Are You Ready for 2013?

Hope you had a good Christmas.

I'm slowly returning to some sort of normality, despite a cold that two members of the family had over Christmas and have now given to me; but the good news is I'm breathing okay and haven't developed a chest infection, so three cheers for my inhalers...

Actually I'm starting to get itchy fingers. I want to get back to the novella, but the family are all at home, and there's little peace and quiet, so I'll be catching up on a few outstanding tasks meanwhile- why does everything that needs you to do something, or ring up, arrive on Christmas Eve when it's too late?

At least I'll be able to get straight to work when they do go back to their normal routine.

I intend to try out a few different strategies in 2013 to attempt to get more writing done.

So strategy 1: Stop procrastinating and write 100-500 words minimum each week- if I do more, great. It may not seem much, but it's setting myself a better routine.

As I haven't thought of a second strategy yet, the first one better work... :-)

I've also realised that my sense of what day of the week it actually is, will have returned by then!

I'm writing this Sunday evening, but I keep thinking it's Saturday- probably because the usual weekend tv programmes aren't necessarily on...

Hope 2012 was a good year for you. But if it wasn't, I hope you have better times in 2013.

A Few Important Reminders That Pay You...

This will be my last blog post for a week, I'm taking some time-off to recharge my batteries and catch up with some reading- as well as sorting presents and organising food for the hungry horde (my OH and growing children- if only they would stop growing :-) ).

Before you finish for the year you might want to make sure that you've added everything you need to add to your ALCS (Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society) page. You'll find some of the available downloads useful. And best of all if you have any qualifying work it will eventually mean you'll get payments.

A big thank you to writer Vivian Hampshire who mentioned DACS on the Talkback forum.

This is similar to ALCS but for visual artists- and if you're a writer who has had your photos or artwork used in a UK magazine, in books, or broadcast on certain TV channels, then you may be eligible for future payments.

You have to claim each year, and it's too late for 2012's Payback, but it will relaunch in summer 2013, so if you're eligible sign up now ready for next year.

So remember:

  "If you are a photographer, illustrator, sculptor, cartoonist, fine artist, animator, architect, designer or craftsperson, and your work has been reproduced in UK publications or on UK television, you can claim your royalties due."

So find out more here.

Don't forget PLR (Public Lending Rights), register your print books there- do it by the end of June each year.

E-books currently don't qualify for payment, but I was told by the Licencing section of the ALCS this week to submit the details so they were on record; even very short stories in anthologies qualify.

Who knows, if there's enough presence of e-books, and library lending of e-books becomes more widely available, it may help the case for future payments- it's been recommended that library loans for e-books should get PLR, but it's not been put into action yet.

Merry Christmas...

image courtesy of digitalart/ http://freedigitalphotos.net