Q. Can I change the agent’s clause in the proposed contract my publisher just sent me? A. You certainly can. The clause most publishers include in your contract is one that your agent has given them. If there are aspects…
Q. I am considering signing a contract directly with an overseas publisher, but it refuses to change the clause that says any lawsuits —whether brought by it or me— must be conducted exclusively in its country. If it sues me,…
Q. I write and illustrate children’s books. My contracts say that the publisher is “not responsible for the loss or damage of any material” submitted by me. That’s okay for my manuscript since I have a copy on my computer,…
Q. My contract for a medical how-to book has a clause which grants me full cover approval. I designed the cover, which includes powerful back cover endorsements from prominent doctors. When it came out in paperback, a year after the…
Q. I am thinking of suing my publisher. It’s located in Florida, and the contract says that it’s governed by Florida law. I live in New York. Do I have to sue the publisher in Florida or can I sue…
Q. My contract grants me cover approval but the paperback publisher never sent me the cover to look at. It’s totally different from the dust jacket on the hardcover, which was fabulous. I’m told that paperback publishers have the right…
Q: My publisher told me that I won’t be getting royalties for copies of my book that it sold lately because all its bookstore sales were made through its distributor and the distributor recently filed for bankruptcy. Is there language…
Q. I currently have two manuscripts that I am trying to place. One is a collection of essays, the other a memoir. The collection includes an essay called “Relief.” The memoir grew out of this essay, whose contents are dispersed…
Q. My contract for a medical how-to book has a clause which grants me full cover approval. I designed the cover, which includes powerful back cover endorsements from prominent doctors. When it came out in paperback, a year after the…
Q. The bankruptcy of Triskelion Enterprises, LLC, to which I had sold a romance, has brought to light an outrageous abuse of authors’ rights by federal bankruptcy judges. Many publishing contracts—I’ve sold eighty novels, so I’m very familiar with these–…
Q. Both my publishers are telling me that my books will never go out of print because electronic and print-on-demand editions will always be available. Is there any way to deal with these claims? A. You raise an important question.…
Q. Is there anything I have to be particularly careful about in the “competitive books” clause? A. Yes. Lots. The most important is to make sure that the prohibition on competitive works applies only to competitive books. Otherwise, your publisher…
Q. Are print-on-demand books considered print-on-paper or electronic editions? A. They are generally considered print-on-paper (“POP”) books, but there are arguments on both sides. Favoring their treatment as electronic editions: until the time of actual purchase, they exist only as…
Q. The contract for my new nonfiction book has a revision clause that says that if I don’t revise the book, the publisher can choose the reviser and pay the person from amounts that would otherwise be paid to me…
Q. I’m okay with the provision in my new contract giving the publisher 60 days to tell me if it’s interested in publishing my next (as yet unwritten) book. I’m not sure, however, when it’s appropriate for this 60-day option…