What's the Deal?

In the world of publishing, the word contracts usually brings moans and groans. While not as interesting as getting books published, without properly executed contracts there wouldn't be any books to publish or a publisher to publish them.

Contracts protect both publisher and author; you have clauses that clearly spell out

• delivery and publication issues
• what rights the author is giving the publisher
• what permissions need to be cleared to protect publisher and author
• how much of an advance will the publisher pay and under what terms
• what kind of royalty the author will receive for the various types of book sales
• what would cause the contract to be terminated
• how rights revert back to the author
• and finally, the housekeeping clauses which cover all the truly mundane things from agency representation to taxes.

So, one contract does not fit all. A poorly constructed contract can adversely affect your business and your ability to be around tomorrow. A poorly constructed contract that is perceived to be unfair to your authors, will cause your authors to go somewhere else. A poorly constructed contract can cost you money, money that could be used to keep your business running and growing.

Not to be forgotten when discussing contracts is the royalty statement. The royalty statement is the explanation behind the royalty check to the author has received. A well-organized royalty statement will keep track of your sales and licenses for your book by type of sale, units sold, dollar amount received, royalty rate and earnings due the author.

Your royalty statement will help you meet your contractual obligations and will help maintain good relations with your authors and their agents.

Additional Articles

For definitions of various financial terms that regularly occur when talking about publishing, see What's the Difference Between a Distributor and an Wholesaler? To learn more about book distributors, read Am I Ready for a Book Distributor?

Deirdre and Gary Smerillo are the owners and founders of Smerillo Associates, a consulting firm focusing on the business and financial needs of small and independent publishers. Based outside of New York City, they can be reached via .