It’s arrived –your first traditional (not an e-book!) publishing contract: ten pages of single-spaced Times Roman. All the work, the revisions, the seemingly endless waiting for replies from publishers has finally paid off. And you’re grateful, right? Of course you are. Especially because your editor told you it’s a “standard” contract. “Just sign and send it back,” … Continue reading First Publishing Deal
Q. I’m self-publishing my out-of-print novel, in both digital and print. Please tell me about “foreign rights” and “foreign licensing deals.” A. Foreign rights are typically part of the “subsidiary rights” of your copyright, and can take different forms (also called “translation rights”). Foreign rights, as a whole, are the granting, (or “licensing”) of your … Continue reading Q&A: Foreign Rights
A collaboration agreement is a contract between the authors of a joint work setting forth respective ownership, rights, credits, royalties, expenses, and responsibilities. If you are collaborating with someone on any significant work – a short story or a novel – you should have a collaboration agreement. Let’s look at the key issues: Responsibilities. How … Continue reading Collaboration Agreements
Your grant or assignment of copyright to your publisher generally is limited only by the out of print clause. It therefore is critical that “out of print” be defined reasonably, especially now that digital and on-demand publishing can make the literal meaning of the clause obsolete. Ideally, the definition should be pegged to the publisher’s … Continue reading Out of Print Clauses in Publishing Agreements
Q. How do I get e-book rights for my out of print books published before the days of e-books? A. As always, the answer exists in your publishing agreement. You must closely examine two sections: your “grant of rights” to the publisher and your “out of print” clause. There are four possible scenarios: 1. … Continue reading Q&A: E-book Rights
Question: One of our authors has submitted a book containing lengthy transcripts of previously unpublished interviews conducted in the 1960s. The location and existence of the interviewees are unknown, and there are no written interview releases. How can the book be registered for copyright? — submitted by the publisher of an independent press Answer: … Continue reading Q&A On Interview Releases