On faith we made 30 CD's with the Advent Devotional Guide. Churches have the opportunity to purchse the disk and then print as many copies as they need for their congregation, or print on their website for church members to use. I am so excited at the response I have had so far. I have had two churches absolutely commit and I am very thankful. I struggled in the past with what if it is only good because it has been offered for free in previous years. This project is really not mine, God only allowed me to work on it for a short time, and what a blessing that has been. This year I have learned so many lessons so far.
1. Did you know that even though there is a bible or two in every house, you can't just quote it freely without paying the publisher-God's word is freely given, or is it? There are rules about using more than 500 words from scripture, not using an entire book of the bible, and also the percentage of your created work. This is why I did not print out the scriptures, I only gave the scripture reference.
2. Did you know that you can only ue the clip art that comes with a program or even the "free clip art" found on the internet for church, school, or personal use and not for any publication that is for sale? This is why you will note very minimal art work in this years devotional guide. This is to protect the copyright on that art.
3. Did you know that you don't have to pay to register yourself with the state comptroller's office (tax office) in Texas? I had the most wonderful state agency experience with the Beaumont, TX Field office last week. They are by far the most helpful bunch of ladies you could evre meet!
4. Did you know that it is not absolutly necessary to register a work with the US Copyright office? Once you put a work in recordable form, it is legally yours. It is recommended that you register it, that way should someone else take your work for themself, you do have the US government backing you that you created it first.
5. Did you know that you can't copyright everything? A title or common phrase are a couple of the things that cannot be copyrighted. Which is why you really need an ISBN number. I haven't figured that out yet, so I'll post that information once it is discovered.
6. Do you know how exciting it is to begin a project like this and have churches say "this is really great and we are excited about making this available to our families"? That is the most amazing part. God has been so faithful. I did not know any of these things until I began working on this this year. I have really had to dig for information and trust that God was leading me to the right resources, offices, and laws. I have done my absolute best to find out what I need to do to do the best job I can and now I am ready to begin contacting churches directly praying that God is once again leading me to the churches that he wants to minister to with this. If anyone is reading this, please pray for that. That God is glorified in this work, and that the lives of the families that use this are blessed beyond measure!
Until next time, happy writing!
Brook
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