Last time I gave examples of long and short copyright pages that you can use in your book. Today I have two types of information you might want to add to your copyright page: disclaimers and credits. Let’s look at disclaimers first.
Examples of Disclaimers
The copyright page is the place publisher put disclaimers. Here’s my disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and by presenting to you these sample disclaimers—all taken from published books—I am not suggesting you cut and paste them into your book. Only with the advice of a competent attorney can you decide which disclaimers your book may or may not need. Here are some disclaimers other publishers found useful, and the kinds of books they might logically be used in.
- Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.
- This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
- I have tried to recreate events, locales and conversations from my memories of them. In order to maintain their anonymity in some instances I have changed the names of individuals and places, I may have changed some identifying characteristics and details such as physical properties, occupations and places of residence.
- Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.
- This book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.
- The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper (name your sport) training. Like any sport involving speed, equipment, balance and environmental factors, (this sport) poses some inherent risk. The authors and publisher advise readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before practicing the skills described in this book, be sure that your equipment is well maintained, and do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training, and comfort level.
(memoir or recent history)
(novels, short stories)
(memoir, autobiography)
(advice, how-to)
(health, alternative healing)
(sports, training)
Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
The last use of the copyright page is to give credit to the people who contributed to the making of the book. Most books today do not use a colophon, so if the publisher is going to credit the editor, designer, or others, this is the place to do it. Here are some examples:
Cover Illustration Copyright © 2010 by Road Runner
Cover design by Augustus Smith, BookFondlers, Inc.
Book design and production by John Do, www.dobookdesigns.com
Editing by EditGnome
Chapter opening illustrations © 2010 Joanne Sargeant
Author photograph by Eliza Emulsion
Poetry of Dev Nadev used by permission of the Dev Nadev Foundation.
This rounds up the elements of the copyright page that most self-publishers will need in their books. If you have specific questions about how to set up your copyright page, please put them in the comments.
Want to know more about copyright? Need some sample copyright pages to drop into your book? Confused about the things you read online about copyright? Check out this 30-page easy-to-read guide. Click The Self-Publisher’s Quick & Easy Guide to Copyright for more info, or Buy Now as PDF or Kindle.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Great sample disclaimers, Joel.
Have you considered putting all these great blog posts together as a book? It would be such a handy reference.
I noticed that Joshua Tallent released a book on CreateSpace about Kindle Formatting and it’s already a huge hit. He released it about 2 months after he formatted my book about publishing with CreateSpace. I hope my book helped him set it up and publish it
.
Christy, thanks. Interesting about Joshua. I’m actually collecting a lot of these posts to publish in an ebook, and plan to have it out in February. And I bet your book did help him get his together!
That’s an excellent collection. I’ve seen a few books that have disclaimers followed by something like: “If you won’t accept these conditions, please return the book to the publisher for a prompt refund.”
I don’t want to be expected to give refunds, so in my how-to books I say: “If you won’t accept these conditions, please stop reading now.”
Michael N. Marcus
– president of the Independent Self-Publishers Alliance, http://www.independentselfpublishers.org
– author of “Become a Real Self-Publisher: Don’t be a Victim of a Vanity Press,” http://www.amazon.com/dp/0981661742
– author of “Stories I’d Tell My Children (but maybe not until they’re adults),” coming 4/1/10. http://www.silversandsbooks.com/storiesbookinfo.html
– http://BookMakingBlog.blogspot.com
– http://www.SilverSandsBooks.com
Hey Michael, I love your solution, thanks for that. Some of these disclaimers really make me laugh, but you know those legal departments are hard at work coming up with new ways to avoid liability. (Sorry for the delay posting your comment, I think all the links send it to my spam filter! I’ll watch out for those more closely.)
Fiction Copyright Disclaimers
- I made it all up! C’mon, get with the program!
- If you need more help in discerning fiction from reality, I can recommend a good therapist.
- This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. (Except for you, Martha. You know what you did. Live with your shame)
- Names and identifying details have been changed just enough to protect me from technically violating the privacy of certain individuals. (No court summons for you, suckas!)
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