How to use this Page

You need to look past the percentage. 

http://www.ivanhoffman.com/royalties.html

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It takes courage, but sometimes it's in your best interest to reject an offer. 

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2012/11/guest-blog-post-mustering-courage-to.html

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Use these tips to help you negotiate several typical contract clauses. 

http://www.authorsguild.org/services/legal-services/improving-your-book-contract/

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Ten key points to consider in your book contract. 

http://www.ivanhoffman.com/points.html

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If you are interested in corporate writing, read today’s tip of the day from 102 Ways To Earn Money Writing 1,500 Words or Less by I.J. Schecter. Before accepting any writing assignment, you should know what your rate is and have a freelance writing contract ready for each client/project.

Determining Your Freelance Writing Rate

When your work is accepted by newspapers, magazines, or literary journals, you’ll have little say about what you’re paid. Once you become established, you’ll earn a bit of wiggle room when it comes to negotiating rates upward, but only a bit. For the most part, rates are set. But when you write for the corporate market, it’s you alone who determines what to quote for a given assignment or project, and this will be based on the hourly rate you determine for yourself. Writer’s Market lists low, high, and average rates for every type of writing you can think of. Base your hourly rate on this data. When people ask what you charge, don’t be sheepish. Answer quickly and firmly. The more you sound like you believe in the value of your services, the more potential clients will believe it, too.

Refer to the What Do I Charge? chart in Writer’s Market and notice it talks in terms of hours, not dollars. This is because (a) every writer’s rate will be different, so it isn’t fair to assign a blanket dollar amount to a specific type of project, and (b) within the same type of project there will be different sizes of projects.

A presentation might be five slides long or fifty; a speech might be three minutes long or thirty. So when you quote on a project, do it based on a fair assessment of how many hours of your time you think it will require. Don’t approach a project thinking “How much money do I want to make off this?” because you’ll inevitably skew your own estimates according to a number of factors, including how much money you do or don’t have flowing in at a given point. That will lead to inconsistency in your quoting, which clients will come to recognize. But quote according to a true projection of the hours you’ll need to do the project and do it well, and clients will come back again and again.

Create a Standard Writing Contract

Develop your own standard freelance agreement so you’re never in danger of doing a project without having something in writing. (No pun intended.) Companies are often rushed to complete their projects, and the last thing the middle manager assigned to find a writer wants to do is go through the extra step of having to prepare a formal agreement just to allow you to edit his marketing brochure. Send him your own agreement instead, outlining clearly the nature of the project, the expectations on your part, the agreed fee and deadline, and the set number of rounds of revisions before extra time kicks in. This document doesn’t have to be long—mine is barely two pages. The important thing is that you get a signature. You may be reading this and thinking it’s a giant pain in the rear end to create a contract every time you get a corporate assignment.

Consider this scenario: The manager who’s contacted you to write a long marketing piece, along with Web site copy, for a total fee of $3,500 has bolted from his company for a position elsewhere. The marketing piece has been handed off to someone else, and this person doesn’t feel that the expense of a writer is worthwhile. If you had only a verbal agreement with the previous person, you’ve just lost $3,500. If you got it in writing, you’ve made $3,500.

That’s the more elaborate scenario. The much simpler, and more frequent one, involves your having to chase a client for payment. It would be nice if this never happened, but any veteran freelancer can tell you more stories than she’d like about delinquent clients. Without signed agreements, getting them to pay is like trying to précis Hemingway. Get all your corporate assignments in writing and you’ll never have to worry.

To learn more about writing for magazines, newspapers, literary outlets and everything else under the sun, get your own copy of this book today!

Buy now!

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Why does it take so long after acceptance to get your contract? 

http://www.rachellegardner.com/2012/07/publisher-contract/

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How to protect yourself from having your work edited without your approval. 

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2012/05/editing-clauses-in-publishing-contracts.html

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It's important that you have a non-ambiguous reversion of rights clause in your contract. 

