Extra Income for Writers...

UK writers like the first quarter of a new year, because that's the time they find out how much their books have earned from Public Lending Rights (PLR) and from the various forms of written work eligible for Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society payments (ALCS).

Every year when these payments are mentioned among groups of writers on social media there will be a handful who didn't know their work was eligible for these secondary payments, and are quickly encouraged to make sure they register qualifying work.

In February it was announced that non-print material can now be registered for UK PLR. So if you are fortunate enough to have any of your novels as audio-books, then you need to register them before the 30th June 2015 for inclusion in the 2016 payment.

Now, it would be wonderful if e-books lent by the library service qualified for payment too, and if they are actually downloaded on library premises to fixed terminals and taken away for loan, fine.

Sadly this won't apply as generally those libraries that do offer e-book loans do them remotely, so borrowers download to their devices away from the library.

PLR say on their website: "PLR is unable to make payments for remote e-book lending as it continues to be covered under copyright law."

So they are recommending authors not to register e-books.

All writers know the value of libraries. Public libraries nurtured the majority of today's writers, and hopefully will continue to develop the writers of the future.

But sadly with cuts to funding of local authorities, libraries have often taken the brunt of these cuts, and many have closed, restricted opening times, or are now staffed by volunteers.

There was a government-commissioned report into the future of public libraries in the UK- dated December 2014, with a recommendation that, "the government seek to secure changes in European and UK copyright law" to include remote e-book lending.

You can read the report by following the link on the PLR News page, or here.

Whilst it's not necessarily good news for the moment- there's a general election in May and no one can guess if the next government will be able, or have the inclination, to seek those vital changes.

Nevertheless, it is also a big step forward, as a couple of years ago there appeared no hope of anything being done in relation to remuneration for e-book lending from libraries, let alone discussions...

Another Online Festival...This Times it's Crime!

Last month it was an online romance festival, and now for March there's an online crime festival.

It's being run by event teams from Waterstones, and the HarperCollins imprint, Killer Reads, and takes place Friday 13th March from 2pm, to Saturday 14th March at 8pm.

You can sign up free on their eventbrite page, and that will ensure that you'll get all the details via email to your inbox.

The festival will be a mix of live and virtual events. The live part comes via a number of Waterstones branches that will be holding events with crime authors, so if you're near a Waterstones branch then check with them to see if they're hosting any events.

A few of the branches involved: Liverpool, Brighton, Plymouth Drake Circus, Edinburgh West End, and Romford.

Apparently, Ian Rankin will be on a Twitter Q&A.

The virtual events will be taking place on Facebook, Twitter, and on the Killer reads blog. You can find their blog by going to this page.

On Twitter follow @HarperCollinsUK, and most Waterstones branches have their own twitter accounts so you should be able to find your local branch.

But for full details of all events you need to sign up via eventbrite, and as everything starts Friday, sign up as soon as you can so you can plan your time.

If it is anything like the romance festival was, you'll be torn between events, wanting to do everything, but having to make decisions on which you choose- or madly keyboard hopping between Facebook and Twitter!

Look out for the festival hashtag: #KILLERFEST15

Enjoy the experience...