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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2009-08-12, 18:34

Quote:
Originally Posted by curiousuburb View Post
Generally, a contract might specify royalty rates for hardcover, softcover, and international/translated editions.
I would hope that the contract would specify the royalty rates. But I get what you're saying. Some houses take a "wait and see" approach to paperbacks; some plan for them (WRT royalties, if nothing else) up front. The days of making a "paperback sale" to another house (as Stephen King did with Carrie) seem to be pretty much over.

Basically, the boilerplate contract will give the publisher rights to publish your book in English all over the world, and it will give them the right to contract out translations, and it will give them excerpt rights, and the film/television/drama rights, and the rights to the e-book edition and the audiobook edition and the braille edition...

You can negotiate to keep those rights, of course. It's all a negotiation, which is why an agent (or at least a publishing lawyer) is so important - I don't know of a single published author who advises against getting one, and I'm talking about people who have paid their agents millions of dollars. The agent is someone who's on your side - they have just as much of an interest in those rights as you do. If the agency has branches in Hollywood, they'd rather farm out film rights themselves, earning them and you more money, &c.

Quote:
Originally Posted by curiousuburb
A portion up front as advance is possible, with benchmarks or distribution thresholds possible for later achievement.
I forgot to mention that. Royalty rates aren't fixed and immutable; they can change throughout the life of the book (even before it goes paperback, whatever) depending on how it's selling. They do need to follow the benchmarks and thresholds set forth in the contract, though. You should have the right to an audit if you think you're getting scammed (an agent would probably notice this before you).

On the first part, I would argue that an advance is a minimum professional standard for a published book, because it gives the publisher a vested interest in its success. If you are interested in the traditional publishing model (not self publishing), avoid anyone giving you no advance, or especially a nominal ($1) one, like the plague. These are not publishers; they are POD vanity presses pretending to be publishers. There's nothing wrong with POD but they shouldn't also try and claim the rights of publishers (they shouldn't ever keep the rights to your book, for example). Compare PublishAmerica with angelic Lulu.

Quote:
Originally Posted by curiousuburb
In your case, it might be work seeking out an agent who specializes in textbooks for advice on particular quirks or industry assholes.
Again, I have never heard a published author, in an agented market, advise against getting an agent. Ever.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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