Wednesday links: Fair use and Pitch Wars

I love regularly reading tips and advice articles in certain subjects — particularly writing and publishing. I don’t always need the information right then, but I know that it’ll eventually come in handy. Or at least, I hope it will.

I know there are a lot of other people out there who feel the same way I do, but sometimes it can be difficult to find every useful advice article that’s out there. So I thought I’d bring you a few. Here are the tips and advice articles that jumped out at me the most over the past week.

1. A Writer’s Guide to Permissions and Fair Use, from Jane Friedman: Have you wanted to include a piece of someone else’s work in your own writing, but weren’t sure how to go about it? This post is a good starting point. Excerpt: “Unfortunately, quoting or excerpting someone else’s work falls into one of the grayest areas of copyright law. There is no legal rule stipulating what quantity is OK to use without seeking permission from the owner or creator of the material. Major legal battles have been fought over this question, but there is still no black-and-white rule.”
2. Pitch Wars 2017 … all the details!, from Brenda Drake: This year’s Pitch Wars is coming! Make sure to get the basic rundown so you can prepare as much as possible. Excerpt: “For those unfamiliar with Pitch Wars, it’s a contest where published/agented authors, editors, or interns choose one writer each, read their entire manuscript, and offer edits on how to make the manuscript shine. The mentor also edits his/her writer’s pitch and query letter to get it ready for the agent round.”