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2012/04/importance-of-reversion-clauses-in-book.html

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Watch out for this contract red flag. 

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2011/05/contract-red-flag-net-profit-royalties.html

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If you sign with a literary agent and have no success placing your novel over the course of a year, what are your options after the official contract runs out? Can you search for a different agent and try again after some serious re-writes and editing? Is self-publishing worth considering? Is it time to give up, even if you believe the novel has potential?


Well, that depends on the contract. We don't have a contract that automatically expires so I'm not sure I'm the best one to answer this question. Our contract, in all jest, is for the rest of your life. What I mean by that is while we have a very easy termination clause, we hope to take on a client for a career and we don't want to be limited by time, either on our behalf or yours.

So I guess what I would ask you is what does that contract say. Does the expiration date mean automatic cancellation or does the expiration date only mean that you are now allowed to terminate? Once a contract is terminated, however that happens, you are allowed to do whatever you want. You are allowed to search for another agent, self-publish, or even quit and do something different. You know, you are also allowed to take a new project to your agent and continue with that. Many of my clients were signed with one project and first sold with another. Just because you sign with a project doesn't mean that's the one you're going to sell. Signing that contract should be a commitment on both sides to venture forth and build a career together, not just sell a book.

What I would say is that if the book has already been around, and a year has passed, I would hope that you have something new and fresh to take back to your old agent or to new agents. It never does a writer any good to spend a career focusing on just one book.

Jessica

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By Duncan Calow

It is only March, but 2012 has already seen a series of contract disputes over digital media and technology hit the headlines.

First, rock star Peter Frampton announced he had filed a lawsuit against his record label for half a million pounds worth of unpaid music royalties and other damages. Frampton claimed he was contracted with A&M Records to receive a 50% royalty for the use of “licensed” music but had not received payment on any digital sales.

Then there was news that book publisher HarperCollins had filed a lawsuit against digital publisher Open Road for copyright infringement in relation to e-versions of the children’s book, “Julie of the Wolves”. HarperCollins claims its author contract gave it the exclusive ability to publish the work in any format but Open Road claims to have been granted the e-book rights.

And even ‘new media’ companies have their problems too. PhoneDog.com, an interactive mobile news and review website, was reported to have sued a former employee for £217,000 after he  converted a Twitter account, which it was claimed was originally set up on behalf of the employer, for his own use after leaving the company.

Each of the cases involve very different parties with very different facts and very different contracts.

The first is just one of many cases over how revenue in sales of digital music should be split between artists and labels, often with a focus on how physical distribution terms can apply to digital delivery. The second case raises, once again, the crucial question over how far fundamental expectations within a contract about how a work can be exploited can change as technology develops. The final dispute highlights the need for all businesses to keep employment contract and policies up to date to reflect the way in which social media and other technology is adopted in the workplace.

It remains to be seen how successful any of the claims will be as the full circumstances of these cases emerge over time or as the parties reach settlements.

What is clear, however, is that keeping contractual arrangements up-to-date with an ever evolving media and technology landscape continues to be a challenge.  It is also a form of challenge that existed well before digital. Legal text books recount the disputes that arose as theatre plays were first filmed for cinema – or when cinema films were first shown on television and released on video.

The pace of change is of course faster now and the inherent nature of digital technology allows greater opportunities for re-use. Accordingly, it is commonly suggested that the best solution is to work with technology-neutral contracts that reflect a ‘converged’ digital media. Yet in practice there is often still a need to main sector specifics and capture particular technical details.

In fact, dealing with digital successfully in a contract is often a balancing act between maintaining familiar structures and form alongside sufficient further foresight and flexibility.  Future developments may not always be predictable but contracts can still try to provide for that uncertainty.

