Using Song Lyrics in Fiction (and Psycho-Tropics Soundtrack)

[UPDATE: In a more recent post, I provide a detailed legal analysis of how the fair use exception to copyright laws applies to using a song snippet in a novel.] Without any particular design, Psycho-Tropics ended up littered with references to popular songs. Some...

How good is your novel? Here’s a test.

Wondering about the potential of your book or manuscript to become a bestseller? Wish there were a test to empirically measure it? As a fun exercise, I came up with one. I started with my own list of good fiction qualities then supplemented it with ideas found in...

Time to Abolish Semicolons?

By Dorian Box It happened suddenly, too many years of deleting semicolons that editors substituted for periods. I was nearing the end of page edits for a recent article, converting the hundredth new semicolon back to a period, when it hit me: “Enough already...

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