Always try to retain as many subsidiary rights as you can. If you don’t have an agent, you should know that all of these rights are negotiable, depending on your bargaining power. Novelists should never work for hire unless they are contracting with a book packager. DANGER SIGN: watch for the magic words “work for hire.” If you see these words, it means you are giving up all rights to your work, forever. This license generally will be for the term of the copyright (author’s life plus 70 years), but will revert to the author under the conditions set forth in the “out of print” clause of the agreement (see below). The standard publishing agreement will provide that the author licenses or assigns all “print” rights to the publisher, plus “subsidiary” rights: foreign, book club, electronic, film, audio, drama. Here are some of the common issues I see in my practice:ġ. Whether you have an agent or not, it’s important that you understand some key contract provisions and their implications. In addition, most agents have surprisingly little understanding of legal terminology. Most literary agents, however, are former editors, proficient at brokering the major deal points such as advances, royalties, and subsidiary rights, but with only a cursory knowledge of the standard publishing clauses. The typical contract is replete with “boilerplate” clauses used by all the major publishers and many of the smaller presses.īut won’t your agent protect you? Perhaps. Publishing agreements are written by publishers’ attorneys and generally are heavily weighted in favor of the publisher (I know, I’ve written several). Pleasure, of course, at the sale of a book or proposal unease, however, about whether the deal is fair. The Business of Writing: RX for Contracts by Daniel Steven (reproduced with permission of author)Įvery mystery writer experiences a dual feeling of pleasure and unease when presented with a publishing agreement.
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