This last year, there have been multiple posts on blogs and such from writers that are unhappy with how their relationship with their publisher is going. They don’t feel they’re being treated right. Now, I’m sympathetic to a writer’s frustration, but as 99 percent of these issues are contractual issues, the writers’ problems often stem from their lack of concern with the details in their contracts at the time of signing the contract. There seems to be a misconception out there that a contract is merely a guideline while the actual rights and obligations a publisher owes an author (and vice versa) stems from some other origin. Common courtesy, moral fortitude, pick your implausible source. The reality is, the extent of the detail in the contract is the extent of the obligations on both sides. If an author signs a contract that never says a publisher has to publish their books, and the publisher pulls them from the site, the author has zero right to complain, because when they signed the contract, they said this was all right with them. Just because the books aren’t for sale doesn’t mean the author deserves their rights back. They may resent the sale of rights with nothing to show for it, but again, if they signed a contract that didn’t cover their butt with the basics like saying the publisher was obligated in return for these rights to maintain the books for sale and to what extent, what do they want the rest of the world to do? The author is the one that set the terms and limits not the public at large. Now, if there’s an out of print clause in the contract, they may be entitled to their rights back, but, only to the extent and under the terms of this clause because again, the publisher is only obligated to whatever is in writing on the contract. Which pretty much means making sure there’s the correct wording in a contract to cover an author’s butt in all eventualities is an imperative. And that responsibility is 100 percent on the author.

I’ve heard hiring an attorney to review the contract is expensive. I’ve heard the publisher won’t negotiate. I’ve heard the publisher might not “Like” them if they negotiate. I’ve pretty much heard it all. And my answer is always the same. This is a business. That contract an author’s life blood in this business , so an author has a choice but just because an author makes a choice not to cover their butt, and for whatever reason signs what’s put in front of them, doesn’t make a publisher evil. Business is and always has been everybody out for themselves. That’s why there are contracts. To contain the self serving nature of the business on both sides. An author can spend $150 upfront to have their contract and the clauses (or lack thereof) in it explained to them before they sign so they are making an informed decision, or they can pay 2-3 K at the back end when their naive trust or lack of initiative blows up in their face. It’s pretty much that simple. Publishing is not a social club. So please, all aspiring authors, please write this down. Tape it to the computer whenever you send out a query. THERE IS NOT ONE SINGLE PUBLISHER IN EXISTENCE THAT WILL PUT THE AUTHOR’S INTEREST AHEAD OF THEIR OWN. I don’t care how sweet their online persona. Whenever an author is presented with a contract they should understand they are now swimming with sharks and if they don’t find or hire some teeth of the own, they will become lunch down the road, and ultimately, when that happens they have no one but themselves to blame. In publishing, on ounce of prevention is worth several pounds of cure.

While in good times, any publisher will find it easy to present an author friendly image, as soon as hard times hit (and they always do) the publisher has only one recourse, to squeeze as much life blood as they can out of their assets. In publishing, this is the rights granted to them in the contract and how they can manipulate them into income. And they will get creative about it. That’s their job, to keep the company financially afloat and if they have to do it in an “author unfriendly “manner, they are going to. I don’t know how to make it more clear. This business isn’t any more stable for publishers than it is for authors. Remember that. Put it on a sticky on the computer. Do whatever it takes so when a contract is put in front of you, you see it as the absolutely vital instrument to your future it is and take the time and spend the money to make sure it works for you as well as it does for the publisher. Because the only ones at the table come signing time are the author and the publisher. The only ones who have any interest in the terms of the contract are the author and the publisher. And the only ones who will be effected by those terms down the road are the individual author and the publisher. It’s too late to complain after the contract has been signed. Too late to research. Too late for anything except to live with the consequences.

That may sound harsh, but it’s the cold, hard reality of a writer’s life and there’s no getting around it. There are likely 50 excuses one can trot out when faced with a contract to not get professional advice or to not heed the advice given. Not one of them will cover an author’s butt down the road. When it comes to contracts, authors have to be informed, proactive, professional and determined.