What You Need To Know About Book Publishing Contracts Before You Sign Them.Publishers who have been in the book business for quite some time, know the problems that occur with book publishing so the longer they are in business, the more clauses they will put into a new publishing contract. So as a writer, you really need to research and learn as much as you can about Book Publishing Contracts before you ever put your signature on the dotted line. Publishers often have problems with contracts that are not thought all the way through and they usually make these mistakes when they are new in the business. These mistakes usually benefit the writer and not the publisher so if you are doing business with a publisher that has been around for a long time, you need to read the fine print of the contract because all of their experience that has happened in the past will be covered in that contract and the Book Publishing Contracts will end up benefiting the publisher more than the writer. Book Publishing Contracts can be created and signed on any types of books that there are out on the shelves today. From comic books, art and history books, kids and educational books, and even audio books which are the books that you listen to instead of read. When you have received an independent book writing deal from any agency or company that wants you to sign a contract, you need to watch out for the print-on-demand clause that could be in your contract. Your publisher would have the rights to your book for as long as they keep it in print because this allows them to only print the number of books that were ordered and they then hold on to the books until the next order no matter how long it would take for the book order to come through while the writer sits making no money. You need to make sure that you have an ending clause in your contract that states if a certain number of books is not sold within a twelve month period, then the rights revert back to the writer. Other things to look for is making sure your advance is not too low. You should be compensated for your talent in writing a book and for the work that it took in order to write that book. Also make sure the royalty rate is not too low because it is to the writer's benefit to have a high percentage and the publisher knows this so they will try to get a low percentage in order for more money to stay in their pockets. Usually, writers will be able to get good Book Publishing Contracts from good agencies but you just need to protect yourself and make sure you read everything. |