Meanwhile, it’s a pretty s

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Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes at your favorite independent book publisher? If you've been following this series, then you've already met the key players from our editorial staff, as well as members of our production, publicity, and sales and marketing teams. Today the Overlook employee spotlight returns to catch up with Contracts and Subsidiary Rights Manager Amy Yang, the legal whiz

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Here are a few things to look for in your agreement. 

http://www.rachellegardner.com/2012/03/whats-an-author-agent-agreement/

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Questions to ask about your author contract (three posts).

http://chipmacgregor.typepad.com/main/2012/02/what-does-an-author-need-to-ask-about-book-contracts-part-1.html

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Book royalties, advances, and money.

http://writerunboxed.com/2011/11/28/11-frequently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money/

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Ten contract items that may give you a headache. 

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/columns-and-blogs/soapbox/article/48002-contract-headaches.html

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What should you do if you don't have an agent and you receive an offer from a publisher. 

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2007/08/handling-unagented-offer-from-publisher.html

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Make sure your contract covers these ten items. 

http://schoolvisitexperts.com/?p=519

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If things aren't working out, is it possible to get out of your contract?

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2011/06/getting-out-of-your-book-contract-maybe.html

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Why you shouldn't have this as part of your contract.

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2011/04/interminable-agency-clause.html

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What you should look for in your contract with an agent.

http://literaticat.blogspot.com/2011/04/on-agency-agreements.html

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Do You Have to Sign One?

In my May 3 post, “Will Your First Book Be Published?” I mentioned multi-book contracts, and blog reader Marion asked: “Do you have to sign for a multi-book contract?” Her concern was mainly that she wasn’t sure she wanted to be locked into deadlines since her first book took her ten years to write.

The short answer is no, you definitely don't have to sign a multi-book contract, and you may not even be offered one. (You certainly won't be offered one if you don't have more than the one book.)

There are some cases in which you wouldn’t want to sign a multi-book contract even if offered one and you wouldn’t have any problem delivering the manuscripts. This has to do with specific publishers and the terms they’re offering. For example, if the publisher insists on joint accounting or “cross-collateralizing” all books within a contract, you might be better off only signing for one book at at time with them. (See this post from agent Kristin Nelson.)

But there is a larger issue here: It's not usually good business for an agent or a publisher to commit to an author who may only have one book in them. There is a huge investment of time and money, especially when it comes to building an audience. We would hope that audience-building would be for the long haul... that your fans would follow you through multiple books. The publisher wants to build a following for you that would extend to many more books down the line (that’s their hope), basically amortizing their costs over multiple books. It takes a lot of effort to launch a new author, so it makes sense that you'd want that effort to benefit the sale of multiple books.

So, while you may only be offered a single book contract to start with, be aware that agents and publishers typically are looking for authors, not just books. They're hoping you'll have something else for them after this one.

Of course there are bestselling authors who are famous for a single book, and that's a possibility, of course. I think that one book would have to be so good and have such amazing potential that the agent and publisher aren't concerned about subsequent books—they believe the first one will be worth the effort in itself. The literary world would certainly be poorer without To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee), Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell), or Dr. Zhivago (Boris Pasternak). But those authors are the exceptions. For the most part, we’re looking for writers with more than one book in them.

Q4U: How does this "multiple book" goal serve you as a reader? Do you search for books from authors you like, or do you just look for good books regardless of the author?

© 2011 Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent

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Help! I feel like a bunny in a lions den! I had an idea for a non-fiction book, not being a writer and knowing absolutely nothing about the publishing industry, I searched for books on similar subjects and contacted them with my idea and asking if they would like to collaborate. One of the authors who replied was a book packager who began working with me on the proposal. We both had the same ideas on what the book should be so I thought it would be a good fit . . . until they sent me the contract. It was a work for hire agreement - no way was I going to agree to it, this was my baby and I was the one doing the work, they weren't planning on helping me write - just the packaging and finding a publisher, yet here they wanted to pay me a small fee and keep the copywrite. I began to querry agents. In the meantime they agreed verbally to most of my terms but wanted to split any advance 70/30 - net, my cut being thirty and any future royalties 50/50 - net. They wouldn't budge on this stating that their expenses were going to be high and this was normal for first time authors. Mabe I'm being stubborn but since their expenses are taken out before the split why does their split have to be so high? To make me trust them less, when they sent the new contract they stated that the split for advance AND royalties at 70/30. They have since sent a corrected contract but I just feel as if they are trying to take advantage of my inexperience and there may be something else I am missing. In the meantime, one of the agents I had contacted asked me to send my full proposal. I should be hearing back from her in a few weeks. I don't know if I can put the book packagers off for that long but there are moments when I think I'd rather not do it at all than get ripped off!
Any advise???

