Using lyrics in fiction

Don't do it.

There may be some wiggle room if you're published with a big six or you're close personal friends with Bono, but if you're a first-time author, the copyright laws are such that it's impossible to get permission to use song lyrics in your work of fiction.

I know this. I'm quick to advise other writers of this. So imagine my surprise when my wonderful copy-editor caught me doing this.

Not once, but twice. Apparently, I imagined myself to be an exception.

So, this has been fixed in Monsoon Season and I just came across a great example of a writer who manages to get song lyrics in the reader's head without breaking any rules. Check out page 112 of The Long Way Home.

I'm reading this book now and will have a review up shortly.

Diversity in publishing

Read:
If you follow this blog closely, (as you should) you already know that I just finished Mary Vensel White's debut novel The Qualities of Wood. I started reading this when it was posted on Authonomy and I was bummed when it was taken down before I could finish. So I was happy to read it when it was published by HarperCollins and I'm thrilled to have my blurb added to her website.


Reading:
I just got my early copy of Karen McQuestion's new novel, The Long Way Home. The signed paperback was in my mailbox this morning! I loved her first book, A Scattered Life, which was self-published before being re-released through Amazon Publishing.  I reviewed it a few months ago and I'll be reviewing this one when I finish. It gets officially released May 1st.



To Read:
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Patrick Blackburn's Cupid Missed, which comes out in hard copy and e-book format in May. It's the story of a break up, told from a man's perspective. The description on the website makes me want to read it. He's going the indy route for now, but he just got an agent, so I bet he gets picked up by a big publisher soon.

These three writers have all taken non-traditional paths in the publishing journey. At a time when people are talking about the demise of the written word, it's exciting. Publishing isn't dying; it's evolving.