First off, I have to admit that I don't update this blog often…I said that from the beginning. This place exists mostly to house my ideas. So fair warning that these posts will be sporadic.
However, I've been playing around with the idea of better managing my copyrights and my intellectual property.
If you're not part of my fan club, join because I have an email that talks about thinking about your copyrights in a completely different way.
Every book you create is a “property”, and you manage that property as an asset.
The question is, how do you do that when you have as many “assets” as I do?
Namely: how do I keep track of 50+ books, 100 short stories and poems, over 400+ podcast episodes, 250+ YouTube videos, and so much more? Most days I don't even remember what I've written…
There are so many times where I need to know what the price of a book is, or the ASIN, or the ISBN, or the publication date, or…you get the picture.
I've tried tracking my work in Excel, but I don't like Excel because I don't feel it's meant for that kind of thing. My spreadsheets always get cumbersome very fast.
I stumbled upon a video of Microsoft Access and realized…it's the perfect tool for this kind of thing.
And even better–I already have it. Most everyone who reads this probably has Microsoft Office, so you have it, too.
Access is a “relational database.” If that term scares you, it shouldn't.
I've spent the entire day learning the program via a course on LinkedIn Learning, and I know enough to be dangerous.
And I see so many opportunities with Access that it's not even funny.
I don't know of any authors that use it, so it's a great opportunity to share with everyone what I'm attempting to build.
I'm on a quest to build a database that will help me manage my copyrights now, and I need a system that will last me well into the future–around 30 years.
I'll post screenshots here as I develop it. Consider it like taking pictures of a house at various points in its construction.
If you still have no idea what I'm talking about, just watch the screenshots. It'll make perfect sense.
Looks a lot like Excel, but way more powerful.
More data fields about my first few novels. Still looks like Excel, doesn't it?
Here's the front end, and how I get books into the database.
Note the fields and separate entry points for ebook and paperback. I can add hardcover later on if needed very easily.
And of course, audio.
If I need to enter a book into the database, I can get it done in a few minutes and then the INFORMATION IS SAVED FOREVER. I've got it at my fingertips if I ever need it for:
- Marketing (ie. filling out book promo forms–isn't that annoying when they want all these random fields??)
- Quality checks (hmm…what should the price be for Book 1 in my space opera series again? I cannot remember)
- Reporting (maybe this might sound silly, but say a brand new book retailer contacts you and wants to get your books on their platform…and if you've got a lot of books, maybe they will agree to get the books on there FOR YOU…wouldn't it be nice to give them a report that has all your metadata in it???)
Speaking of reporting, let's say that I wanted to pull a report of all the books that I wrote prior to 2014. Could I do that? Why, yes I can.
This is very simple, I know. But…
Imagine being able to fine-tune any query and it being up-to-date all the time whenever you add new books into the database. Not even Excel can do that (not gracefully, at least)
Anyway, that's what I have now. If it still doesn't make sense, stay tuned. I'm just getting started.
This has applications in virtually every area that writers keep reporting in. Taxes, royalties, etc. I'm like a kid in a candy store right now.
If you have just one novel, nothing I showed you will make any sense.
Even at 50 books for me, it's not really necessary for me to build a tool like this right now. But I'm doing it because I've got an eye on the future, and there will be a day when my portfolio is an absolute nightmare to manage.
I'm preparing for that today.
Would you do me a favor and take this quick survey?
I'll share more as I continue building. Click here to jump to Part 2.
Stay well, everyone!
