Understanding Publishing Contracts

Let’s walk through some of the basic terminology you are likely to encounter.

Joint Work

This is something that would come into play with a co-write, but not an anthology, at least not to my understanding. Joint work is where all participants are contributing their work with the intention of creating a cohesive piece, in which the work of individual authors is not easily distinguishable. In these cases, all co-authors, regardless of the amount of work contributed, are entitled to equal portions of the profits. Additionally, each author can authorize use of the copyright without the permission of their co-authors, but all are entitled to any royalties earned.

Exclusive Rights

The right to make copies, to sell, lend, or distribute copies, to prepare derivative works (such as audio book, revised editions, sequels, prequels, etc.), to perform the work publicly, to display the work publicly.

When you sign a contract, you are handing over either all or some of these rights to the publisher. They can be subdivided by rights to specific formats, specific geographical areas, and/or specific lengths of time. For example: You might sign over the electronic and print rights to an anthology to publish within the United States and Canada, and for a period of three months. 

Exclusive License

This is different from exclusive rights. An exclusive license gives the publisher permission for specific things and allows them to stop you and other third parties from issuing competing versions of the work. This does not transfer ownership of the copyright. 

Non-Exclusive License

This allows you, the author, to grant rights to an infinite number of individuals to produce and sell the work in question. Publishers tend not to like this kind of license, as you can imagine. 

Subsidiary Rights

These may also be referred to as ancillary, secondary, or derivative rights. They include electronic rights, paperback rights, audiobook rights, foreign rights, translation rights, dramatization rights, commercial exploitation rights, serial rights, and book club rights. Generally how you decide which of these rights to hand over to a publisher will be heavily impacted by the experience the publisher has with using those rights effectively. 

Let’s break those rights down a little bit more. 

Electronic rights includes not only standard ebooks, but also enhanced ebooks and multimedia versions of the book. If you are looking at long term publication, rather than a short run with an anthology, you may want to consider ensuring that the electronic rights include only existing technology, and then terms can be renegotiated in the future if an applicable technology is developed.

Paperback rights include the trade paperback, mass-market paperback, and hardcover, and allows the publisher to print and sell the book in those forms, or to license another company to do so on their behalf.

If you would like additional information on the other rights listed you can find them all in the linked document by Author Alliance. 

The Manuscript Clause

This clause lays out the obligations of the author. It should include the delivery date, the approximate length of the manuscript, the delivery format, and any additional material to be delivered.

When looking this information over be sure that there is a reasonable amount of time for the publisher to complete the finished work, and for you as the author to complete your portion of the deliverables. If there are additional materials or services that must be engaged, such as professional editing, cover production, etc. the contract should specify who bears the financial responsibility for them. If there is no mention of editing in the contract, be sure to inquire with the publisher what their standards are, so that all of the participants are fully aware of their obligations to produce a polished piece.

Revert-Back Clause

This is a protection for the author. The contract should state that if the publisher fails to use the rights granted within a specific time then those rights are automatically reverted back to the author.

Rights Reversion

All rights not specifically granted to the publisher are reserved by the author. Be sure that this is stated in the contract so that your author rights are protected and the publisher is only acquiring the specific rights they need to produce the anthology.

Warranty and Indemnification

These protect the publisher from legal liability if they get sued for copyright infringement or other legal violations. To comply with these clauses you as the author must proclaim that your work is not plagiarized, that it does not violate any trademarks or privacy rights, that your work does not defame anyone, and if your work is a piece of non-fiction you must ensure that the work is accurate. If you fail to uphold these clauses, then the publisher usually reserves the right to terminate your contract.

Royalties

Royalties are the amount of money authors get from the sales of their books. The contract should specify where your payment is coming from and what type of royalty they are using to calculate that amount. Are the royalties based on the published price, on the publisher’s net income for sales of the book, or are they based on the net profit of the publisher? In the cases of anthologies, royalties are likely to simply be an equitable division of the payments received to the publisher account via the distributors.

Be sure that somewhere in the contract it states that you are entitled to see the royalties statements regularly, with a specification on what qualifies as regularly, or upon request. This helps keep the publisher accountable and lets the authors stay informed about how much money they can expect to be paid.

The contract should also explicitly state the price the work is going to be sold for. Any alteration to this price that is not explicitly stated within the contract already will require a new contract or addendum to be signed.

Please be advised that these clauses may not be laid out specifically with these terms. That will depend on the composition of the contract, and sometimes whether or not the publisher is familiar with these terms to begin with. Regardless, you need to be aware of, and understand the contents of these clauses, so that you can recognize their presence in a contract, and also recognize their absence.

Most contracts, when it comes to anthologies, are going to be significantly simpler than contracts that you’re going to approach a long-term publisher for. There is tons more information when it comes to understanding publishing contracts, but I’ve tried to focus exclusively on the things that are going to be most relevant and valuable to those of you participating in co-writes and anthologies.