So true. There are times to hire an attorney, and this is one of those times. 🙂

Thanks, Susan. That makes things much clearer.

Glad to, Fae! I hope authors can use the post and the information in it to manage their careers in positive ways.

Small publishers may try to tack additional terms onto an agreed-upon reversion - although if the contract gives the author the right to terminate the publisher cannot insist on anything not contained in the original contract. That said, if the publisher is agreeing to termination when the contract does not permit it, some negotiation often does occur - and for that, authors need to get representation from a publishing lawyer or literary agent. Otherwise, the author is likely to be taken advantage of. It's not possible for me to discuss all the possible permutations, and how they should be addressed, because these kind of negotiated agreements are so highly individual and specialized.

Thank you - I'm glad you liked it.

Hi Anna - I'm glad the post was helpful. Most publishing contracts do contain an option clause of some kind - the terms vary dramatically, however, and authors should negotiate so the option covers only the next book-length work in the same series (or same genre, if the work is stand-alone), gives the publisher the right to negotiate with the author (but not simply the "right to publish" - the right is to negotiate a separate contract, on mutually acceptable terms, for publishing the future book), and which has no restrictions on the author if the publisher and author cannot come to contract terms acceptable to both parties within a stated amount of time (no longer than 90 days). That's not all there is to it, but those are the minimum basics.

7 years is far longer than I normally request, Bryan. 2-3 years from publication is a reasonable time for the publisher to recoup its investment - longer than that, and it seems too long to me. That said, it's impossible to say for certain whether it's an unacceptable time--to say that for certain would require me to read the rest of the terms of the contract. (That said, it does seem too long - and it's definitely not "standard.")