Information for Authors
Minding the Light is published both on paper and on the web. The stories are copyright protected by “Minding the Light,” but the authors of the stories have exclusive copy rights, including the exclusive right to make copies, the right to be credited, the right to decide who can financially benefit.
Western Friend published a story about Minding the Light in its November 2012 issue. Other publications have requested permission to publish our stories. The editors of NWYM Connections asked an author directly for permission. Another publication – a Quaker newsletter in Arkansas – asked the Story Committee for permission, and we asked the authors (this is our policy).
The paper edition of MTL goes to everyone in our directory by U.S. mail, and to a few friends of friends by email with a PDF copy. We also send copies to about six Quaker meetings in Oregon. Paper copies are always available in the literature rack, and members of the Committee sometimes hand out copies to the public at religious gatherings.
The web edition of Minding the Light is at www.mindingthelight.org. We expect that stories posted on our website will remain there indefinitely.
NWYM often publishes excerpts of our stories on its Facebook page without asking permission. We aren’t experts on intellectual property laws, but we don’t believe that “sharing blog content” in this manner violates copyright laws because (1) the full story isn’t copied (only a lead-in paragraph or two), (2) the author is credited, and (3) the publication is credited through a link to the original content. The author still has exclusive copy rights, and NWYM doesn’t print the whole article or publish it on paper. (So far, NWYM Meeting has only published MTL stories when the author has used their full name. No anonymous stories)
Authors of stories for MTL do not have to use their names if they would rather not. We’ve printed one or two anonymous stories, and a couple of stories with only the author’s initials. One author wanted her name in the print edition but not on the internet edition, and we were happy to do that.
Thank you again for sharing your story!
MTL Story Committee