Sharing my story in a book. What am I giving up?
October 8th, 2013 → 12:46 pm @ Carol
I have been invited to be a part of a book where I would be telling my stroke story. I have been assured I am not giving the publisher the rights to my story, but they will retain reprint rights on the book. I’m not sure what to do.
I want to be a part of the book, but my story is at the core of my speaking business and I have always thought I would write a book sometime.The publisher is giving me 2-4 pages to tell my story so it will be a condensed version.
Would I still be able to write a book telling my whole story? Thanks for your help!
Agnes
Agnes,
My understanding is that words, not ideas, have a copyright.
So only the specific words you write in 2-4 pages are given to the publisher with you retaining the rights to those words.
You are not restricted from retelling your story in a 100 different ways for different audiences or eventually writing a book.
Go for it! 
I’ve written articles for some magazines that reserve reprint rights for a set time (usually 6 months). After that I can reprint the article on my blog and I have resold some articles!
Ask for whether they are retaining rights to the 2-4 pages for a time period or forever.
Carol Topp, CPA
