Including provision for my writing in my will isn’t something that I’d ever thought of – yet it’s something that every writer needs to do. It’s not something we like to think about, let alone talk about, but it’s really important to consider and take care of now.
Example of draft wording for a will can be found here (at the bottom of the article). **Note that it is written for US Law and legal advice should be consulted for non-US writers. It is an excellent place to start and will definitely help draft the wording for your will.
I’m not published yet, so don’t have to worry at the moment. But when I am published this will be on my to do list. Have you made provisions for your writing?
October 19, 2018 at 11:02 pm
I jokingly told a friend they would receive control over my blog and my google docs where I keep all my stories that I’ve written lol but that’s about as far as I’ve taken care of things
October 23, 2018 at 8:00 pm
At least you’ve thought about it!
October 23, 2018 at 10:35 pm
Haha yes but I’m currently taking a break from that friend so maybe I need a new plan lol
October 20, 2018 at 1:52 am
I publish all of my books under my LLC. Those assets (which includes copyrights) are distributed that way. But you have me thinking…
October 23, 2018 at 8:01 pm
It’s something I hadn’t thought about until someone pointed it out to me. At the moment I haven’t worried about it but I will definitely need to do something when I am published.
October 20, 2018 at 3:56 am
And do you want your unfinished works to be burned or finished by someone else? There’s so much that can be done with one’s work that might not be what you intended.
October 23, 2018 at 8:02 pm
Urgh, I hadn’t thought about things happening with unfinished works. I guess what you say is possible. Something else to consider.
October 20, 2018 at 9:09 am
As a published writer, I can tell you that unless you suddenly become hugely popular – JK Rowling popular, for example – you only need to worry about something recently published. Your books will come out, be sold for a few months, then be replaced on bookshop shelves by something new. It might be sold online, but people have to be looking for it.
Probably the best thing is to keep it vague – “Barbarian number 1 gets the rights to any books I’ve published.” That’s what I’m doing for my younger family members. That way, any income from anything still in print goes to the chosen family member.
GF, you might be jok8ng, but it probably IS best to put it into your will – I keep hearing about weird things happening to on line stuff after people’s deaths – and I’m STILL getting “updates” on at least one LinkedIn follower I KNOW died some years ago!
October 23, 2018 at 8:04 pm
That’s a lovely way of distributing book income afterwards, Sue. And wowsers, updates years after a death! I’ve started writing down all my accounts and passwords etc for that purpose (so others can get in and shut them down). Scary the number of places you stick a username and password though.