Image: Pierre Diamantopoulo via A different type of art
When Brisbane literary agent Alex Adsett gets a phone call from an upbeat author landing their first book deal, it typically goes in one of two ways. ‘More often, it’s the very nervous, very author happy to get any publishing deal at all.
‘Those authors, I really need to say to them, “you really need to value yourself and value your work, and negotiate this. Remember you don’t have to accept anything that is offered to you”.
‘There are some on the other side who come in very arrogant, very demanding, who want the world. You have then talk them down and say “no, we have to accept some of these things from the publisher”.’
Whatever category you might fall into, contracting is an important part of the publishing cycle. But before you do sign on the dotted line, ArtsHub has spoken with a number of industry insiders for their tips so that you don’t get shafted in a book deal.
Remember this is general advice only, and always to seek professional or legal advice in contractual matters.
Know what you’re entitled to
Melbourne author and screenwriter Luke Preston said one of the biggest problems he sees among fellow writers during the contractual process is a of lack insight into their entitlements. ‘I find its a big problem – and it happens in film too – is that people aren’t aware of what they’re entitled to, or what the publisher is entitled to as well,’ he said.
Preston’s gutsy crime sagas Out of Exile and Dark City Blue are among titles published through Momentum, the digital imprint of Pan Macmillan, and are the result of a positive and transparent negotiation process between agent, author and publisher.
‘The top five won’t screw you over. If they do, it will get out and the agents will stop dealing with them,’ he said.
Always seek legal advice
Executive Director of the Arts Law Centre of Australia Robyn Ayres said an independent contract review would flag anything requiring negotiation with a publisher. ‘Our first piece of advice would be to get advice,’ she said.
‘Do not sign anything, unless you understand the agreement that is being given to you. A publisher is going to put out a contract that is the best outcome for the publisher, so it’s very important to access some advice around what all that means.’
For authors without a lot of resources, Ayres said a low cost contract and document review service is offered by the Arts Law Centre. A similar service is also offered by or the Australian Society of Authors (ASA). ‘One of our pro bono lawyers would go through the contract and explain anything to the writer, anything they should be concerned about,’ she said.
‘There isn’t a sort of one size fits all when it comes to agreements.’
If a publisher wants a contract finalised quickly, Preston said warning bells should start ringing. ‘Anytime someone wants a contract rushed, it means there’s something wrong with it. Take more time, and find whatever that thing is in there that is not right,’ he said.
‘Say you’ve got an agreement to publish a manuscript with a publisher, and you run it through your lawyer or the ASA, it might take a couple of weeks.
‘It’s better to get things done right, than things done quickly. A publisher with nothing to hide will do that, especially the majors. They’ll also say “I love your book, we’re going to publish it in 2020” because that’s how long it takes.
‘They’ve got the time to negotiate a contract comfortably.’
Find the middle ground
Part of Adsett’s job is finding the middle ground, but sometimes it can be tough, even with nervous first time authors. ‘You have actually got more power in your potential now as a complete newbie as you might have in a few years as a midlist author, where publishers can look at what you have sold and what you haven’t sold,’ she said.
‘You don’t know whether they’re going to be a bestselling author or not, and having me there, the ASA or a lawyer to negotiate just gives the publisher pause to wonder what they can give away and what they can negotiate.
‘It puts the author in a much stronger position than they would have been.’
When a publisher has come back with a really normal, standard contract, Adsett also tells clients when to peg things back. ‘I can go to the author and say “this is fair, they’re not pulling your leg, they’re not being rude, this is actually how the industry works”,’ she said.
‘The author can take that on board with me as an independent person to say “that’s, ok, that’s standard”, and the author makes that decision if this is something they want to accept, or whether they want to walk away from the importance of a royalty and advance.
The royalty clauses in a contract are important because this is the money that an author receives over time from sales. The advance is an upfront payment paid out by the publisher, which later comes out of sales.
