Time Travel, Romance, and Licensing

All Kinds of Fun Stuff…

Tomorrow I will put up some more videos and some flyers and stuff on the Learn Along Licensing event. Got some nifty stuff and the event is still six days away. Remember, it will be in three parts. Part one is this preparation phase, then the Expo phase, then the results and discussion phase. That third phase might be getting new videos for months afterwards.

Still lots of room to jump into the fun. Once signed up, it will always be available for you to go back and review and ask me questions. But I will shut it off for new signups a short time after the Expo.

Can’t take credits on this one I’m afraid. Sign up directly on Teachable.

STUDY ALONG: ROMANCE

Also today I think one way or another everyone attending the Romance workshop that Kris is teaching here in Las Vegas got the reading list. And everyone who is signed up for the Study Along: Romance should have gotten it as well. Yes, it is there and you can download it.

And we will be putting up four books there with Bookfunnel links from WMG in the next few days. A lot of books on the list to read, but you have four months this summer.

And there is still time to jump into the Study Along: Romance workshop on Teachable if interested in learning from both me and Kris about the Romance genre.

TIME TRAVEL

The new TIME TRAVEL workshop will be starting next Tuesday. It is a regular six week workshop and Kris and I have spent a bunch of time putting it together and trying to keep it focused on what could help in writing. It is going to be great fun.

Still time to sign up and everyone who has a lifetime subscription can take it this first time through or do it later at your own speed. It will also be offered on regular rotation.

You can sign up on Teachable or if you have a workshop credit, write me and I’ll send you the code.

Here is all of June’s workshops starting next week. A great list.

Class #51… June 4th … Endings
Class #52… June 4th … Point of View
Class #53… June 4th … Time Travel
Class #54… June 4th … Speed
Class #55… June 4th … Teams in Fiction
Class #56… June 5th … Depth in Writing
Class #57… June 5th … (Not Available)
Class #58… June 5th … Character Development
Class #59… June 5th… Information Flow
Class #60… June 5th … Emotion

5 Comments

Topaz

May 29, 2019 at 1:23 pm

Hi Dean,

I got the reading list for the Romance Study Along just fine. Thank you.
Looking forward to learn along with you in the licensing course. Thank you for the chance.

A question regarding licensing: There are books written after movies became successful. Therefore I assume, that a story doesn’t necessarily need to be published in print / e-Book format prior to licensing another piece of the pie.
Do you think it is worth considering other venues for unpublished stories?
I know each publication is a piece of the license pie. Just wondering, if, as a writer, I should consider selling another piece of the pie first and the print / e-Book piece later. (Not thinking audio or movie here.)

dwsmith

May 29, 2019 at 3:54 pm

Topaz, sure don’t see why not. There are so many ways a license can go. Most writers only think of electronic, a few more think of paper, an even smaller amount think of audio and that is where it usually stops. I will be detailing out as much as I see about other possible ways while at the Expo. I know, for example, a friend wrote an entire novel that was used as fill matter in a major game a few decades back, and he keeps thinking he should get it out as a book, but just hasn’t gotten to it.

So I will be detailing out things I see as possible licenses and cash streams. (I tend to look at things as cash streams.)
- Topaz
  
  May 30, 2019 at 12:53 pm
  
  Hi Dean,
  
  thank you for expanding on the topic.
  First use of a novel in a game sounds like fun. As does your short stories which became scripts, which might become new books again. Thank you for sharing those two memories.
  
  I can see a lot of other opportunities. Been in a children toy store a year back, after reading and hearing about your magic bakery multiple times.
  When I left the store, I said to my DH: “One day, there will be Lego from one of my stories right next to Harry Potter and Star Wars Lego.”
  He laughed, then listened, then stopped laughing. He still thinks I am crazy, but I added this idea to my dreams. Nothing I do actively pursue at the moment, but, well … dreams. 😀
  
  I have no idea how I will ever get there. If ever. Yet, your magic bakery was what gave me the awareness to see these Lego (and the puzzles with Disney images, and the crayons for drawing on the street with the image of a child book main character and …) as parts of a license pie.
  I always thought my copyright precious. After walking through said child toy store I value it even higher.
  
  Besides: Each time critical voice creeps in, telling me my stories are worthless, I visit the store again. To prove critical voice wrong!
  
  Writing this here to say thank you, thank you, thank you. Both to you and Kris for talking about licenses and copyright and value.
  - dwsmith
    
    May 30, 2019 at 1:22 pm
    
    Topaz, nothing crazy at all about it. It is just a matter of seeing the possibilities. So well done being aware of the licensing. So many writers are just not.
    
    The old days of publishing caused writers to believe our work was like produce, that it spoiled and “went out of print” within a few months of publication. That publication dates were everything. It is taking time to change that attitude and most writers are not yet making that transition from their IP being like a banana that will spoil and tossed away to being a property that has immense value for maybe over a century.
    
