seventh post

The publishing industry has a bad reputation amongst the majority of writers, many of whom see publishers as little more than law firms with an editorial department in tow. Publishers reel in unwary authors with a carrot, the advance, then whack them with a stick, the contract. An acquisition editor is the employee at the publisher whose job it is to sign authors to write books. Most new authors fail to retain legal counsel before signing their first book contract, and actually depend on the acquisitions editor to tell them what's fair and normal for the publisher to request. This creates an excellent negotiating position for the publisher and a horrible one for the author. Unfortunately, publishers really take advantage.
Author advocacy organizations can be a good source for publishing contract advice, but the catch is you usually have to be a published writer before you can join. There's nothing quite like the feeling of joining a prestigious author's guild after publishing a trade book, sending them the publisher's book contract for your next edition for free legal review, and hearing something like, "Oh, you never should have signed the first contract. Now you're stuck with it forever."
Subsidy publisher book contracts from outfits like iUniverse, AuthorHouse and Xlibirs, may outwardly resemble trade publishing contracts, but there's no reason you should be giving away any rights at all when you're paying them to publish the book. Don't fall for the line that the fee you're paying only offsets part of the production cost, blah, blah, blah. A good subsidy publisher will offer a short contract that describes the publisher's responsibilities, a royalty schedule, and how the author can (quickly) terminate the agreement, not a three year lock-up. Some subsidy publishers hide their contract details until the last minute, hoping you'll sign simply because you've gone so far down the path. Don't even consider a subsidy publisher who doesn't have their book contract available on their website where you can read it before you contact them. Unlike contracts from trade publishers, I've never heard of a subsidy publisher willing to negotiate their contracts. It's a volume business, if they don't get your book they'll get somebody else's. They may have different publishing contracts for their different packages, like iUniverse with their different royalty rate contracts.
The contractual relationship between the author and the publisher is based on what's written in the signed book contract, not on implicit understandings. Even experienced authors and agents sometime make the mistake of concentrating on the money and not paying enough attention to the clauses that protect the author's rights. All contract terms are negotiable, though acquisitions editors like to pretend they have a standard publishing contract that all their authors are happy to sign. A brief summary of standard trade.

sixth post

The publishing industry has a bad reputation amongst the majority of writers, many of whom see publishers as little more than law firms with an editorial department in tow. Publishers reel in unwary authors with a carrot, the advance, then whack them with a stick, the contract. An acquisition editor is the employee at the publisher whose job it is to sign authors to write books. Most new authors fail to retain legal counsel before signing their first book contract, and actually depend on the acquisitions editor to tell them what's fair and normal for the publisher to request. This creates an excellent negotiating position for the publisher and a horrible one for the author. Unfortunately, publishers really take advantage.
Author advocacy organizations can be a good source for publishing contract advice, but the catch is you usually have to be a published writer before you can join. There's nothing quite like the feeling of joining a prestigious author's guild after publishing a trade book, sending them the publisher's book contract for your next edition for free legal review, and hearing something like, "Oh, you never should have signed the first contract. Now you're stuck with it forever."
Subsidy publisher book contracts from outfits like iUniverse, AuthorHouse and Xlibirs, may outwardly resemble trade publishing contracts, but there's no reason you should be giving away any rights at all when you're paying them to publish the book. Don't fall for the line that the fee you're paying only offsets part of the production cost, blah, blah, blah. A good subsidy publisher will offer a short contract that describes the publisher's responsibilities, a royalty schedule, and how the author can (quickly) terminate the agreement, not a three year lock-up. Some subsidy publishers hide their contract details until the last minute, hoping you'll sign simply because you've gone so far down the path. Don't even consider a subsidy publisher who doesn't have their book contract available on their website where you can read it before you contact them. Unlike contracts from trade publishers, I've never heard of a subsidy publisher willing to negotiate their contracts. It's a volume business, if they don't get your book they'll get somebody else's. They may have different publishing contracts for their different packages, like iUniverse with their different royalty rate contracts.
The contractual relationship between the author and the publisher is based on what's written in the signed book contract, not on implicit understandings. Even experienced authors and agents sometime make the mistake of concentrating on the money and not paying enough attention to the clauses that protect the author's rights. All contract terms are negotiable, though acquisitions editors like to pretend they have a standard publishing contract that all their authors are happy to sign. A brief summary of standard trade

