Interesting Copyright and Workshop Fun!
Copyright Notice…
Kris and I went to see Wicked (part one) tonight. Great movie and I am a fan of L. Frank Baum’s work in all manner. I have read all 14 of the original OZ books, some numbers of time, and most of his short stories. At one point before my house fire, I even had 12 of the original hardback with dust editions with the fantastic (Denslow and Neill) art.
So I am sitting watching the credits tonight and made note of the credit given to the author of the derivative novel, Gregory Maguire. But unless I missed it, not one credit to the original Baum source material or the 1939 movie. Seriously???
Now I assume this was not just an “oops” on the part of the producer. Baum’s work is in the public domain, as is the art from the first two artists, and anyone can use it. The 1939 movie is not. At least not yet. This coming year all 1929 works drop in to the public domain. Things like Popeye and Buck Rogers and so on. After January 1st, 2025, everything from the 1920s will be public domain. Wow.
So maybe because of legal issues, the producers could not credit the movie without a deal, and my gut sense there was no deal, but they most certainly could have made note of L. Frank Baum’s original source work. Them not bothering with that is the only detail I flat hated about the movie. The rest was wonderful. Really worth seeing, even if you have seen the play once or twice as I have.
Twelve Days of Workshop Sales…
We are going to offer one new workshop a day for 12 days on sale. (Yes, you can get a previous day’s class as well.) We will reveal each workshop and sale each day here.
This is not a general sale, just discounts on specific workshops we think will help you in the coming year with your writing and publishing.
So here we go…
DAY 1…. WHAT CLASS DO I NEED?
How it works… You send me one of your own short stories. Both Kris and I will read it very quickly, within a day or so, discuss it, and suggest from what we see in your story what class you could take to really improve your writing craft. Then we will give you a code to take that class for no extra charge.
That’s right, both Kris and I read your short story, suggest a class to jump your skill level, and then give you a code to take the class when you want for free.
Cost is $200. Write me and I will tell you where to send the fee and also where to send the short story with which subject line. (No subscriptions or credits apply on this one. No worries, they will on classes coming up.)
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7 DAY KICKSTARTER EXPERIMENT…
The Santa Series Kickstarter just ended and to us it was a success. We had never tried a 7 day one before and figured there was a time and place for them. But in 45 campaigns, we had never done it before until now. 116 backers and just under $4,000. Total win all the way. Thank you, backers!!
Going forward, we will stick with our 10 day or 16 day campaigns. But now we know that 7 days is possible and kind of fun at the right time with the right project.