By Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted

I honestly never thought I’d need to address this subject, but as I grow older and experience the ups and downs of aging, like bad knees and high blood pressure, it becomes increasingly vital that we stop and take note.

It seems the writer in us lives only in the moment. We continually write day by day, submitting and working for the publication that will come tomorrow. Months or years down the road don’t seem to enter our minds. After all, what can happen – right?

Loads of things can happen, especially if we have a budding career. We never take into account illness, accidents, or worse – death. Who wants to think about those things? Unfortunately, life is real even in the writing world, and it’s becoming more lifelike thanks to the reality of Covid-19 and its variants. Just as we should prepare for the unseen in our daily lives with family, our writing life should also be included in this factor. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow – heck, we aren’t guaranteed the next hour, and we must plan for what could lay ahead. 

Over the last year, I have lost three dear writing friends – two to Covid and one to cancer. All three authors were “substantial” writers. In other words, their careers are solid with several books under their belts, paid positions on magazine staffs, personal coaching and editing positions, etc. The question arises, what about their work in progress? What about current contracts or outstanding editing and coaching? What happens now that our beloved authors have transitioned into a heavenly life? Having experienced three major surgeries myself, two being brain surgeries, I had to sit down with my ministry partner to make plans, should, God forbid, I failed to survive the surgeries. It’s a hard thing to do, but it was necessary. 

I sat down with my husband showing him where my pending work was. I listed who to send what to and who might qualify to complete the job if I couldn’t. With the ministry, I made sure my ministry partner knew about all our ministry paperwork, the 501c3, our checking accounts, contracts signed for upcoming conferences, etc. He needed to know where things were in the event I couldn’t complete my life tasks.

Here are some things to consider as a writer that will help those you leave behind with your writing career. Take heed. Make note. These things are vital.

*Signed contracts

If you have signed contracts for upcoming releases, these things are of the utmost importance. Should something happen, current contracts have to be fulfilled, amended, or canceled. Be sure you have a physical file with signed agreements labeled with completion dates. My husband could pull my contract file out and see my upcoming releases with publishers. A sticky note tells him when my manuscript is due and a person who could finish work for me if I hadn’t yet done so. These contracts are all in one accessible location.

*Agent information and agency contract

In the event of your death, the first professional person who needs this sad information should be your agent. A file labeled agent information should include an easy notecard with your agent’s name, phone number, and email address. A copy of your contract should be available for your family if you don’t have an agent. Agents will also have a file of your contracts and dates when projects are due. Provide agents with a link to an off-site storage so that they can access your unfinished work. Once notified, your agent can take the steps necessary to contact publishers.

*Private work contact person

If you are an author who does private editing, coaching, or mentoring, you must have a go-to person who knows where and how to access your client list – be it a family member or a peer, someone needs to know where your work is and if work is owed to a client and all monies are received. Clients need to be contacted, offered an additional go-to person who can help them, or given a refund if they have paid funds for work not completed. This information should also be in an individual file. If you are picky about your work, you’ll have a list of folks you know will offer the same quality of editing or coaching that you would suggest. Keep a spreadsheet to log clients, status, payments.

*Off-site storage

Every writer needs off-site storage. Should something happen to your computer, all your work is backed up onto this off-site storage. There are plenty of dependable sources for your storage, from free (though remember you get what you pay for) to inexpensive and more. For new writers, Dropbox is simple, affordable and you can safely store your work there for quick retrieval from any location. As your writing career grows, you might consider a stronger, more secure off-site company like Bask. The nice thing about these higher-priced companies is many offer quarterly maintenances on your computer to keep your computer free of viruses. If you have issues, they can assign a tech to help you personally, and the service is included in your yearly fee. Your backups should have at least one person who is permitted to retrieve work. It could be a family member, a trusted friend, or your agent. Whoever you choose, it’s essential someone has access to this information, especially if you are in the middle of a contract fulfillment and your manuscript is stored. Keep in mind that if yearly fees are not maintained, all that work will be lost. Someone needs to be able to access the work.

*Assign a person to receive royalties after your passing

Even when we are gone, our books continue to sell, and royalties continue to grow. Make sure your agent knows who is assigned to manage your estate. Where can those royalties be paid? What will happen with rights to books? All those pesky little details that must be addressed. True story – I worked with an author whose book was published, and a year later, she passed from cancer. She was not married, had no children or other family, yet her royalties mounted up. It took months for me to finally find someone who could put me in touch with a minister, who then put me in touch with a friend who knew her family, who THEN gave me the name of a sister-in-law, wife of her deceased brother. We were able to set up then where her royalties should go. Be responsible and make these arrangements, then make that physical file that holds the key.

*Keep in contact with that your agent.

Let them know where you are in your work, where it is stored, and how to access it. 

*Organize your work

This is a biggy. Don’t just store a book under the title. On your computer, every piece should have its own file. Inside that file, manuscripts need to be dated and entered into labeled files. For instance, for Mercy’s Rain (my first novel), there is a new file for each date that I worked on the manuscript. So if I worked on the file today, I would save it like this, Mercy_9_9_21. This way, I always pull the right file to work on, but should something happen to me, the most current file is noted by date. This makes it easy to find and easy to pass along to my agent or publisher. My NOVEL file holds a separate file for each novel. Easy to locate. Easy to access.

Making preparations for the unexpected is never easy, but it is necessary, especially if you are an author with multiple books and contracts in play. My husband and son can, at any time, access all my work. Consider this information and begin, regardless of where you are in your career, to set up the necessary files, accesses, and preparations for the unexpected.

Cindy K. Sproles is an author, speaker, and conferenceteacher. She is the cofounder of ChristianDevotions.us and the executive editor of ChristianDevotions.us and InspireaFire.com. Cindy is the managing editor forStraight Street Books and SonRise Devotionals, both imprints of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. She is an award-winning and best-selling author and the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference. Visit Cindy at www.cindysproles.com. @cindydevoted