Hello there!
Hello there!
And
welcome to Volume 6, Contract Terms
This is the sixth in a series about the state of fiction writing today along with updates on my debut novel, Becoming Amber, which will be released later this year.
My first newsletter covered the love of writing;
the second, the importance of a good idea;
the third, writing the book;
the fourth, looking for a publisher;
and the fifth, the Acquisitions Editor.
If you'd like to read the back issues, go here.
To sign up for future newsletters, go here.
So, You Have a Contract
If the Acquisitions Editor and Editorial Board give your manuscript the green light, they will send you a contract.
Entire books have been written on this topic and there are seminars galore that cover publishing contracts. Plus there are oodles of attorneys ready and waiting to interpret clauses for you. Some writers' groups offer legal advice on contract terms. There is much to say on the subject.
The contract you receive from a publisher is usually their boilerplate template, that is, a standard contract. I always look at those as a starting point. Everything is negotiable. You won't get what you want if you don't ask.
Today, I am going to briefly list the key items in a publishing contract to give you an idea of what's involved.
Types of Publishers
In this newsletter, I will refer to three types of publishers: Traditional Publishers, Vanity Presses, and Hybrid Publishers. I am leaving self-publishing out of the discussion for now because I have little knowledge in that area. However, I do have a friend who has successfully self-published all of her books so at some point, I will ask her to describe her experience for a future newsletter.
For the time being, think of them like this.
A traditional publisher only accepts manuscripts through an agent (just a handful will accept submissions directly from an author). The manuscript must meet their editorial standards and fit their catalog. The publisher pays for everything from production to marketing and usually pays the author an advance against future royalties. The publisher typically has complete control over editing, cover design, layout, price, marketing, and release date, and takes most of the profits to recoup their investment. Also, traditional publishers usually retain many of the subsidiary rights.
A vanity press will generally accept any manuscript because the author pays all production costs upfront. Control and profits vary among vanity publishers but the author receives a far greater share of the royalties than with a traditional publisher. However, in most cases, the royalties earned never repay the author for what he or she paid the publisher.
A hybrid publisher, like a traditional publisher, only accepts manuscripts that meet their editorial standards and fit their catalog. The author and publisher share the costs of production. The split varies. Control over editing, cover and interior design, and marketing is collaborative. Often the author has final approval. Profits are much higher for the author than with traditional publishers.
Who Owns the Book Rights?
No matter who publishes the book, the book is copyrighted in the author's name. As far as publishing rights, traditional publishers usually get the exclusive right to publish your novel (hardbound, paperback, and usually e-book) throughout the world and in any language, either for a certain period of time or until the book goes out of print, when the publishing rights revert to the author.
Vanity and hybrid publishers are all over the board as far as which rights they require and will use and promote.
Subsidiary Rights
Subsidiary rights include anything other than the standard printed hardcover or paperback book such as e-book, audio, foreign language, book club, large-print, film, TV, drama, audio, merchandising and more. For each one, it will be specified who owns the rights and how the royalties received from the sale of the rights would be split between the publisher and the author. 50:50 is common. Also, the contract should specify how much approval the author has over the use of each of the rights.
Payment
Traditional publishers usually give an author an advance against future royalty income. An author's royalties will usually be a percentage of the retail price of the book. For example, let's say a book sells for $20 and the author's royalties are 10%. That means for every book sold, the author would receive $2. If that author receives a $10,000 advance, there would be no more monies paid to the author until after 5,000 copies have been sold.
With hybrid publishers and vanity presses, there is no advance paid to the author. Instead the author pays the publisher $3000 to $20,000 to publish and market the book. But the author begins to receive royalties with the first sale. And the royalty rates are much higher, since the author has paid for publications services. Royalty rates range from 40-100% so let's use 60% of a $20 book which would earn the author $12 per book. That means when 5000 copies have sold, the author would have netted $60,000 and made a profit of $40,000 to $57,000 on their initial investment. But that is only IF the book sells 5000 copies. Most books do not.
Editing and Creative Control
I'm going to make this one simple.
In general, an author has far less creative control under a traditional publisher than under a hybrid or vanity. An established author with a traditional publisher might have more clout over cover design or pricing, but a debut novelist would likely have to accept the publishers ideas of what would make the book most marketable. With a hybrid or vanity press, the contract will often state that the author has input on a certain number of revisions of cover, manuscript, and marketing materials.
Marketing
There is usually no clause in a traditional publisher contract about marketing, but most publishers market through their catalog, placement in bookstores, and submitting the book for awards and reviews. Authors are expected to maintain their own website, build a mailing list, manage social media, and organize book signings and events. With top bestselling authors, those tasks are often handled by a publicist that is either paid for by the publisher or out of the author's proceeds, but only around 1% of new releases from top publishers reach best seller status.
Vanity presses traditionally do no marketing unless the author purchases an ad package and even then, the services are limited. So basically, book promotion is entirely in the hands of the author.
Hybrid publishers are similar to traditional publishers when it come to marketing, but remember, the author pays up front for the hybrid publisher's services. Most hybrid publishers have dedicated marketing staff and various levels of paid promotion available, so the author can choose how much they want to invest and how involved they want to be in the marketing.
Out of Print
There needs to be a clause in the contract that specifies what happens when the contract ends, that is, when the book goes out of print. Rights should revert to the author so the author could offer the book to another publisher.
Right of First Refusal
Some publishers require that the author give them the first opportunity to consider publishing the next book before the author sends it to other publishers.
Wrapping Up
There are other clauses related to the delivery of the manuscript, warranty that the work is original and not AI generated, that the work doesn't contain libelous content, and how disputes are handled.
Once you have negotiated terms and signed a contract, you will be assigned a Book Production Manager who will oversee your book's journey from manuscript to print.
After a phone call or zoom between the author and Production Manager, the manuscript will be assigned to a Developmental Editor.
See my next newsletter for Working with a Developmental Editor along with updates on my debut novel, Becoming Amber.
Until then,
