How to speak publisher - C is for Contract

The contract is the aim of much of your writing - the publisher's promise to publish your book as long as you write it properly, the publisher is still solvent, and you can agree the terms. I'm not going to say anything about contractual terms here as I've covered pretty much everything in the series How to read a publishing contract. But I will repeat one important point - don't assume the contract is written in stone. Actually, two points - don't be cheated in your pitiful gratitude that someone wants your book.

The contract the publisher sends you is a starting point for negotiation. They may well say it is a standard contract (it is; that just means it's the template they start from) and that everyone else signs (possibly true, especially if they don't have any astute or professional authors in their stable). Of course, the terms in the contract will favour the publisher at every turn. There will be clauses that, if you query them, the publisher will claim 'will never be used'. Fine; if they will never be used they can be removed. Do not be bullied. They want your book or they would not have offered you the contract in the first place. Read it carefully, and maybe have it read by the Society of Authors (if you are in the UK). Make sure you understand it all. Yes, I know it's about ten pages long, written in legalese and boring. But that's exactly why you DO need to read and understand it.

Once you have signed the contract, you won't be able to change the terms unless some significant event changes things rather dramatically. So if you sign a contract saying you will deliver your book by 31 December, you have to do that. Running out of time is not a good reason for delivering late. Losing the book because you didn't back it up and your computer breaks is just professional negligence, so don't do that either. If your family is wiped out in a fire, that is a good reason but you need to tell the publisher long before the deadline. (If the tragedy happens a couple of days before the deadline, you will have written the book already, so it won't be a problem.)

A contract is not a gift, it is a professional agreement and you should enter into it as a professional, not as a grateful wannabe-writer. Just as no writer has an automatic right to have their book published (most books written or proposed are crap), so no publisher has the right to dictate unfair terms and have you agree to them. Don't sign away electronic rights for 2% (or nothing); don't agree to do endless publicity for nothing for a flat-fee book; don't agree to revise a flat-fee book as necessary for future editions without another fee. In short, don't agree to be exploited or cheated.
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How to read a publishing contract (3)

If your book is illustrated, there may be clause covering the illustrations.

3. Illustrations The Publishers shall at their own expense reproduce any photographs, pictures, diagrams, maps or any other material in addition to the Author's illustrations which is considered necessary for the proper illustration of the Work. All photographs shall, when done with, be returned to the photographic agencies by the Publishers. Any material belonging to the Author shall be returned to him by the Publishers. The Publishers shall have the right to require such amendments or corrections by the Author to the illustrative material as they think fit.

This can look a bit scary, but don't worry - it doesn't mean you have to do anything you weren't expecting. The first bit means you don't have to pay for the licence to use any pictures. These might be pictures from a picture agency, or specially commissioned photographs or illustrations. In an academic book, you MAY have to pay for the use of illustrations, but this is a contract for a commercial fiction title and this is the standard - the publisher pays all reproduction costs.

The reference to the Author's illustrations doesn't mean you are expected to supply any illustrations - this is just a standard clause. If you are the author/illustrator of a picture book, you will already know you are providing illustrations. The book this contract relates to doesn't have any illustrations (or I don't think it does.... haven't seen the pdfs yet!) but the clause is still here. It will, of course, have a cover illustration, so that counts.

All photographs shall, when done with, be returned to the photographic agencies by the Publishers - This is an old bit, left in from the Dark Ages. Now, the photographs (if there are any) will be selected online and you will be sent thumbnails, or links to the light box on the picture agency site, or you will see them when they are in the layouts and you get a pdf. The publisher will never be in receipt of a physical copy of the photograph, they will just pay to download a high-resolution image file, so there is no returning to be done.

Long, long ago, when we had to use real physical photos, publishers would sometimes send copies of photos out to authors. This was very scary, as you could lose them, or spill coffee on them, or your child/cat could be sick on them, and then you had to pay a large fee to the picture agency. Thank God we don't have that any more.

Any material belonging to the Author shall be returned to him by the Publishers - This usually refers to any artwork roughs or reference you have sent (unless you are a real illustrator). Artwork roughs are sketches of the picture required. They are not to be reproduced in the book but passed to the illustrator so that (s)he knows what to drawn. Reference is any picture that can be used to guide the illustrator. It is an image that is more finished than a rough, but may not show exactly what to draw. For instance, if a map is needed, the reference may be a copyright image that shows exactly what is required, and the illustrator will draw something pretty similar. But reference may also be a picture of the type of hat a character in a larger picture must have, or a photograph on which a biological illustration is to be based, or almost anything else.

If you are the illustrator, you will have sent original artwork and perhaps a dummy (a small, rough, mock-up of the book showing how all the words and pictures are laid out). These should be returned to you. Never send anything without taking a copy. Obviously. Of course you weren't going to do that, were you? Even if you hand-deliver it, take a good quality copy.

The Publishers shall have the right to require such amendments or corrections by the Author to the illustrative material as they think fit - If you are the illustrator of the work, this means you have to make changes the publishers want. If you are not the illustator, don't worry about this. It basically means you might have to add annotation or suggest changes the illustrator can make. Sometimes, I do these by marking up the picture in Photoshop, but you can often do it just by giving a description. In the worst case, you can print it out, add your changes in pen and either put in the post (remember the post?) or scan it in. It doesn't mean you actually have to make the changes to the finished illustration (if you're not the illustrator) - so you can start breathing again.

Signing on the dotted line

You've slipped the fat contract out of the envelope — or opened the PDF attachment — and there is your first publishing contract looking alluring on the desk(top). It's a Hooray! moment. But wait — put down that pen! Don't sign it yet. They aren't going to take it away or cancel if you don't sign and return it immediately. A contract is just a suggestion. You are probably going to need to argue about those terms. Yes, you really do have to read it — all of it. And you really do have to say that they cannot have your first-born, nor can they extract a pint of blood every week. OK, this is your first-born and they already have it; you aren't necessarily going to give them your second-born.

A contract offers so many delicious opportunities for being stroppy that they can't all be covered in just one post. Being properly stroppy about the contract is something you have to build up to. For now, you can delegate to people who are professionally stroppy. If you have an agent, your agent should check the contract and argue. This doesn't mean you can't argue some more, later — but your agent can deal with all the obvious problems with the contract. I make it a point of honour to find at least two things my agent has not spotted. As a beginner, you could say 'Hmmm,' in a thoughtful sort of way, and agree that you can't see anything too dire in it — but do make it obvious you have read it.

If you don't have an agent you can ask the Society of Authors to check the contract for you. You can become a member of the Society of Authors as soon as you have a contract for a real book . They will then check your contracts for free. Or you can pay them to check your contract without joining. We will come back to the Society of Authors later, but it's a good idea to join. They have a nice ceiling, so if you go to an event and it's boring, you can look at the ceiling. There are more advantages. Later, remember.

If you want to get straight down to checking your contract, here are some red rags for your bullishness to look out for:

• waiving moral rights
• competing works clauses
• grabbing of rights in all territories
• grabbing of electronic rights
• an atrocious deal on electronic rights
• option on your next book
• agreeing to do free publicity
• outrageous liability clauses
• reversion clauses that don't specify what counts as out of print.

Don't worry if any or all of those mean nothing to you yet. They will, in time. And they don't all apply to all types of publishing.

So: a contract is not cast in stone. It is a starting point for negotiation. You will have been sent a boilerplate contract that is sent out to all authors, whatever their book, and it is up to you and your agent (if you have one) to get it tailored to your particular book and needs. DON'T feel so grateful that someone wants to publish your book that you just sign it without looking at it or thinking about the terms.

Coming next... 'Do you draw the pictures yourself?'