Legal Insights for Authors

Self-published authors can’t get CIP data—but you might still want an LCCN. Here’s what these Library of Congress identifiers actually are, which ones you’re eligible for, and whether any of it matters for your book.

What do you do when a book you love was written by a problematic author? Here are six concrete strategies for reading ethically without burning your whole TBR to the ground.

What is a Creative Commons license—and should you use one for your writing? Learn the difference between open access and free access, all 6 CC license types, and what open access means for federally funded research.

From "you need to apply for copyright" to "mail it to yourself" — bad copyright advice is everywhere. A 21-year publishing professional debunks the five most common copyright myths writers believe, and explains what copyright actually does and doesn't protect.

Copyright doesn't protect everything you think it does. Learn the five things writers cannot copyright — including ideas, titles, slogans, and recipes — and what protections actually apply to your work as an author.

Do I use AI? Sure. For lots of stuff. But publishing is too important to me to jeopardize quality or, worse, copyright, with generative AI. That's why I do all my writing myself and all my editing myself.

I fed my own work—100% human written, no AI assistance anywhere in the process—into an AI detection tool. It came back flagged as partially AI-generated.

The law is clear. The courts have ruled. The Supreme Court just declined to hear the appeal. If you’re publishing AI content without significant human work, you’re building on sand.