E16 - When an Author Dies, the Vultures Arise!

Think your family members will play nice once you kick the bucket? THINK AGAIN! 

TRUE STORY: A BookLocker author who earned more than $200K in royalties died. Extended family members then took his widow to court. More about that story is under this podcast episode on https://WritersWeekly.com/podcast. 

TRUE STORY: One author’s relatives went to court, and spent thousands, not even knowing the paltry amount of unpaid royalties that were due. We share that amount in this episode!

TRUE STORY: In an attempt to steal his dad’s royalties, an author’s adult son falsely claimed his dad had died. How did Angela figure out the author was still alive and what did the dad do next?   

TRUE STORY: One relative, who was not the beneficiary, claimed to be the author’s only living relative. The author’s living, breathing spouse was very surprised to hear about that! 

AND, THERE ARE MORE! 
When an author dies, what can happen to their royalties and rights?

In this episode, Angela and Brian share several examples of the lengths some people have gone to in an attempt to steal (yes, that’s what they’re doing!) the rights (and royalties) of an author’s work once they are gone. Their greed can cause years of turmoil and legal battles for surviving friends and family. You’ll be shocked at how devious some people can be! 

And, think it’s just relatives? Nope! Some “author reps” and “editors” have been caught trying to steal from authors’ heirs as well!

In this episode, we not only provide egregious examples of greed, but we also present you with the steps YOU can take (and pitfalls you should watch out!) for when assigning beneficiaries for your work. 

YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS ONE!

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