I haven’t run a post on negotiating your own contract for a while, and received a recent email from a writer looking for resources on the subject.
I did negotiate my first contract myself since I didn’t have representation at the time–and didn’t have enough time to really hunt when the publisher came calling.
I wouldn’t recommend doing it by yourself, but sometimes it’s just not an option—agents are hard to come by, and you can get an offer from (usually small-to-mid-sized) publishers before you’re able to land a literary agent.
There are posts, by agents, on negotiating your own contract: the “Agenting 101” series (look for it on the right hand side of the page. There are eleven references) on the Pub Rants blog by Kristen Nelson, a blog entry called “Ten Things to Know if You Go Commando” on agent Janet Reid’s blog, and a series called “Contracts 101” on the BookEnds Literary Agency blog:
http://tinyurl.com/2rneqq
http://tinyurl.com/yaebq3t
http://tinyurl.com/y882fn5
There’s a guest post by agent Holly Root with Waxman Literary Agency on negotiating contracts: http://tinyurl.com/ybedos7
A general post by an agent on negotiating your own contract.
Another site I found helpful showed a sample author contract, just to give you an idea what the document may look like: www.writecontent.com.
Stroppy Author blog ran posts covering each section of a contract. Just scroll down for all the posts.
Usually publishers will go off a basic template contract—what’s known in the industry as a “boilerplate.” Publishers will expect counteroffers (I countered on my contract), but likely won’t budge too much from the original offer.
If something in the contract seems a little off to you, though, the information on these different blogs can definitely help keep you from being taken advantage of.
Hope this information will help some folks out there. :) Google searches on this topic are sometimes hard to sort through.
Great stuff, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth – Thanks for sharing this! I wish I’d learned some of these things a few years ago when I was looking for a publisher for my first book. I’ve had to learn some lessons the hard way…
I think it’s very smart to know how to work directly with publishers; as you say, a publisher may approach you before you get representation. It’s wise to be prepared.
Good advice. I “negotiated” several of my early contracts, although they were very much standard boiler-plate, take it or leave it things. I did find one clause that I wanted changed in the option paragraphs. But I’d rather have an agent who actually understands the language be doing this for me.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Excellent links, Elizabeth! Most authors start out without an agent and need to know about contracts. Another good resource is IvanHoffman.com – he’s one of the top publishing law lawyers in the country.
Good information Elizabeth. Thanks for sharing.
Nancy
N. R. Williams, fantasy author
This is a post for the files and reference. Excellent information and links.
This is an excellent resource in case one call comes before the other! Thank you so much! Bookmarking…
Added this into my critical post file! Not sure if I will need it, but I will surely find people along the way who will, so it is handy to have.
I think I did okay, but I know I gave up some rights.
I did have a bit of time when I signed my contract but there were so many things I didn’t know. What a great post.
CD
Thanks for the great resources. I’ve only begun to think about contracts. Now I can prepare myself.
Thanks so much for coming by today, y’all! Hope the information will help out in the future. :)