Australian Society of Authors Executive Director Angelo Loukakis said the changing publishing landscape, where the shelf life of books in print has diminished, along with short-term marketing and promotion deals done with distributors and booksellers, has meant the ability for writers to collect royalties is also diminishing. ‘This is why it’s important for authors to negotiate as much as possible for an advance on royalties,’ he said.
‘A proper advance, meanwhile, shows the publisher’s strong commitment to publication of the work, and provides some financial support to the author during the editing and production processes ahead of publication.’
Adsett favours a good royalty over a high advance because if a book sells well in the long run, the royalties is where the author is going to get their money. ‘As a print deal, you want an advance that is decent enough so that the publisher is going to take it seriously,’ she said.
Preston is more liberal with the advance because it’s taken out of sales anyway. ‘It’s not money for free, it’s just money. Even if you have a $1000 advance and you sell shit loads of copies – it does Graeme Simpson kinds of numbers – you don’t get any less money, you just get less money up front,’ he said.
Make sure you get a marketing plan
Good marketing can be more important to how much money you make than the quantum of royalties or advance.
Preston said a marketing plan doesn’t need to be included in a contract per se, but he likes to hear regardless how a publisher plans to promote his manuscript. ‘You don’t want them to just put your book out and forget about it,’ he said.
‘They’ll probably put together a two to three page document saying “we’re going to do this”, “we’re going to do that”, and two months before you book is going to be published you can call up and say “when are we actually going to?”
‘That’s just as important for me. Royalties and so forth are important, but you actually need to get your book out there in the first place.”
Make sure your contract has a reversion clause
Everyone has their own deal breaker, but for Adsett it’s the reversion clause, or the conditions which outline when the rights to the work will be returned to the author.
‘They might be signing a terrible deal in many ways – terrible royalties, terrible advance – because they might be getting exposure out of it, or experience with an editor. It’s not necessarily a bad deal if the author is getting something they want out of it,’ she said.
‘But if the author doesn’t have the option to get the rights back if it’s not working out, then that starts ringing all the danger signs for me.
‘Say you’re a wine author, and you write about wine in a newspaper, and that’s your living, and you write a book about all the best wines for 2015. If there’s a clause in that contract that says you’re not allowed to write about the topic of this book for anyone else for a period five years, that’s going to impact your career as a wine writer.
‘If that author could not get that changed, then they would have to walk away from that deal.
‘But if you are say a literary author who publishes one book every 10 years on a different topic every time, then a clause that stops you from writing about that topic isn’t going to make a difference to you.’
Don’t forget about digital rights
Ayres said traditional publishing agreements are becoming less common in favour of deals which preference digital publishing, print on demand and self publishing arrangements.
But the basics in these contracts are the same and it’s important to make sure the right provisions are still included in a deal. ‘There are a lot of writers who are choosing to just go down online publishing rather than printed publications, that is a huge change,’ she said.
‘Do not agree to online terms and conditions without having someone explain those are until you are clear about what they are going to do for you.
‘Copyright is key. Understand copyright and how it is going to be used, and make sure what the income streams for that copyright is going to be, and also understand the distribution models.’
Be prepared to walk away
If a deal is not within industry standards or negotiations haven’t resulted in a balanced contract, Loukakis said the author might want to take their business elsewhere. ‘If a publisher won’t negotiate with an author at all, they might want to consider whether or not they wish to work with that publisher,’ he said.
Preston has walked from a deal – predominately in the film industry, but it’s something he has done unashamedly. ‘What people forget is, or what people who aren’t writers forget, is that it’s taken someone a hell of a lot of time to get something done,’ he said.
‘I’m in a situation now where someone is trying to take advantage of something, and I’m like, “no, I don’t need you”. If I’m not going to get anything career wise or financial from it, then I’m out.
‘Everyone needs to let you know what their intentions are, and you need to let them know what you expect of them. That will stop the relationship disintegrating over the next eight to 10 months, or whatever it is going to be.’
