal with copyright infringement.

The last legal issue involved copyright issues also.   It was called the Royal Pains lawsuithttp://www.medialawbytesandpieces.com/files/2012/07/Forest-Park.pdf.  Hayden Christenden, an actor, filed a lawsuit against Universal arguing he had an idea for a TV show that he had pitched to Universal in 2007-2008.  He claimed Universal stole the idea and created their own show based on his ideas.    According to Firemark, this could be a quasi contract claim.  It did not support copyright infringement.  It was a “pre-emption issue “.  Does copyright law pre-empt these kinds of state law claims. Part of the test to determine if state law is pre-empted was (1) does the subject matter of the state law fall within the subject matter of the copyright act, and (2) whether that right asserted under state law is equivalent to the exclusive rights protected by copyright act. The court found that this was not preemption.  There were additional features to the contract claims so the decision of the district court to dismiss the case was reversed.  They made the decision to apply state law.  What the case pended on was that you need proof of extra elements beyond use and copying and you need qualified differences between quasi contract claims and copyright laws.

This week in Melodies, I will be focusing on laws that affect the way I will conduct my light club and restaurant, Melodies From Heaven.  After doing considerable research, I came across three articles that touched the heart and soul of doing business in the hospitality/entertainment industry.  In the article, Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Restaurants and Bars Are Being Sued For “Illegally Playing Licensed Music”, by Major Protective-Rights Organizations, Ohio businesses were being sued for violations to the copyrights laws for playing copyrighted music without a license.  In this article, Broadcast Music Inc., (BMI) has sued bars and restaurants for a total of 898.8 million dollars in revenue (DaytonaDailyNews, 2012).  The question is what happened?  Why have so many businesses been caught with their pants down?    According to Tracy Reilly, a law Professor at the University of Dayton who teaches on intellectual property, violations of this type are commonly policed (DaytonDailyNews, 2012).   So why didn’t the owner of Pub at the Greene in Beavercreek, Ohio have to pay 30,000 to BMI after four violations, Jen’s Bar and Grill have to pay, 68,000 for 17 violations, and countless others if the copyright laws are regularly policed?  According to BMI, they try to work with businesses and give them time to pay fees before they file a lawsuit.  But still, businesses are failing to comply.  According to Richard Boucher, an attorney for one of the bars that got sued by BMI, the formula for licensing is that a business has to pay about $5 for each occupant (DaytonDailyNews, 2012).  If a business has a maximum occupancy of 200, then they would have to pay 1,000 a year.  So why not pay for the license instead of pay a fine for each infraction, plus attorney fees and court costs?  Reilly claims that business owners have a sense of entitlement by which they believe they shouldn’t have to pay.  The problem is that they don’t have the right. Copyright law states it is the exclusive right of the copyright holder. Non-exempt entities have a legal obligation to obtain and/or pay for permission to play in public “live” performances of copyrighted music – including radio, TV, bands, and karaoke (DaytonDailyNews, 2012).  Despite the law, many restaurants and bars are still being fined.  Sharon Morgan, President of the Miami Valley Restaurant Association says she understands why they don’t pay.  She said they don’t know who to pay and who not to.  She said it is very, very confusing (Dayton DailyNews, 2012).

According to the article, a representative goes to the establishment and records songs being played. The information is relayed back to the attorney who follows up to try and collect blanket licensing fees.  If that doesn’t work, then BMI files the lawsuit.  In my opinion, I can’t see how this process would be confusing at all. As a business owner, one should seek out information about licenses before forming the business and pay them ahead of time.  One should get licensed, period, especially if you have been cited by one of three organizations that license music and collect royalties, BMI, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC).  Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

The second article deals with laws related to noise level in music venues.  The article, Occupational noise exposure and regulatory adherence in music venues in the United Kingdom by Christopher Barlow and Francisco Castilla-Sanchez, deals with noise at work legislation in the United Kingdom.  In a music industry, noise is a desired part of business.  It was not regulated in the UK until April of 2008(Barlow& Castilla-Sanchez, 2012).  It became regulated under the Noise at Work Regulation 2005.  This meant that employers of bars, orchestras, nightclubs, etc., had to abide by the same rules (based on ISO 9612:2009) for controlling noise as other industries. This meant that employers would have to regulate the exposure to noise by their workers as well.  In the entertainment industry this posed a dilemma.  Usually the more louder the music, the more fun people have at concerts, bars and other live venues.  The researchers wanted to find out to what extent were the employers complying with the regulations since there was little incentive to comply.  They studied four public music venues where live or recorded music was played.

