How do publishing contracts work?

A book contract is a written agreement that encompasses every facet of an author’s work with a publisher. When a book publisher offers to publish a book, and the author accepts, there are deal points that must be discussed and agreed to. Typically, these points are hashed out between the author’s agent and publisher.

What do you need to know about a publishing contract?

The path to publication generally requires authors to sign a “publishing contract” that covers such topics as: manuscript delivery and acceptance, copyright ownership and grants; royalty advances, rates and payment; author warranties and indemnities; contract duration and rights reversion (out-of-print); options on new works;

What should I ask before signing a book contract?

It is important, whether you are working with an agent or not, that you ask enough questions so you completely understand what your publisher will and won’t be doing and what rights you have once you sign the contract. Also, anything that is even remotely important to you should be in writing in the contract before you sign anything.

Do you have to pay a publisher to publish your book?

Paying for help publishing is common and fine, but you are at that point self-publishing. You should only be paying for services and not giving up any publishing or distribution rights. If a company wants you to pay them a fee to publish your book, you should be running the other way.

What are the terms of a book contract?

A. Advances – Ideally these should be nonrefundable; at worst, if manuscript rejected, Publisher may only recover from “first proceeds” under next contract for the same work Ideal: 1/2 on signing, 1/4 on delivery of half MS, 1/4 on final acceptance.

Here are 6 key terms/areas you need to address in your publishing contract before signing on the dotted line. Editor’s Note: This article appeared in the September 2009 issue of Writer’s Digest. So you’ve signed with an agent, and he’s landed you an offer from a publishing house. He can take it from here, right?

When to use a publishing catalog acquisition agreement?

This Publishing Catalog Acquisition Agreement is used when an existing publishing company buys the catalog of a songwriter or publisher. This Release Agreement is a contract used when a publisher and songwriter agree to release each other from the obligations under a contract previously signed by both parties.

How are co-publishing agreements used in music publishing?

The Co-Publishing Agreement is used by a publishing company to contract with a songwriter to acquire 50% of the copyrights to the song with the writer keeping 100% of the writer’s share and sharing 50% of the publisher’s share of the income with the publisher.

How are royalties calculated in a publishing contract?

If the contract has royalties based on “publisher’s net receipts” or a similar amorphous phrase, push to change it. And when evaluating two different offers, be sure you’re comparing apples to apples; royalties should be a percentage of the same thing.