Rebecca Cornish Talley

Posted By Rebecca Talley on February 8, 2010

You’ve written your book and you have a publisher interested in it. The next thing you know, you have a contract in the mail.

If you’ve never signed a publishing contract before, you’ll want to research the language specific to this type of contract.

Your contract may include:

Rights Granted to the Publisher. This assigns the copyright to the publisher as long as it is in print with this publisher.

Author Warranties. The author warrants that the work is original and belongs to the author. The author also warrants that there are no libelous statements and that he/she has the right to enter into a contract.

Delivery of the Manuscript. The author will deliver the manuscript in its final form (not a rough draft) by a specified date.

Agreement to Publish. The publisher agrees to publish the manuscript in a timely fashion, usually specified in the contract (60 days is typical) after the publisher receives the corrected proofs from the author. It may take months, or even years, to get to the proof stage so don’t confuse the time frames.

Royalties. The contract will stipulate your royalty structure as in what percentage you receive and when those payments are made. It’s typical to receive 10% on the publisher’s gross receipts, minus returns. Publishers may pay out royalties every month, every quarter, or twice a year.

Copies to Author. Generally, authors receive a certain number of copies to use for promotional purposes.

Proofs. The publisher will provide proofs to the author for the purpose of correcting any errors. Some publishers will charge authors who insist on massive changes after the proof stage.

Future Manuscripts. Many publishers require rights of first refusal, which means you must submit future manuscripts to this publisher. If the publisher rejects the manuscript, you are then free to submit elsewhere. Some publishers require not only the rights of first refusal but also the right of last refusal which means if they reject your next manuscript you are free to submit it elsewhere, but if it is accepted by another publisher, you will then be required to take it back to the first publisher and allow that publisher to make an offer on the manuscript.

Special Provisions. The author can insert any special circumstances under this heading. For example, if you want to exclude a certain manuscript from this contract because it is already in circulation or you want to exclude your magazine writing.

Not all contracts are the same. Yours may or may not include these provisions. The best course of action is to carefully read your contract and then contact an attorney experienced with literary contracts and ask him/her to review it (this may cost you money).

Categories: Business Part of Writing, Writing Fiction, writing a novel, writing for children
Tags: Author, Book, business of writing, Manuscript, publishing, Royalties, writing a book, Writing Fiction