Comments on: How to Read a Book Contract – Contempt 09/2011/how-to-read-a-book-contract-contempt/ A Lawyer's Thoughts on Authors, Self-Publishing and Traditional Publishing Mon, 14 Jul 2014 01:48:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.1 By: Jodi 09/2011/how-to-read-a-book-contract-contempt/#comment-12215 Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:42:08 +0000 ?p=9731#comment-12215 This last bit is sickening: “How hard is it for the publisher to create an agreement no accountant will ever sign? Not very.” I can see why a person seeking the commercial publishing route would need not only an agent but a lawyer on his/her side just in case something like this pops up in the contract.

Jodi

]]> By: Do publishers treat authors with contempt? « Digital Authors Australia 09/2011/how-to-read-a-book-contract-contempt/#comment-12097 Wed, 05 Oct 2011 02:13:13 +0000 ?p=9731#comment-12097 [...] publishers treat authors with contempt? "Passive Guy" has a good article on the site The Passive Voice analyzing typical book contracts provided by publishers to [...]

]]> By: Amazon sets “Fire” to the world of e-readers and more | madgeniusclub 09/2011/how-to-read-a-book-contract-contempt/#comment-11892 Sun, 02 Oct 2011 15:05:39 +0000 ?p=9731#comment-11892 [...] Kris Rusch’s on “The Fear Chronicles”.  The other is Passive Guy’s post on how to read a publishing contract.  Both should be required reading for anyone even thinking about going into this profession right [...]

]]> By: asrai 09/2011/how-to-read-a-book-contract-contempt/#comment-11884 Sun, 02 Oct 2011 06:06:46 +0000 ?p=9731#comment-11884 An author isn’t even allowed to examine the accounting of publisher as relates to their book?
The author needs to give them 60 days notice to see something the publisher should be up front about anyway.
Smashwords emails me when I sell a book via Smashwords, telling me how much the purchaser paid, what percent was taken off and why and how much I made.

]]> By: Julia Rachel Barrett 09/2011/how-to-read-a-book-contract-contempt/#comment-11847 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 17:56:59 +0000 ?p=9731#comment-11847 Here’s to hoping I never find myself in this situation again!

]]> By: Laura Resnick 09/2011/how-to-read-a-book-contract-contempt/#comment-11846 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 17:10:04 +0000 ?p=9731#comment-11846 And this is yet another reason (among many) I prefer working with a literary lawyer to working with an agent. After I quit the agent-author business model and hired a lawyer to do my contractual negotiations with publishers thereafter… I was astonished to discover how much more my lawyer knew about contractual clauses, what the details mean, what the ramifications are, and what-to-do-about-them (i.e. replacing them not only with clauses more favorable to me, but also replacing them with clauses that are clearer and more specific) than my various former (well-known, well-established) literary agents had known, understood, or done.

In retrospect, my complacency about being “represented” in legal negotiations, viz complex contracts that were 10-15-20-25 pages long, by people who were NOT lawyers, bemuses me. Yes, it’s the norm for the profession. That doesn’t make it remotely intelligent or sensible, though, and in retrospect, I’m baffled and embarrassed that I went along with it, in my own business model, for so long.

]]> By: Civil War Horror 09/2011/how-to-read-a-book-contract-contempt/#comment-11840 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:34:38 +0000 ?p=9731#comment-11840 Sloppy contracts? Oh, I’ve seen a bunch. One I had to return because my name was misspelled. Another I had to return because it promised an advance of “xxxx dollars dollars”.

Once when I complained because the final part of my advance was six months late, the editor had the gall to say the clause stating payment was due “upon the publisher’s receipt of the complete manuscript” didn’t mean “immediately” but “anytime after that moment”. That second quote is an exact quote from my so-called editor.

A lawyer friend sent a letter of demand and I sent it registered mail to the head of the company. Not the editor. Not the editor-in-chief. The guy who actually owned the company. My money was direct deposited into my account within two hours of his receiving it.

So yeah, know your contract law.

]]> By: Kaz Augustin 09/2011/how-to-read-a-book-contract-contempt/#comment-11816 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 06:06:57 +0000 ?p=9731#comment-11816 Ah, I see you’re looking at a Carina Press contract…or something damn close! Don’t forget that darling sentence in Clause 20 that goes “No such examination shall be made by Author’s accountant upon a contingent fee basis.” So, not only do they have that agreement clause in place, BUT they’re also dictating how YOUR accountant shall operate. Nice.

]]> By: Passive Guy 09/2011/how-to-read-a-book-contract-contempt/#comment-11806 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:01:29 +0000 ?p=9731#comment-11806 Julia – The stories you could tell.

The next time you’re faced with a confidentiality clause, send me an email before you sign and I’ll explain about a secret passage that no lawyer I’ve ever dealt with has ever figured out.

]]> By: Passive Guy 09/2011/how-to-read-a-book-contract-contempt/#comment-11805 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 03:59:27 +0000 ?p=9731#comment-11805 Beth – You’re right. Some work for hire documents include even more gratuitous insults.

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