You Used Song Lyrics in Your Self-Published Book?

Some things you never want to hear. That your best friend was swallowed by a Kaiju. That your mom won the lottery, but decided to disown all of you and retire to Fiji with the pool guy. That your little brother is now a world-famous dub-step dj.

Add to that list, "My self-published book contains song lyrics."

Some of you may be asking “You mean I need permission to use song lyrics in my novel?”

(my awesome graphic design skillz)

I was speaking at a conference recently, and during one panel the topic of using brand names and trademarks in fiction was in full swing when somebody asked the above question.

The short answer is: Yes, you need permission. Song lyrics are copyrighted material. You need legal permission from the copyright holder to reprint copyrighted material--even a line or partial line of song lyrics.

The problem was that this individual had self-published their novel… and apparently there were scenes where the protagonist sang in the shower.

OMG. He illegally used real lyrics to a popular song right there in his self-pubbed opus.

He didn’t know it was illegal.

The record label doesn’t even need to win the lawsuit, they just need to sue you with deeper pockets. You’ll capitulate and then move your family down to the homeless shelter where you’ll cry over your garnished wages for eternity.

"Hmm, this scene could use a popular song lyric..."

This alone is a strong case for having an editor. A real editor (hint: not your mom) would have caught this. Just like they would catch you using a brand name, and tell you to genericize it.

Ladies and gentlemen, don’t reprint song lyrics in your novel. Not unless 1) you wrote the darn song and have every legal authority to use it, or 2) you’ve gone through all the legal hoopla to reprint the excerpt by permission of the copyright holder.

Acceptance and Contest Win: Dark Fuse & Vegas Valley Book Fest 2013

Well, it's been a productive past few months.

While I've been neck deep in the heavy rewrites and revisions of my current WIP (work in progress for all you not yet in the know), I've also been throwing my proverbial hat into the ring by submitting short stories all over the place.

1) My short story "The Resurrectionist" won 2nd place in the 2013 Vegas Valley Book Festival Flash Fiction contest. (I'll be reading my winning entry at the VVBF on Saturday Nov 2nd at noon in the small courtyard of the old 5th street schoolhouse in downtown Las Vegas)

2) My short story "Rainmaker" was just picked up by Dark Fuse for their Horror d'oeuvres flash fiction outlet. Fun stuff. Rainmaker was my entry in the Killercon 2013 Creative Fiction contest, judged by the peerless Ellen Datlow and Christopher Rice (a rising star to watch).

Both stories were written on the same day (within a few hours of one another) in two timed contests. The first contest allowed 90 minutes to write, edit and submit, the second only 20 minutes.

Most of you know that I have a super-duper writers group. The Illiterati.

Watch out, better hide your kids, hide your wife.

One of the best things about having a group in this solitary life of a writer is that you roll together. Any triumph for one is a triumph for all. Life is better when you travel as a pack.

In September the Illiterati as a group entered two short story contests in a row: The Killercon 2013 Creative Fiction contest and the 2013 Vegas Valley Book Festival Flash Fiction contest.

We won both.
(Congrats to Matt Czarnowski for his Illiterati-representing Killercon win!)

I credit as much to our own (growing) writing ability as I do to the sense of friendly competition of "outwriting" one another. I admire and enjoy the unique writing voice and style of each member of my group, and to go head-to-head with them is both an honor and a real challenge.

What are you waiting for? Find some like-minded writers and start yourself a writers group. You won't know what you're doing at first, but you'll learn.

Whispers From the Abyss Anthology

Hey dude, you've got something on your face...

Hey there kiddos, you can read my latest short story "When We Change" in the WHISPERS FROM THE ABYSS anthology.

This is the story that Jack Ketchum deemed awesome enough to be declared winner of the 2012 Killercon flash fiction contest.

Snatch it up on Amazon!

Check out the table of contents here.

Ukulele Madness

Others have done great Killercon 2013 debriefs (such as John Palisano), so I won't rehash any of that.

Instead I'll tell you that Mercedes and I brought our ukuleles to the convention.

Now, just so's you know, my ukulele super-powers are well documented. (example 1: World Horror Con with Mort Castle, example 2: audio/video proof ) But on with my blog...

Ukuleles bring joy wherever they go.
Joy. And astonishment.

Christopher Rice totally amazed by our AC/DC rendition

And sometimes violence.

Michael Bailey and Mercedes M. Yardley remembering The Clash

But the important thing is that ukuleles bring people together.

Passing the ukes around with John Skipp

One thousand million pounds of love go out to my pals who shared and shredded the humble four strings of fury (meaning, my ukulele)

Michael Bailey, Matt Czarnowski, John Skipp, John Palisano, Sarah Peed, Mike McCarty, Stacy Scranton-Morgan, Edmund Colell, and the half dozen I probably also forgot... (oops)

So everyone should go buy themselves an ukulele. I'll wait right here while you do.

And a few of you will be able to view this video of me playing "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails on the ukulele.
(That's John Palisano on wall drums and Mercedes M. Yardley on chocolate chip shaker)

Chiral Mad 2 and Heading to Killercon

Hello boys and girls.

Got some good news, my short story "Another Man's Bones" has been accepted in the awesome anthology CHIRAL MAD 2, the follow-up to the award winning CHIRAL MAD.

Check out some of the great names I'm sharing a ToC with!

Jack Ketchum, David Morrell, Mort Castle (MORT!), Ramsey Campbell, Gene O'Neill... that's just the first reveal. (also P. Gardner Goldsmith and John Skipp via Written Backward's FB page)

There are also some awesome rumors floating about, but we'll go there if they happen. M'kay?

So with this great news, I'm off to Killercon 2013 held right here in Las Vegas NV.
I love writer conventions. And I love the people who put on and attend Killercon.

It will be a fun fun fun weekend. I'll fill you in on the deets later.

The Illiterati World Domination Tour 2013

My writer's group, The Illiterati, will be speaking this Thursday night at the Las Vegas Writers Group monthly meeting. We're kind of a big deal (at least my mom says so).

Thursday July 18th, 7:00 PM at the Tap House
(5589 W Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89146)
$5 at the door. Food and drinks and fun!

We are talking about Critique Groups: How to form one and run one without going insane.

When we started The Illiterati 5 years ago, only one of us had ever been published before. Since then we've all made multiple professional sales including novels, non-fiction essays, and many many short stories.

We have been featured on panels at World Fantasy Convention, World Horror Convention, KillerCon, and have caused much general mayhem.

If you are interested in taking your writing to the next level, join us.

Also, we are very serious and you should listen to us.

Billie the Girl, Mercedes M. Yardley, Ryan Bridger, Mason Ian Bundschuh

New Orleans Jam

I meant to write an insightful post about my amazing adventures in New Orleans for World Horror Convention 2013.

But instead I wrote this song. It’s on the ukulele, so you know it’s probably heavy metal.

But you can read a little about my experience by surfing over to these blogs.

Brad C. Hodson

Mercedes Yardley

(any of you jokers reading this, link drop those I am too lazy to remember in the comments)

What you need to know boils down to this:

• I travelled with my great friends Mercedes M. Yardley and Matt Czar. Bailey Hunter and Harley May joined us. And we explored the city like champs.
• We rented a house instead of staying at the hotel. Best. Idea. EVAR. Way to go AirBnB
• Bats fly around the city. This is awesome to me.
• Horror writers are far more cuddly and friendly than they have any right to be.
• I met with my publisher. Yes. My publisher. I’ll spill the deets when we have the cover, promise.
• I ate alligator and it really did taste like chicken. I wonder if bats taste like chicken too.