Self-Promotion for Authors

[RichardThomas]

My winning entry in the Punchnel's fiction contest, "Jimmy Five Ways" is now live. Hope you enjoy it. The rest will be up this week, including Nik Korpon's story.

http://www.punchnels.com/fiction/jimmy-five-ways/

[RichardThomas]

My review of Damascus by Joshua Mohr is now live at The Nervous Breakdown. Shades of Bukowski and Barfly. Check out the review for all of the details. I read with Josh at a recent event in Chicago and he's one hell of a nice guy.

http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/r...y-joshua-mohr/

[Randy D. Rubin]

I liked "jimmy five ways" very much Richard. It was very crisp. A delightfully easy read. Minimal fluff. Very well executed. Bravo, my friend.

[RichardThomas]

I liked "jimmy five ways" very much Richard. It was very crisp. A delightfully easy read. Minimal fluff. Very well executed. Bravo, my friend.

Thanks, Randy. With a maximum of 500 words I had to keep it pretty tight. I appreciate the kind words.

[Randy D. Rubin]

New question time fellow writers. If I had a name of a place that I wanted to make sure was mine alone like a registered trademark name of a place, would I have to copyright it somehow. I have something similar to, and bear with me on the spelling of this place, 'yawknapatawfah county' which was a recurring place in some of Faulkner's fiction. I have a name of a place that appears in many of my stories and I want the name copyright protected. Is it automatically assumed or do I need to file something?

[TerryE]

Hmmm, I have no idea. Is the name (word) truly unique? Like Yoknapawtapha? I'm guessing your town/area also similar to Castle Rock. Now, that's a common enough name with at least one real Castle Rock in Colorado, but King made it uniquely his own and many people now think of King any time Castle Rock is mentioned. Later, Rob Reiner used the name for his production company and I'm sure there's copyright protection for the name in that regard. Again, I don't know, but I doubt Reiner paid King for the use of those 2 words. I have a similar setting for several of my stories (several towns and county), and even more ideas that aren't fleshed out, including a history of the whole county. But the name I've come up with is so ordinary (just not an actual county in that state) that I wouldn't even consider protecting it the way you are.

[Randy D. Rubin]

Well, once my stories come out in publication you'll see a place name that recurs in each story, be it a city, a county, the name of a subdivision or a mountain or desert name.

[TerryE]

Cool. But again, unless you've created that word, I don't see much chance for protection.

[TerryE]

Cool. But again, unless you've created that word, I don't see much chance for protection.

Hey, I just thought of it. Ask Ronald Kelly about his Fear County. It seems like a similar situation.

[Randy D. Rubin]

...or like Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon. By the by Terry I did make up the place word. Ronald, are you out there buddy? What say ye? Anyone... is this Mic on? Test, test.

[ozmosis7]

I'm not really sure if it would be worth copywriting, unless you think it will make you lots of money. However, I did this interview with Bruce Boston a while back and he is credited for creating a word in one of his stories. People use the word daily now, but he gets credit for the initial mention. I believe it is in my interview on my website, or on his page or something. Interesting stuff, and he may have a better answer for you.

[Randy D. Rubin]

Thanks Ozmo! Good to have you back from Sinus Surgeryland. Oooops I just gave away my secret magic place word. Damn.

[ozmosis7]

LOL. I'm not 100% yet, but good enough to make a trip to the computer here and there. I have an iPhone, but I'm still a bit lost as how to navigate with it too much. Plus, large fingers prohibit easy typing. Anxious to get back to writing to be honest. I have a lot I want to do right now, but can't keep my head tilted too long or grossness rears its ugly head, and I can't afford to buy a new keyboard.

[Randy D. Rubin]

May I suggest that voice recognition software called something 'dragon' something. All you do is speak it types it for you.

[C.W. LaSart]

Dragon is very expensive. I have it, but haven't played with it much. It is pretty cool, but doesn't recognize a lot of words-or any curse words. On a side note, got a sneak peek at the back cover of my book today Love it!