Archive for November, 2005

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Angela Spills the Beans…

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005

We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving Day! It snowed here all day long and between that, and the homemade hot chocolate, and the cute snowman Frank built, and the children bringing down the Christmas decorations from the attic, and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation playing in the background, the day couldn’t have been more warm and magical.

We took our annual trek to the local Christmas Tree farm on Friday and enjoyed another full day of snowfall on Saturday. I took the entire weekend off (four whole days!) and really had to drag my fingers back to the keyboard on Monday morning. Unfortunately, on Monday morning, the temperatures warmed up and the head had melted from Frank’s darling snowman. The children thought the headless snowman was pretty funny.

Okay, I’m going to tell you all a very big secret but you have to promise not to deluge me with tens of thousands of emails. Please, I beg you!!! Okay, here goes. We’re pregnant. Yes, again! This makes baby #5 (our oldest is 19). I’m 12 weeks along and feel comfortable telling everyone now that it looks like this wee one is here for the long haul (at 38 years old, I’m considered “advanced maternal age”). Friends and family were pretty stunned when we told them. It all started last summer when we were about to leave on our Fall RV trip. We’d been hemming and hawing about having “just one more” and decided, at our age, it was now or never. So, we decided on now. We figured it might take awhile but only two weeks later, I was pregnant! We’re telling inquiring friends and and family, “Yes it was planned, and no we’re not Catholic.” (Yes, a pharmacist really asked me that!) Ha ha.

I know you’re all happy for us and I’m pretty swamped right now so, please, if you love me, don’t email me about this. I’m begging you!! As we did with Max (now age 4), we’ll post frequently updates about the baby’s progress. We have a big sonogram scheduled for Monday and the children are very excited about that. I’ve already gained a bit of weight and Max told me I was getting fat even before we told him about the baby. He then pushed his own belly out and said, “I’m getting fat, too, Mommy!”

Hugs to all!
Ang

P.S. Want to read real query letters that landed these contracts? Woman’s Day-$2,800; Redbook-$3,500; Ladies Home Journal-$3,000; DiscoveryHealth.com-$2,000; Lifetime Magazine-$3,000; Life Extension Magazine-$6,480; Natural Remedies-$11,300; and many more! See: http://www.writersweekly.com/books/1409.html

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Global Economy? Ha!!

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005

Isn’t technology great? We can watch TV shows from all over the world now. Case in point? Postman Pat. Here in the U.S., HBO airs this darling children’s show each day. Max adores it and we even hear him talking in a British accent sometimes when mimicking lines from the show. (He also uses a Texas accent when mimicking lines from King of the Hill). Anyway, Max really wants a Postman Pat Doll (and his kitty, too) for Christmas. The problem is, I can’t find anybody in the U.S. who sells Postman Pat products. Oh, I found tons of people and companies in the U.K. with the dolls, but nobody will ship to the U.S. – not even amazon.co.uk!

About the time this puzzle popped up, I received an email from my friend, Canadian book cover designer Cathi Stevenson. She was looking for a specific shirt for her daughter but couldn’t find one in Canada and nobody who sells them in the U.S. will ship them to Canada. I offered to buy one, have it shipped here, and then ship it up to her. No problem at all. I mentioned the Postman Pat problem and she let me know her husband’s relatives live in the U.K. and that she’d have one of them find the Postman Pat dolls and have them sent to her so she could send them to us.

So, we’ll both pay something like triple shipping costs…but at least the children will be happy on Christmas morning! :)

We’d like to extend our warmest Thanksgiving wishes to all of you. We’ll be spending the day at home, watching parades and drinking hot chocolate with the children in the morning and cooking delectable treats all afternoon. From our family to yours – Happy Thanksgiving!

Hugs to all!
Ang

P.S. Want to read real query letters that landed these contracts? Woman’s Day – $2,800; Redbook – $3,500; Ladies Home Journal – $3,000; DiscoveryHealth.com – $2,000; Lifetime Magazine – $3,000; Life Extension Magazine – $6,480; Natural Remedies – $11,300; and many more! See: http://www.writersweekly.com/books/1409.html

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When Authors Die…What Happens to Their Books?

Wednesday, November 16th, 2005

by Angela Hoy

Unfortunately, when you own a company that has more than 800 clients (authors), you’re forced to deal with the sad loss of a few of those clients each year. While it is sad to lose someone I’ve exchanged dozens of professional and often personal emails with over the months or years, the aftermath can get pretty ugly. You see, authors of published books leave behind a legacy. And, that legacy is an asset that is often bringing in some money. What’s more, most people tend to think all authors are rich (ha ha). And, any asset that is bringing cash in each month will likely send the survivors in that family into a frenzy.

When our first author died, we learned that the royalty checks were being paid into his estate which wouldn’t be settled for months, or years. The author’s widow desperately needed the money, but because of the way her husband’s affairs had been set up, she couldn’t access money that was made payable directly to him. We, of course, had to keep making the checks payable to him.

After that mess, we changed our contract, adding a clause that states, “If I die while this contract is still in effect, please assign editorial and contractual control and future royalty checks for this book to:…”

And boy oh boy, were we glad we did that! Over the years we’ve had siblings of deceased authors try to convince us to send the royalties to them (instead of the person listed on the author’s contract). We even had the brother of one author tell us his brother was dead and that he was supposed to get the money now…but the brother’s name wasn’t on the author’s contract. I mailed a letter to the author’s last known address, letting the family know we can’t change the royalty recipient on a contract just because someone sends us a letter telling us to do so. I was pretty shocked when the author himself wrote me back telling me his brother was a troublemaker and had just tried to pull a fast one.

Last week, I exchanged emails with the executor of one of our deceased author’s estates. She wanted to let the book contract be terminated and allow the book to go out of print. I asked her about the author’s family’s wishes. You see, an author often considers their book their legacy (you know the old saying: plant a tree, have a child, write a book…). I know if I died, I wouldn’t want my books taken off the market just because my “executor” thought they’re too much trouble to keep track of.

Well, I was shocked when the executor told me there was no family…but then admitted the author had left behind a literary executor. Say what?! Then why in the world was this person trying to handle the author’s literary affairs and why was that person also talking about the author’s royalties? If I hadn’t become suspicious, persisted and asked more questions, that author’s book would be out of print today and the literary executor wouldn’t have known anything about it. I wrote back, directing the executor to immediately put me in touch with the correct executor. She apologized and complied.

So, fellow authors, these are all things you need to consider doing when publishing your book(s):

1. Provide your publisher with a legal document specifying who will have control of your book, literary contracts, and royalties should you die.

2. Let your family know your wishes. Don’t worry about looking vain. If you want your book to stay in print, tell your family that’s what you want. And don’t think your family won’t fight over your assets when you’re gone. Money does terrible things to people. I’ve seen it happen over and over again (and not just with authors’ books, but in my own extended family as well). If you do have any family members that you suspect may try to take advantage of your beneficiary, tell them if they try anything funny, you’ll haunt them by reading passages from your books into their ear each night at bedtime. Heh…

3. If you have a troublemaker in your family, you might want to mention this to your publisher so they can be wary of any possible communication from that person.

Let’s face it. We’re all going to fly away someday. Protect your interests, and your baby (your book), and most importantly your heirs before you take off.

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