            “ In Europe, noise exposure for any given time uses the long-term average    measure LA EQ (sometimes expressed as dBA Leq) that is used to calculate a “personal daily noise exposure, or L ex 8h which normalizes the exposure to an 8 hour working day. According to the regulations, if an employee works in an environment where he or she is expose to a L (EX8H) that exceeds the             lower exposure level of 80 dBA the employer is obligated to provide regulatory demands. These include optional noise protection, a range of monitoring devices including audiometry, and training in noise risk for employees. If the average sound level exceeds the “upper exposure action level” of 85 dBA, it is mandatory for the employer to provide protection and to ensure that protection is worn, (ibid) as well as to use other controls to minimize exposure –for instance using engineering solutions and administrative options such as variation in working patterns. The mandatory upper limit for noise exposure of an employee (the exposure limit value or ELV) is 87 dBA LEX 8H. This must take into account the effects of any controls such as use of hearing protection. Monitoring must be undertaken if the workplace is likely to exceed the lower action level (Barlow & Castilla-Sanchez, 2012).

The results of the study found that 70 % of the venues had exceeded the daily noise levels set by law.  Use of hearing protections as warranted by the regulations was rare.  Understanding of the hazards of noise was rare.  It is obvious that at these levels the hearing of employees will be damaged and that regulations were not being followed.  I am not surprised at the results.  This is a case that demonstrates that when public attitudes are at odds with regulation, it will be an uphill battle in changing behavior in an industry that relies on loud noise as the music industry does.  No matter if a law is passed to protect health, people will find a way to skirt the law if they feel it interferes with their unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The last article, involves a case of trademark infringement.  The article, Louis Vuitton Wins Counterfeit Bag Lawsuit by Stephen Rabiner, Esq. In this case, two Chinese business owners, Zheng and Bei, were accused of manufacturing and importing fake Louis Vuitton handbags.  The court ruled that they and two other American companies had in fact violated trademark law.  As a result the court will probably outlaw goods from being imported to America.  Valerie Sonnier, Louis Vuitton’s global intellectual property director alluded that the law will cover all infringement products- not those made by Zheng and Bei (Rabiner, 2012).

If so, this could be the beginning of the end for those companies who profit from selling knock off luxury goods and for those who sells items similar to name brand items.  This order is likely to cause customs problems for those who deal in these products and lead to other lawsuits for other brand name items.

In my opinion, I think this would be good for legitimate businesses and new start- ups that want to launch their own brand name luxury fashion line.  It is not fair to take someone else’s creative ingenuity and use it like it was your own for material gain. 

References

Barlow, C, and Castillo-Sanchez, F., (2012). Occupational noise exposure and regulatory adherence in music venues in the United Kingdom.  School of Technology Maritime and Technology Faculty Southhampton Solent University, East park Terrance, Southhampton-United Kingdom, SO14ORD, UK

Govaki, Mark (2012, Oct 31). Area bars sued for lack of music licenses. Retrieved from http://www.daytonadailynews.com/news/news/crime-law/area-bars-sued-for-lack-of music-licenses/nSsqX/

Rabiner, S., (2012, April 19). Louis Vuitton Wins Counterfeit Bag Lawsuit. Retrieved from http://www.blog.findlaw.com

2012, Nov 1.  Hospitality Industry Legal Risks. Retrieved from http://www.hospitalityrisksolutions.com

In today’s blog, I would like to write about a subject that most of us in the entertainment business care very deeply about- that is Product Management. What most people in this business care about is how to prosper as a product manager.

To begin with, product managers supervise the marketing of the product to the consumer.  An effective product manager must coordinate the activities of everyone who is responsible for the product.  Like the artist manager’s role, you may have many professionals to organize to make sure the product reflects what the consumers relate to and will want to buy into.

Sawhney & Tyagi (2010) did research to find out what caused problems for product managers the most.  They developed a four-part questionnaire after interviewing 20 product managers.  There were 198 survey respondents who had an average of seven years experience, 40 % worked in business-to-business technology and nearly 23% in industrial products.  Most had advanced degrees. They hypothesized that organizational barriers, short-term focus and lack of education led to weakness in a product manager’s performance.  The other hypothesis was that organizational barriers affect roles, responsibilities and competencies.

They found that if product manager were given more authority this would increase their productivity. Sawhney & Tyagi (2010) found that most of the time they must master the art of influence without authority, which is hard to do

They also found that it is too hard for the product manager to get to the people or to the information they need to do an effective job because so many contacts are required with sales, advertising, finance, supply chain and executive management, etc. (Sawhney, 2010).

They found that the biggest problem was organizational structure.  If companies would clarify the role and empower the position, product managers would be more effective.  The study also found that the two most important skills are product knowledge and customer knowledge.

Reference:

Sawhney, M.S., & Tyagi, R. (2010).  How To Prosper As a Product Manager. Kellogg Insight: Online Magazine of Kellogg School of Management. Retrieved from http://Kinsight.Kellogg. Northwestern.edu. /article/how_to_prosper_as_a_product_manager