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The New World of Publishing: Reversion Clauses Again
When and how do you get your book back when you sign a traditional publishing contract? That simple question will be the one aspect of your contract that in twenty years you will still be swearing about, long after the validation of being published by a “big publisher” has faded. I am NOT going to go into specific language of reversion clauses. That is the clause (or clauses) in your publishing contract that tells you when you get your book back. Every clause is different from contract to contract and from publisher to publisher. You need an IP attorney (not an agent) to tell you what each clause means from…
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Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing: You Can Trust Your Agent
Okay, I’m going to grab hold of the third rail of fiction publishing with this one and see how long I can hold on. Myth: You can trust your fiction agent. Major myth, actually. And one I have tried to deal with in a number of ways in this book. For some reason, the same person who will give a stranger all their money and the paperwork for that money will at the same time shout about a reader stealing a book online. I shake my head at that. That’s like complaining someone stole the mirror off your car while at the same time a moving van has backed up…
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Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing: Agents and Contracts
These last two weeks I have been watching a friend struggle with all the agent myths AFTER getting an offer from a major New York publisher for a multi-book deal that he marketed and sold himself. And watching this, I came to realize that there is still another agent myth that I haven’t covered in a chapter. This is a brand new myth because of the change in the industry and agents. The myth is that you must have an agent or an attorney to negotiate a book contract. A myth that I have taught and believed up until things changed in the last few years. Truth: Today, sometimes, under…