There’s a lot here. In other words, there’s a lot for me to comment on and a lot of different issues to address. I’m going to try to take it step by step.

You started by saying you had a book idea but you aren’t a writer, so it sounds to me like you were looking for someone to write the book for you because you thought the idea was so revolutionary. That might be the case, but the truth is that an idea is nothing without the execution, at least in the book world. I have seen some of the most amazing ideas cross my desk in both fiction and nonfiction, but without the right execution it never made it to publication.

As for the book packager. This is a typical book packager agreement and why I urge all writers to do their research before putting things out there. Without knowing what the book is or what is being done to package the book, I can’t tell you for sure if what they’re doing is fair. It sounds to me like it is. A 70/30 split and 50/50 royalties is far more than most authors receive from packagers. Do you know what they’re doing for you? Is this a heavily illustrated book and are they supplying the illustrations? You claimed earlier you are not a writer and were looking for a writer, but now you say you are the one doing all the work. I’m a little confused by this. Are you actually writing the book or is someone else? Are they doing a lot of work preparing the package and editing or are you expected to do all of that yourself?

Here’s the deal. Here’s what a book packager typically does. If what you want is to keep the majority of the money and hold on to the rights, you need a literary agent. To find one, however, you need to be prepared to write the book proposal yourself (or pay someone to write it for you) and submit it to agents for consideration. If illustrations or art are required you will need to be the one to pay for and supply those.

As for what you should do? I can’t tell you that. I don’t have enough information for one thing, but I also don’t know if you’re getting ripped off. That depends on what the packager is doing to make this a project that can be sold.

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In case you are one of those writers who sleeps in your writing cave, March is the season of the NCAA Basketball tournament. With only two weeks left in the regular season–the SouthEastern Conference tourney is just about ten days away–it’s time to pick the winners.

Publishers have their own form of March Madness, it’s called an acquisition meeting. Editors bring their favorite manuscripts of the week or month to a meeting where its fate is determined. Often the meetings are attended by marketing folks who get a look at what they will eventually have to promote.

IN fact, a major publisher may receive 10,000 manuscripts per year. It’s easy to get in the top 1%. Really. But that publisher may only publish 50 books that year, of which one will be from a new author. What can you do to make sure you are in that top .001%?

Write better and smarter. Write the best story you know how and write passionately. Revise and revise, polish and polish, until the story gleams.

Connect with editors. People do business with people they know. Yes, there are manuscripts pulled out of the slush pile sometimes. But mostly, people (hey, editors are just folks) want to know who they are doing business with. So, you need that great mss, but you also need a connection. Go to conferences, use your own connections to connect, research the editor online (just Google their name/position/publisher) and find a personal connection and a reason to send to THIS editor.

Get an agent. Sadly, publishers are less and less inclined to deal with an author without an agent. And agents are more likely to pick up a client based just on a great mss; although even here, it’s best to make some sort of connection.

Publishing is full of competition: writers to get noticed, agents to create a splash, editors to get a promotion, book stores to find that next best-seller. If you write for publication, you must deal with competition. But it begins and ends with you: you looking at that blank screen and resolving to write the best you can, to outdo your last effort. Competition with yourself is the biggest competition.

The great basketball players know this: they are the ones who are in the gym shooting freethrows and running bleachers. Day in and day out. They are passionate about their game. Are you?

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