Pub Rants

Vacation All I Ever Wanted

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STATUS: Yep. Guess who’s going on vaca starting tomorrow.

What’s playing on the iPod right now? HEY NINETEEN by Steely Dan

If you’ve been paying attention to my comings and goings (clearly listed on my website news page), you’ll know where I’m going. The land of Frodo and Orlando Bloom.

Oh wait, I’m going to New Zealand—not Middle Earth.

So what I’m trying to say is that I’m going to be gone for a good two weeks and the blogs will most likely be sporadic. It is called a vacation for a reason…

And to send me off on a cheery note, let’s talk about death some more. Many folks had questions about what happens when an agent goes off to the great beyond. You want me to say that XYZ will happen if this occurs and the truth is that there are many answers.

First, it depends on the agent and what corporate structure the agency has in place. For some folks, if the agent dies, the agency ceases to exist as a legal corporate entity.

That’s not true for my limited liability company because it’s not set up that way. Some agents are sole proprietors (not an entity structure I would recommend because of liability issues). Some are LLCs like mine. Some are S-corp corporations. The answer to this question changes depending on the company structure.

Then it depends on what is outlined in the agency agreement and this can vary from agent to agent or by agency.

My agency (and corporate structure) is set so that surviving members of the LLC and my heirs maintain the rights to monies generated from projects previously sold by me (while I was alive) for as long as they are in print. Since I don’t do “in perpetuity,” once a work goes out of print, all rights revert back to the author and the relationship with the agency is at an end. If any projects were on submission during time of death, the author, his or her new agent, and the surviving members of my agency would simply negotiate in good faith concerning those projects.

For my part, I’ll be dead so I won’t care.

And on that note…


13 Responses

  1. Sherry Thomas said:

    Have a great vacation. I know I’ve told you a zillion times I’m so jealous, and I still am, but today was the last day of school–EVA!–and I’m feeling kinda mellow.
    🙂

    Kiss Aragorn and Legolas for me, and pat Frodo on the head.

  2. Kaytie M. Lee said:

    Have fun in New Zealand! If you go to Wellington try to visit the Kaori Wildlife Sanctuary–it’s really lovely and you can go on night walks through it–one way to see glow worms without caving, as well as possibly see a kiwi (bird, I mean)! 🙂

  3. Anonymous said:

    Are you sure you’re not using my Ipod? But hey, welcome to my part of the world. Not just home to Middle Earth (hope you’ve got your guide book) but lots of other fabulous things as well like Flight of the Conchords, Crowded House, Lloyd Jones, Karen Walker, Lakes, Glaciers, Fjords,the All Blacks, me. Hope you enjoy your stay.

    cheers
    Melinda Szymanik

  4. joycemocha said:

    Gonna ski?

    The Remarkables sound great. But can I con the hubby into skiing in August?

    Nope, not unless it’s Chile…and I don’t think either of us are skiing at that level….

  5. Chumplet said:

    I thought I’d wait until you were safely there to tell you my book has a plane crash on the way to New Zealand — oops!

    Have a great time. My aunt lives there, and I’ve been trying to talk her into adopting me for years.