# The Business Rusch: Stand Up for Yourselves



## Mythopoet (Apr 11, 2014)

Here's a great message for writers from longtime author Kristine Kathryn Rusch:



> Here are a handful of examples that I’m personally familiar with:
> 
> -The acquiring editor for Writer A moved to another company. The new editor loathed the book she inherited. Instead of passing the book to another editor, she demanded rewrites–ten of them over three years. That ended when this new editor moved to another company, and yet another new editor came on board. The latest editor noted that Writer A had missed her deadline not only for the first book, but for the other three contracted (ignoring all the revisions the writer had done), canceled the contract and demanded the company be repaid in full.
> 
> ...





> So…how does a writer stand up for herself?
> 
> 1. She knows her business. I say this damn near once a month. Understand copyright law. It’s the foundation for your writing business.  Buy the Copyright Handbook. Study it. Learn it. Make understanding all the nuances of copyright and trademark law one of your hobbies. Trust me, this is a lifelong process, since the law is constantly changing.
> 
> ...



Read the rest of this very enlightening and inspiring post here: The Business Rusch: Stand Up For Yourself Ã‚Â« Kristine Kathryn Rusch

And if you aren't already, I strongly recommend that you visit Kris' website every Thursday for her weekly Business Rusch posts that are aimed at helping writers learn good business.


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## MichaelSullivan (Apr 13, 2014)

In general, I’ve been treated very well by my publisher, but even so, there are certain “industry standards” that I don’t agree with. The 25% ebook royalty rate, forcing authors to change names, restrictive non-compete clauses, ridiculously low thresholds for rights reversion, I could go on and on. With the growth of other opportunities (self-publishing) my hope was that publishers would have to change their tune in order to attract and retain authors. I now think that I was being naive. The supply/demand equation is still very much in the publisher’s favor. They can afford to let authors leave because there are many waiting in the wings that will accept bad contracts and abusive behavior. I’ve stopped waiting for the changes to occur. At the end of the day each author has to determine what is best for them, and it’s abuses like this that makes self-publishing more attractive.


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## Lillian Crowe (Apr 27, 2014)

I love Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog. She wrote an e-book on how to be a freelancer/small business owner, and it was the best, most thorough advice on freelancing that I've ever read. She's started up a few different businesses, but since she's a writer just about everything in that book has relevance for a freelance writer. I would definitely suggest checking it out. It's a long read, but it's free and it's more than worth the time.


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## LadyKatina (Apr 28, 2014)

Very good stuff. I was sorry to hear that Kristine Kathryn Rusch had decided to end The Business Rusch this week. 

The Business Rusch: All Good Things Ã‚Â« Kristine Kathryn Rusch

She isn't taking it down, but she's encouraging folks to to go back over the blog now, and capture the stuff they want to be sure not to lose.



> "Everything will stay up, although the website’s new design will premiere in May, so some of the older posts might get a bit garbled. If they do, let me know, and I’ll fix. But I recommend printing up the ones that mean the most to you or capturing them in a file or something, just in case."


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