Reading a Book Contract

Jess here with Sarina Bowen to help simplify and demystify author contracts. Let’s start off with a wonderful resource called The Authors Guild. They have sample contracts on their website The Authors Guild Sample ContractSarina made a lovely outline to prepare for the episode (because of course she did) so I’m dropping that here. * You’re not “selling” your book. You’re licensing it.* Grant of rights* Term length* Which territories* Which formats* Territories* North American* World English* World* Formats and sub rights* Print and digital and audio* Sub rights like “first serial”* Translation MAYBE* Time limits* X years* The life of the copyright* Financial remuneration: advances and royalty rates. WHEN is it paid? What percentages?* Advance and payment schedule* On signing* On acceptance of the work (after an edit)* On publication* A year after publication* Manuscript delivery and acceptance. What happens if people are unhappy.* Other clauses* Copyright stipulation* The Option Clause* The Next Published Work Clause* Cover approval vs consideration or collaboration* Narrator approval vs consideration* Indemnification* What are reserves against returns?* Reversion terms: bankruptcy, failure to publish, failure to pay, and out of print* Red flags:* Film rights, even if they say “non exclusive”* Derivative works* Lack of reversion language This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

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