fifth post

The publishing industry has a bad reputation amongst the majority of writers, many of whom see publishers as little more than law firms with an editorial department in tow. Publishers reel in unwary authors with a carrot, the advance, then whack them with a stick, the contract. An acquisition editor is the employee at the publisher whose job it is to sign authors to write books. Most new authors fail to retain legal counsel before signing their first book contract, and actually depend on the acquisitions editor to tell them what's fair and normal for the publisher to request. This creates an excellent negotiating position for the publisher and a horrible one for the author. Unfortunately, publishers really take advantage.
Author advocacy organizations can be a good source for publishing contract advice, but the catch is you usually have to be a published writer before you can join. There's nothing quite like the feeling of joining a prestigious author's guild after publishing a trade book, sending them the publisher's book contract for your next edition for free legal review, and hearing something like, "Oh, you never should have signed the first contract. Now you're stuck with it forever."
Subsidy publisher book contracts from outfits like iUniverse, AuthorHouse and Xlibirs, may outwardly resemble trade publishing contracts, but there's no reason you should be giving away any rights at all when you're paying them to publish the book. Don't fall for the line that the fee you're paying only offsets part of the production cost, blah, blah, blah. A good subsidy publisher will offer a short contract that describes the publisher's responsibilities, a royalty schedule, and how the author can (quickly) terminate the agreement, not a three year lock-up. Some subsidy publishers hide their contract details until the last minute, hoping you'll sign simply because you've gone so far down the path. Don't even consider a subsidy publisher who doesn't have their book contract available on their website where you can read it before you contact them. Unlike contracts from trade publishers, I've never heard of a subsidy publisher willing to negotiate their contracts. It's a volume business, if they don't get your book they'll get somebody else's. They may have different publishing contracts for their different packages, like iUniverse with their different royalty rate contracts.
The contractual relationship between the author and the publisher is based on what's written in the signed book contract, not on implicit understandings. Even experienced authors and agents sometime make the mistake of concentrating on the money and not paying enough attention to the clauses that protect the author's rights. All contract terms are negotiable, though acquisitions editors like to pretend they have a standard publishing contract that all their authors are happy to sign. A brief summary of standard trade

fourth post

The publishing industry has a bad reputation amongst the majority of writers, many of whom see publishers as little more than law firms with an editorial department in tow. Publishers reel in unwary authors with a carrot, the advance, then whack them with a stick, the contract. An acquisition editor is the employee at the publisher whose job it is to sign authors to write books. Most new authors fail to retain legal counsel before signing their first book contract, and actually depend on the acquisitions editor to tell them what's fair and normal for the publisher to request. This creates an excellent negotiating position for the publisher and a horrible one for the author. Unfortunately, publishers really take advantage.
Author advocacy organizations can be a good source for publishing contract advice, but the catch is you usually have to be a published writer before you can join. There's nothing quite like the feeling of joining a prestigious author's guild after publishing a trade book, sending them the publisher's book contract for your next edition for free legal review, and hearing something like, "Oh, you never should have signed the first contract. Now you're stuck with it forever."
Subsidy publisher book contracts from outfits like iUniverse, AuthorHouse and Xlibirs, may outwardly resemble trade publishing contracts, but there's no reason you should be giving away any rights at all when you're paying them to publish the book. Don't fall for the line that the fee you're paying only offsets part of the production cost, blah, blah, blah. A good subsidy publisher will offer a short contract that describes the publisher's responsibilities, a royalty schedule, and how the author can (quickly) terminate the agreement, not a three year lock-up. Some subsidy publishers hide their contract details until the last minute, hoping you'll sign simply because you've gone so far down the path. Don't even consider a subsidy publisher who doesn't have their book contract available on their website where you can read it before you contact them. Unlike contracts from trade publishers, I've never heard of a subsidy publisher willing to negotiate their contracts. It's a volume business, if they don't get your book they'll get somebody else's. They may have different publishing contracts for their different packages, like iUniverse with their different royalty rate contracts.
The contractual relationship between the author and the publisher is based on what's written in the signed book contract, not on implicit understandings. Even experienced authors and agents sometime make the mistake of concentrating on the money and not paying enough attention to the clauses that protect the author's rights. All contract terms are negotiable, though acquisitions editors like to pretend they have a standard publishing contract that all their authors are happy to sign. A brief summary of standard trade

third post

The publishing industry has a bad reputation amongst the majority of writers, many of whom see publishers as little more than law firms with an editorial department in tow. Publishers reel in unwary authors with a carrot, the advance, then whack them with a stick, the contract. An acquisition editor is the employee at the publisher whose job it is to sign authors to write books. Most new authors fail to retain legal counsel before signing their first book contract, and actually depend on the acquisitions editor to tell them what's fair and normal for the publisher to request. This creates an excellent negotiating position for the publisher and a horrible one for the author. Unfortunately, publishers really take advantage.
Author advocacy organizations can be a good source for publishing contract advice, but the catch is you usually have to be a published writer before you can join. There's nothing quite like the feeling of joining a prestigious author's guild after publishing a trade book, sending them the publisher's book contract for your next edition for free legal review, and hearing something like, "Oh, you never should have signed the first contract. Now you're stuck with it forever."
Subsidy publisher book contracts from outfits like iUniverse, AuthorHouse and Xlibirs, may outwardly resemble trade publishing contracts, but there's no reason you should be giving away any rights at all when you're paying them to publish the book. Don't fall for the line that the fee you're paying only offsets part of the production cost, blah, blah, blah. A good subsidy publisher will offer a short contract that describes the publisher's responsibilities, a royalty schedule, and how the author can (quickly) terminate the agreement, not a three year lock-up. Some subsidy publishers hide their contract details until the last minute, hoping you'll sign simply because you've gone so far down the path. Don't even consider a subsidy publisher who doesn't have their book contract available on their website where you can read it before you contact them. Unlike contracts from trade publishers, I've never heard of a subsidy publisher willing to negotiate their contracts. It's a volume business, if they don't get your book they'll get somebody else's. They may have different publishing contracts for their different packages, like iUniverse with their different royalty rate contracts.
The contractual relationship between the author and the publisher is based on what's written in the signed book contract, not on implicit understandings. Even experienced authors and agents sometime make the mistake of concentrating on the money and not paying enough attention to the clauses that protect the author's rights. All contract terms are negotiable, though acquisitions editors like to pretend they have a standard publishing contract that all their authors are happy to sign. A brief summary of standard trade

