You’ve gotten a publishing deal contract, now what do you do?

 

You’ve gotten a publishing deal contract, now what do you do?

No matter how new to publishing you are the first thing you want to do is sign the contract and mail it back to the publisher because you’re so excited. But don’t do that. Be smart and protect yourself and your work.

Let’s go through the contract one area at a time. Never enter any contract lightly, always negotiate the contract to your benefit, not the publisher’s benefit. What does that mean you might ask, well let’s break it down so you’ll understand.

As an experienced author who was taken advantage of by a publisher, I learned my lesson and I want to pass on that knowledge to you the future authors of the world. No matter how they word their contract, a publisher’s language can not only harm you, tie you up for many years and eventually come back to haunt you in the future. You must educate yourself on how to conduct this contract negotiation as a business deal, not as an emotionally excited teenager looking to get your first book published so you’ll have bragging rights over the dinner table.

Let's start at the beginning, when you see the word “Work’ might seem obvious but it’s not. Make sure that the work being described is your work and not going to be used by another author in their stable. You want to ensure that even if the work being described is your work already produced or being commissioned to produce.  This is critical to ensure you are agreeing to the right manuscript.

Your rights are determined by this contract so be sure it’s laid out correctly. You should have a say over the media, the length of time or term of this contract, and what territories it covers. For example, you want the right to say where your manuscript is published and never allow an author to submit your work to Google Books because they publish not just one chapter but pretty much the entire book. So why should anyone buy the book from your publisher when they can get it for free. Trim or term limit means how long your contract with the publisher lasts, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or a lifetime? The publisher won’t tell you that their contract for rights to your work not only covers the copyright for the duration of the contract but also the life of the author plus the next 70 years. Never allow a contract to only produce your book in one territory if it can be sold in multiple territories.  If they offer you multiple languages, ask if they plan to also include the territories those languages cover?  If they say yes they will cover those territories then be sure to have them list what territories and languages they plan to publish in and if they will pay for the promotional fees associated with those territories. In addition, never sign a contract that has the phrase included in the verbiage that says something to the fact of “Including but not limited to” or anything having to do with media, such as publishing media disks, audiobooks, or future technology media is what this means. Always have control over that aspect of printing.  Also never give up your rights to movie negotiations. You must also retain copyright to movie rights of your work. If you don’t know how to negotiate any of this stuff, then be sure to hire the legal office of an entertainment attorney. Don’t just hire any old entertainment attorney, be sure to check them out to see if the publisher you’re dealing with is on their payroll. They won’t be working for you my darlings, you won’t be paying them future residuals the publishers will be, so protect yourself.

You’ll also want to know about subsidiary rights. This is a third-party residual payment of split profits between a bookstore and the publisher, you’ll want to know the breakdown of financials before you sign any contract. This subsidiary agreement is usually a 50/50 split between them and you will only get a split of the publisher's profit margin based on the royalties agreement you’ve agreed to. So be smart and do your homework. You’ll want to negotiate a 90/10 percent split of those rights in your favor, not the publisher’s favor. You’ll want to offer the publisher the right to book clubs or large print sales and never offer tangential rights to the publisher this is the movie and television rights to your book.  If you have an agent the agent can help promote your book or shop it to movie houses or producers, not the publishing house. The publisher will reap the profits of increased book sales as a result of the movie or TV production so they can be satisfied.

Whatever you do never give exclusive rights to your work to anyone. Only you are the grantee to have those rights. Now if the publisher screams thy want those rights, negotiate a “nonexclusively agreement” with them. This means that if they find the movie producer or movie studio that wants to buy the rights, they can split a fee with them and not you. Your agent is better to shop your work to movie producers.

Royalties are usually at the end of a contract and by the time you get to this section of the contract you’re so excited to be holding a contract for your work, you don’t pay attention to the terms of royalties. This is what the publisher wants, you to be overwhelmed and unguarded to the real business at hand, payments for your work. This is why I never read the contract from the beginning I go straight to the last few pages. This will be where the real negotiations begin. Most publishers will hide the nasty business of trying to rip you off in this area. So, seller beware. There will be a sentence that says something like “Should the book sell at anything other than our usual or customary discount, the above-offered royalties will be cut in half.”

What that means is that if they promote your book with Walmart, Costco, Sam's Club, or other wholesaler stores at a fee that is not their usual discount, which would be 50% off the suggested retail price, your book price, they can sell it to them at say 51% off the suggested retail price the author would only get 50% of the royalties fee they are offering in the contract. This is where you negotiate for more specific language such as “If the book is sold at more than ___ percent off the list price, then royalties to the author will be____” The more precise the language the more protected you will be. If you don’t get it in writing, never allow for any verbal agreements made, you can’t fight for your rights in court. This is why an entertainment attorney is best to help you with the contract. I have an amazing one and wouldn’t sign any contract without her reading it first. I trust her completely.

Everyone always asks me about advances, but I have to be honest with you, unless you are a famous person, actor, celebrity, or Politician with a famous name that is always in the news, you won’t be offered an advance on your work. Your agent can negotiate something for you if you have one. If not, maybe your attorney can do it for you.

Your work is always copyrighted. I professionally always copyright my work myself so as to own the rights outright. However, a publisher is going to want to copyright your work under their name for legal reasons to protect any possible copyright infringement violations. They will also copyright any audiobook rights that they contract to ensure the same thing.

Hope this answers your questions on what to do should you be offered a contract. Trust your agent and your entertainment attorney because they get paid through royalties to protect you and your work. So remember don’t sign anything without checking with an attorney first.

Artist and Author Elizabeth Kilbride is a former political operative, author, scriptwriter, historian, and journalist. business professional, creative artist, and life coach consultant. Ms. Kilbride holds a master’s in criminology and a BS in Business Management she stepped out of the loop for a while but is now back with a powerful opinion and voice in the direction of this country and our economy. As a life coach, she is available to counsel individuals to enjoy their dreams and a better life. Ms. Kilbride loves to travel and photograph her surroundings and is also a gourmet cook who loves to garden and preserve food for the winter months.