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Why not? Unless he/she specifically stated in his will or in some other way prior to death that it should not be published, I would think he would be pleased that his descendants published it.
Why not? Unless he/she specifically stated in his will or in some other way prior to death that it should not be published, I would think he would be pleased that his descendants published it.
Well, I didn't know. It might just be there in typed format only, and we'd be starting from scratch, maybe needing an illustrator, agent, and so forth.
We're 300 miles apart. and I am the go getter one having pursued a long lost life insurance policy that was given up for dead. I revived it completely.
My parent's will only had the house, car, and contents. None of the bank accounts were in the will and many assets do not have to be listed in a will. In some cases, only the will executor will know about all the assets, and in this case, that person won't be me.
It would be a shame for a book to be left for dead when it could be enjoyed by an unknown numbers of kids, for decades to come, based on copyright laws or authors.
(Something like 70 years after the death of the author)
It's a children's book from what I know. Two years, but not yet published. The author is over 80 years old.
Are you thinking of self publishing the book, which will cost you money out of pocket, or are you planning to shop it around to publishers to see if they want to publish it? It's a lot riskier to self publish (and market it yourself) if you aren't positive there's a market for it. You might try just printing out the manuscript and seeing if a publisher wants it. Has the author tried to publish it? You say it been two years. Two years since what? It was written? The author died? Lots of questions come up regarding this. You might want to talk to an agent, a lawyer and a publisher.
Your other threads have stated that your mother plans to leave you out of her will, so unless something changes, I doubt you'll have a chance to do anything with her manuscript...
Besides, she's still living! Maybe she's doing something with it right now. You never know!
And one final thought, my great-grandmother was a published children's author - and it didn't lead to any great riches. If like in your other threads, you're looking at this book as a source of income, you might be disappointed.
Books are an interesting thing. Money gets carved up when the estate gets doled out. Unless the manuscripts are willed to a specific person, a situation like this happens:
There are two children (the sole heirs) who publish Dad's book. The estate is split 50-50. It's earns a few shekels. All profits from the book are split 50-50. This is assuming that the person has a standard will. Dying without a will or pulling a Christopher Tolkien would change the game a bit.
Are you thinking of self publishing the book, which will cost you money out of pocket, or are you planning to shop it around to publishers to see if they want to publish it? It's a lot riskier to self publish (and market it yourself) if you aren't positive there's a market for it. You might try just printing out the manuscript and seeing if a publisher wants it. Has the author tried to publish it? You say it been two years. Two years since what? It was written? The author died? Lots of questions come up regarding this. You might want to talk to an agent, a lawyer and a publisher.
The author is age 81.
They wrote the book in the last few years.
In June 2010, they said had found one publisher who was interested.
Another relative, over the weekend, who speaks to the author periodically, said that they do not think it has been published.
At age 81, the author could die before they are successful in getting their work published. I am not sure how often they do something that progresses toward publishing, or getting enough opinions to know if the book would sell.
No, it would not be self publishing.
The author's decendants would want to try to get it done for the deceased.
No one can predict the number of books that might sell.
Amelorn: If you are in the USA you know that not all assets of an estate have to be in a will, bank accounts do not. And the manuscript would not have to be in the will either. The single will executor, could decide to hide the existence or whereabouts of the manuscript.
So, back to the question, can decendants, with nothing but the transcript, get the work published?
So, far it sounds like the answer is yes.
Well, I didn't know. It might just be there in typed format only, and we'd be starting from scratch, maybe needing an illustrator, agent, and so forth.
You won't be the person finding an illustrator. That will be left to the publisher. Going into this with an illustrated book will likely make finding a publisher more difficult. You don't necessarily need an agent. IF you can legally publish the book you can submit to some publishing houses without an agent. Perfect your query letter, you'll need it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by howard555
So, back to the question, can decendants, with nothing but the transcript, get the work published?
So, far it sounds like the answer is yes.
You need an attorney who is familiar with copyright laws, not the opinions of strangers. This is a legal matter.
If you take the book to a reputable publisher, I'm pretty sure they'll ask questions like who actually wrote the book. If you say it was by your deceased mother, they'll know all the laws concerning an issue like this. If you say you wrote it yourself, sell it and make a fortune and some relative comes along with evidence you did not write it, there could be trouble.
Your other threads have stated that your mother plans to leave you out of her will, so unless something changes, I doubt you'll have a chance to do anything with her manuscript...
Besides, she's still living! Maybe she's doing something with it right now. You never know!
And one final thought, my great-grandmother was a published children's author - and it didn't lead to any great riches.
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An Aunt told me that she does not think the book has been published and she does not know the title. She speaks with the author about once a month.
Someone mentioned the "manuscript" as you did, and the manuscript is the format to submit the work to a publisher.
Some other comments mentioned a "literary estate."
The author and her advisors (biological child and spouse, friends, relatives) will determine if the book is mentioned in the will, because it does not have to be.
From my unfortunate experiences with the probate process, the asset inventory list has certain entries that are on the "honor system."
Ex: We had to decide how to list the personal property. The probate court gave out several ideas which included listing each piece, or arriving at a value per room, etc.
So, I could see where a book manuscript might be left off the asset list. There is no way to estimate future sales, if any.
And there were some comments that self publishing was not easy, and if someone wants the most exposure, they should go with a big publisher and not a small one. And to use a big publisher, you pretty much need an agent.
All that is set in stone is my sibling will inherit the author's house. The rest is totally unknown (financial assets, personal property, and book).
At least I have knowledge of the book, and for the will executor to leave it off the asset list, and try to hide it's existence will be questioned.
With author's rights lasting, what 70+ years (?) sales of the book could be anything between zero and (?). If the author is unable to get it published themselves, I'm sure they would appreciate that their name and book getting done and out there in book land, for decades, after we are all gone.
So, some good comments and information here on City Data and from other people.
Thanks.
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