Young Writers Society

Hey! After a tiny moment of activism in the forums, I disappeared. Mainly because I had to concentrate on studying; I still do, but I miss the feeling of being among fellow writers. Scrap the Spanish fanfic I promised, it's not gonna happen in the near future; concerning writing, I have my agenda full: My (ex) finished novel.

So here goes an update on that:
I finished the novel some months ago. More than 50,000 words (so, by NaNoWriMo standards, a novel on its own), though ugly, simplistic words. As any month-or-so novel, it lacks polishing. And, as an insight I had during a bath revealed to me, a Part II. See, the book was scheduled, when written, to be Volume One of a Five-Book series. But then I realized it was going to be a Five-Book series in which each volume was divided in two parts (notice the PARTS, not books as in Lord of the Rings). And, in Volume One, I have only written part One. So here's what I'm doing: I'm revising and (will be) rewriting part One. When that's done, I'll write part Two. And then Volume One will be finished!

And I was wandering today, how is the publishing process in terms of rights (not that my book is any close to being published): Can you sell the rights to an editor for only one language? Or it has to be for ALL languages? And can you pick an illustrator to work with, or that's decided for you? And what about rights for a movie or a game (or any other form of franchise exploitation)? Can you withhold them?

That apart, I would like a book cover in the style of Drew Struzan (you know, Star Wars and Indiana Jones posters): Main characters and important events depicted. Only in comic style drawing. Any illustrators willing to help? (Just kidding, though if you really want to, tell me... we could work together, FOR FREE).

I have only talked, as you may have noticed, about technical details. Because my novel isn't exactly mine yet (in terms of rights), I am very wary about giving out anything. That's also something that's got me worried: Is it very expensive to copyright an idea? Do you have to pay for all of the names, places and facts? Or is it a single package? And what about things you haven't written yet, but will in the future? Can you copyright them?

Well, that's it. Once it's copyrighted, I believe I'LL be calmer, and willing to share series and volume names, and even post an excerpt.

If anyone can answer the questions spread along the post, I'll appreciate it.

As a first time novelist, you would really have no say on who the artist or anything is, because they don't know whether you're going to sell big, so they prefer to err on the side of caution. You could suggest something though, and if they like your suggestions, they'll do it.

I wouldn't copyright it if I were you, because that probably will decrease the publishability of your story, as your publishers will have to buy the rights from you, and it's not worth it to them. Why spend this money on some unknown novelist when there are hundreds of other unknown novelists who they don't have to buy the rights for?

And, no offense or anything, but as it's a first draft, it probably sucks, so I wouldn't worry too much about having it stolen from you.

Are you looking for opinions on it...?

It sucks, no doubt, but that doesn't mean it's not worth copyrighting it: the ideas in it (the manuscript) can be used in so many ways... I wouldn't want someone refining it and saying it's theirs.
On the other side, passing of copyrights is so cheap, I checked it out yesterday. So let's say a publisher likes it, I don't think paying twenty dollars for it would be a big barrier, now would it? (Maybe it is, who knows).
It's a shame, the illustrators thing, I have some ideas I would like to see applied.