I will have no heirs, but no masterpieces either. Upon the anniversary of 70 years since my death, legally it will be in the public domain. If I could, I would enter them in the public domain right upon my death…
All but the most recent of my books I released under a Creative Common license, and noted that. Though I dropped that now, I don’t worry about pirates. If you put something on the internet, it will be pirated. But then my books are free, except on Amazon, so it’s of no concern to me, as long as I’m credited as the author. (Or never run across the pirate version under a different name.)
Ebooks will probably die when the owner of the ebook reader dies, since the account is tied to a person. Ebooks will also only last as long as the platforms that publish them last. Who knows how long that will be. But damn, those paper books are going to be very, very rare, and no doubt pricey. Right?
When I finish my magnum opus, the Pride’s Children mainstream literary trilogy, the story will be about as long as GWTW, and possibly more complex.
Until I approach the end of writing the third volume, LIMBO, I won’t be thinking of my literary executor; but once the publication is assured and the story finished, I make sure I have one, and the proper planning.
It’s better if I leave it tidy and finished, so all they have to do – if it becomes popular in any way (you know my intentions are that it does) – will be to license it.
First off, “Literary Estate” is a perfect term to describe this meme.
Berthold, I’ve got AI running rampant through my various stories — an AI estate agent, cloud hosted of course, by AIforever.com (spoof), is one helluva idea. A family shared Google drive works for us, at the moment.
As far as selling the house to market your books, after you die… Why wait?
Only the breathing agonize over their post-demise. The dead don’t care. In 1000 years there will be no record we were here. Memento mori.
Paper will probably outlast electronics, at least for a few lucky books. Luck is always the thing, isn’t it–getting published, being discovered, being read, and escaping fire, water, bookworms, and mold. Then it’s back to being discovered and read.
The only recorded legacy humanity may leave are the two golden Voyager phonographs traveling out into the galaxy. But, then again, nothing escapes the heat death of the universe.
That was an interesting discussion. I plan to put my daughter on my writing bank account and give her my kdp passwords (or something like that). That’s the extent of my estate planning for my books. I’ve also added a couple sentences to my will giving her control over my published works.
Interesting to hear your discussion. It reminded me that I need to include language in my estate document to say that my book rights go to my daughters. I’ll also share my passwords with them. But other than that? Unless I learn differently, that’ll be it.
Writers Supporting Writers 
I attended a literary estate planning webinar given by Authors Guild. The whole process is so complicated, I decided that I just won’t die. https://authorsguild.org/resource/estate-planning-tips-for-authors/
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Excellent plan! 🙂
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Thank you!
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My plan: let my wife/kids figure it out.
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That’s option B.
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I will have no heirs, but no masterpieces either. Upon the anniversary of 70 years since my death, legally it will be in the public domain. If I could, I would enter them in the public domain right upon my death…
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All but the most recent of my books I released under a Creative Common license, and noted that. Though I dropped that now, I don’t worry about pirates. If you put something on the internet, it will be pirated. But then my books are free, except on Amazon, so it’s of no concern to me, as long as I’m credited as the author. (Or never run across the pirate version under a different name.)
Ebooks will probably die when the owner of the ebook reader dies, since the account is tied to a person. Ebooks will also only last as long as the platforms that publish them last. Who knows how long that will be. But damn, those paper books are going to be very, very rare, and no doubt pricey. Right?
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It would be good to have that option.
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When I finish my magnum opus, the Pride’s Children mainstream literary trilogy, the story will be about as long as GWTW, and possibly more complex.
Until I approach the end of writing the third volume, LIMBO, I won’t be thinking of my literary executor; but once the publication is assured and the story finished, I make sure I have one, and the proper planning.
I don’t want anyone else ‘completing’ my work.
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That’s a good point, Alicia. Although as some would point out, if you don’t know that someone has done it, you would never know. Unless…
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Someone will know, and my kids will know to look.
It’s better if I leave it tidy and finished, so all they have to do – if it becomes popular in any way (you know my intentions are that it does) – will be to license it.
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First off, “Literary Estate” is a perfect term to describe this meme.
Berthold, I’ve got AI running rampant through my various stories — an AI estate agent, cloud hosted of course, by AIforever.com (spoof), is one helluva idea. A family shared Google drive works for us, at the moment.
As far as selling the house to market your books, after you die… Why wait?
Only the breathing agonize over their post-demise. The dead don’t care. In 1000 years there will be no record we were here. Memento mori.
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Paper will probably outlast electronics, at least for a few lucky books. Luck is always the thing, isn’t it–getting published, being discovered, being read, and escaping fire, water, bookworms, and mold. Then it’s back to being discovered and read.
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The only recorded legacy humanity may leave are the two golden Voyager phonographs traveling out into the galaxy. But, then again, nothing escapes the heat death of the universe.
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But think of the millions who’ve enjoyed Jane Eyre, or The Count of Monte Cristo, or even Moby Dick!
Even if their authors don’t know (or if they do, don’t care), many readers do!
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An interesting conversation. I will leave all my book rights to my son, Michael. He is a co-author for some of my books.
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That was an interesting discussion. I plan to put my daughter on my writing bank account and give her my kdp passwords (or something like that). That’s the extent of my estate planning for my books. I’ve also added a couple sentences to my will giving her control over my published works.
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Interesting to hear your discussion. It reminded me that I need to include language in my estate document to say that my book rights go to my daughters. I’ll also share my passwords with them. But other than that? Unless I learn differently, that’ll be it.
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