second post

The publishing industry has a bad reputation amongst the majority of writers, many of whom see publishers as little more than law firms with an editorial department in tow. Publishers reel in unwary authors with a carrot, the advance, then whack them with a stick, the contract. An acquisition editor is the employee at the publisher whose job it is to sign authors to write books. Most new authors fail to retain legal counsel before signing their first book contract, and actually depend on the acquisitions editor to tell them what's fair and normal for the publisher to request. This creates an excellent negotiating position for the publisher and a horrible one for the author. Unfortunately, publishers really take advantage.
Author advocacy organizations can be a good source for publishing contract advice, but the catch is you usually have to be a published writer before you can join. There's nothing quite like the feeling of joining a prestigious author's guild after publishing a trade book, sending them the publisher's book contract for your next edition for free legal review, and hearing something like, "Oh, you never should have signed the first contract. Now you're stuck with it forever."
Subsidy publisher book contracts from outfits like iUniverse, AuthorHouse and Xlibirs, may outwardly resemble trade publishing contracts, but there's no reason you should be giving away any rights at all when you're paying them to publish the book. Don't fall for the line that the fee you're paying only offsets part of the production cost, blah, blah, blah. A good subsidy publisher will offer a short contract that describes the publisher's responsibilities, a royalty schedule, and how the author can (quickly) terminate the agreement, not a three year lock-up. Some subsidy publishers hide their contract details until the last minute, hoping you'll sign simply because you've gone so far down the path. Don't even consider a subsidy publisher who doesn't have their book contract available on their website where you can read it before you contact them. Unlike contracts from trade publishers, I've never heard of a subsidy publisher willing to negotiate their contracts. It's a volume business, if they don't get your book they'll get somebody else's. They may have different publishing contracts for their different packages, like iUniverse with their different royalty rate contracts.
The contractual relationship between the author and the publisher is based on what's written in the signed book contract, not on implicit understandings. Even experienced authors and agents sometime make the mistake of concentrating on the money and not paying enough attention to the clauses that protect the author's rights. All contract terms are negotiable, though acquisitions editors like to pretend they have a standard publishing contract that all their authors are happy to sign. A brief summary of standard trade

first post

The publishing industry has a bad reputation amongst the majority of writers, many of whom see publishers as little more than law firms with an editorial department in tow. Publishers reel in unwary authors with a carrot, the advance, then whack them with a stick, the contract. An acquisition editor is the employee at the publisher whose job it is to sign authors to write books. Most new authors fail to retain legal counsel before signing their first book contract, and actually depend on the acquisitions editor to tell them what's fair and normal for the publisher to request. This creates an excellent negotiating position for the publisher and a horrible one for the author. Unfortunately, publishers really take advantage.
Author advocacy organizations can be a good source for publishing contract advice, but the catch is you usually have to be a published writer before you can join. There's nothing quite like the feeling of joining a prestigious author's guild after publishing a trade book, sending them the publisher's book contract for your next edition for free legal review, and hearing something like, "Oh, you never should have signed the first contract. Now you're stuck with it forever."
Subsidy publisher book contracts from outfits like iUniverse, AuthorHouse and Xlibirs, may outwardly resemble trade publishing contracts, but there's no reason you should be giving away any rights at all when you're paying them to publish the book. Don't fall for the line that the fee you're paying only offsets part of the production cost, blah, blah, blah. A good subsidy publisher will offer a short contract that describes the publisher's responsibilities, a royalty schedule, and how the author can (quickly) terminate the agreement, not a three year lock-up. Some subsidy publishers hide their contract details until the last minute, hoping you'll sign simply because you've gone so far down the path. Don't even consider a subsidy publisher who doesn't have their book contract available on their website where you can read it before you contact them. Unlike contracts from trade publishers, I've never heard of a subsidy publisher willing to negotiate their contracts. It's a volume business, if they don't get your book they'll get somebody else's. They may have different publishing contracts for their different packages, like iUniverse with their different royalty rate contracts.
The contractual relationship between the author and the publisher is based on what's written in the signed book contract, not on implicit understandings. Even experienced authors and agents sometime make the mistake of concentrating on the money and not paying enough attention to the clauses that protect the author's rights. All contract terms are negotiable, though acquisitions editors like to pretend they have a standard publishing contract that all their authors are happy to sign. A brief summary of standard trade