    In fact, interestingly enough, at this licensing expo there are few if any major publishers. Sad for all those writers who sold all rights to their publishers and nothing is being done with all the rights. (Major traditional publishers have moved to IP having no value to IP being valuable on a spreadsheet and nothing more.)
    
    So off to learn. Going to be fun.
dwsmith

May 29, 2019 at 4:00 pm

Topaz,

Another thing just popped into my head. I had an assignment to write a number of short stories in a couple different young adult series. Then one day the publisher decided they thought that the stories might make great scripts. So for more money, I wrote scripts from the short stories. Actually turned out pretty well and I made a lot of money from the scripts based on those two short stories. Another form. Hmmm, maybe I should publish those scripts in a book at some point in my spare time. (grin) Make even more money.

Topaz

May 29, 2019 at 1:23 pm

Hi Dean,

I got the reading list for the Romance Study Along just fine. Thank you.
Looking forward to learn along with you in the licensing course. Thank you for the chance.

A question regarding licensing: There are books written after movies became successful. Therefore I assume, that a story doesn’t necessarily need to be published in print / e-Book format prior to licensing another piece of the pie.
Do you think it is worth considering other venues for unpublished stories?
I know each publication is a piece of the license pie. Just wondering, if, as a writer, I should consider selling another piece of the pie first and the print / e-Book piece later. (Not thinking audio or movie here.)
- dwsmith
  
  May 29, 2019 at 3:54 pm
  
  Topaz, sure don’t see why not. There are so many ways a license can go. Most writers only think of electronic, a few more think of paper, an even smaller amount think of audio and that is where it usually stops. I will be detailing out as much as I see about other possible ways while at the Expo. I know, for example, a friend wrote an entire novel that was used as fill matter in a major game a few decades back, and he keeps thinking he should get it out as a book, but just hasn’t gotten to it.
  
  So I will be detailing out things I see as possible licenses and cash streams. (I tend to look at things as cash streams.)
  - Topaz
    
    May 30, 2019 at 12:53 pm
    
    Hi Dean,
    
    thank you for expanding on the topic.
    First use of a novel in a game sounds like fun. As does your short stories which became scripts, which might become new books again. Thank you for sharing those two memories.
    
    I can see a lot of other opportunities. Been in a children toy store a year back, after reading and hearing about your magic bakery multiple times.
    When I left the store, I said to my DH: “One day, there will be Lego from one of my stories right next to Harry Potter and Star Wars Lego.”
    He laughed, then listened, then stopped laughing. He still thinks I am crazy, but I added this idea to my dreams. Nothing I do actively pursue at the moment, but, well … dreams. 😀
    
    I have no idea how I will ever get there. If ever. Yet, your magic bakery was what gave me the awareness to see these Lego (and the puzzles with Disney images, and the crayons for drawing on the street with the image of a child book main character and …) as parts of a license pie.
    I always thought my copyright precious. After walking through said child toy store I value it even higher.
    
    Besides: Each time critical voice creeps in, telling me my stories are worthless, I visit the store again. To prove critical voice wrong!
    
    Writing this here to say thank you, thank you, thank you. Both to you and Kris for talking about licenses and copyright and value.
    - dwsmith
      
      May 30, 2019 at 1:22 pm
      
      Topaz, nothing crazy at all about it. It is just a matter of seeing the possibilities. So well done being aware of the licensing. So many writers are just not.
      
      The old days of publishing caused writers to believe our work was like produce, that it spoiled and “went out of print” within a few months of publication. That publication dates were everything. It is taking time to change that attitude and most writers are not yet making that transition from their IP being like a banana that will spoil and tossed away to being a property that has immense value for maybe over a century.
      
      In fact, interestingly enough, at this licensing expo there are few if any major publishers. Sad for all those writers who sold all rights to their publishers and nothing is being done with all the rights. (Major traditional publishers have moved to IP having no value to IP being valuable on a spreadsheet and nothing more.)
      
      So off to learn. Going to be fun.
- dwsmith
  
  May 29, 2019 at 4:00 pm
  
  Topaz,
  
  Another thing just popped into my head. I had an assignment to write a number of short stories in a couple different young adult series. Then one day the publisher decided they thought that the stories might make great scripts. So for more money, I wrote scripts from the short stories. Actually turned out pretty well and I made a lot of money from the scripts based on those two short stories. Another form. Hmmm, maybe I should publish those scripts in a book at some point in my spare time. (grin) Make even more money.

All Kinds of Fun Stuff…

STUDY ALONG: ROMANCE

TIME TRAVEL

5 Comments

Topaz

dwsmith

Topaz

dwsmith

dwsmith