These are notes from the convention life, the Universe, and Everything. Any misinformation is the fault of the note taker.

– Owner of Titans books in England heard the predatory traits of Utah small publishing houses.
– Publisher will give you some of the money won’t get royalties until you earn-out.
– Royalty periods are usually 4 times a year of 6 mo. royalty is % of the cover price.
– Evil contracts. Avoid business when they say we will give you a % of the number profited. Hardcover sales, iBooks, etc. avoid contracts that give % of the profit. Beware of anything that is a profit-sharing thing. Need to be % of sales not income.
– Watch out on rights: They will be English rights. Foreign publication rights. Don’t sell unless the company does not have a branch outside of the US.
– Ancillary rights: dramatic rights mean Movies and TV shows. Do not sign dramatic rights who will not do anything to develop. A production will option if. Rights to not share your piece to anyone else. If the piece gets accepted get paid for production. Out of 100 options about one goes into production. TV may offer a $5-10K option. It’s much more lubricative. Define what money you get from the publisher.
– Audible rights: is big money. Only give the audible right to a publishing house that actually has a branch that is devoted to auditable. They are hunger for material and they pay well.
– Video games: don’t throw that way
– Anything is for merchandising.
– Publishers will try to collect the moon. They will try to get everything.
– If you did sign up with a product, see if they would actually produce the thing they are paid for.
– There will be time frames in our contact and when they expect to produce it. (There may be production delays) If they fail to produce something you need to do a reversion of rights. There needs to be a specific time. An eBook > you need to get those rights back.
– 47North publisher is amazon.
– What to do with eBooks for reversal of rights. Define what is not active.
– Writer’s first approval: you can’t write a product that competes against what was sold to them.
– Some even have in control that you can print under a pen name.
– If in doubt have someone with knowledge review the contract. An attorney can review it. Get a contract law attorney.
– In case a publisher shuts down, have an exit strategy.
– You don’t owe a publisher anything other than what is in the contract.
– Contract renegotiation: when authors first start out, our options are limited. As you show you have a good track record our advances will grow.
– Earning out: if you don’t earn out they look at profit and loss. If fail in the mind of the company they are not eager to pursue supporting them.
– $5 K is the first advance.
– Professionals understand authors will review and study a contract. Never sign anything until you know what you are signing.
Q: How to negotiate a contract.
– If publishers feel that you have a reasonable request they will be open to it.
– Some contracts have an NDA. Can’t give details of the contract. Fishy if you can’t share the content of what you’re working on. It could be legit if it is certain companies have security-related information.
– For book series don’t get advance until all the books ae done. Try to get it one book at a time.
– English rights cover the US, Australia, and Canada.
– Publishers offer 25% eBooks. 60% audio and *% for mass-market papers back and 10% for hardcover. A movie deal is 20-25%. The % will be influenced by different studios.