Writers in the Storm

Susan Spann

As summer fades, an increasing number of authors will find themselves on submission and, hopefully, in the enviable position of evaluating publishing contract offers. In light of that, I’m kicking off my autumn contract guest posts a little early.

Authors have plenty to watch for when evaluating a publishing deal, but one of the most common dangers is also one the author might not see: an abbreviated contract that omits important clauses and protections.

Most authors look at the standard-length (12-30 page) publishing contract with a combination of excitement, fear, and confusion. For those not versed in legalese (and, more precisely, Publishing-ese) the contract terms can range from “difficult to read” to “penned in Sanskrit.”

When authors see a three-page form, they often think “hey, this is great!” and “finally, a contract that makes sense!”

But beware…that way be dragons.

Publishing contracts run long because they have to deal with many legal issues. “Copyright” in a manuscript is actually a bundle of rights, each of which should be addressed in a proper publishing contract. Failure to deal with each of the relevant issues results in ambiguities, many of which will cut in the publisher’s favor (or, at a minimum, need a court to resolve—usually at great cost).

Recently, I’ve seen a number of “short-form contracts” which claim to offer authors a “better deal” than those being offered by “traditional, complex forms.”

Again, I say: beware.

These shorter forms do often include a statement of royalties due on sales (usually on a percentage basis), a grant of rights to publish, and a statement of the timing (often quarterly) when the publisher will send the author’s royalty checks. However, these shorter contracts are often missing a number of critical provisions that many authors don’t realize they need to look for. When a problem arises, the author goes to the contract, only to find that the “friendly short form” doesn’t address that issue (or, when it does, the publisher prevails).

Here’s a list of important provisions many short-form contracts don’t include:

1.  Complete statements of rights/reservations of rights. The shorter the contract, the more likely it is to simply grant the publisher “all rights” in and to the work “in all forms, formats, and territories.” Publishers don’t need “all rights” to a work. In fact, most publishers take print, ebook, and sometimes serial rights. Everything else should be open for negotiation—and at a minimum, those other rights (often called “subsidiary rights”) should be separately listed and addressed in the contract language. One-size-fits-all rights language is never the best option for the author, and always something the author should be watching for with an eagle eye.
2.  Author termination rights. Although most publishing contracts last “for the life of copyright,” that’s actually only the contract term if the contract isn’t breached or terminated earlier. Good contracts give the author several ways to escape if things go badly, including the right to terminate (and revert all rights to the author) if the publisher fails to publish, goes out of business, breaches the contract, and/or fails to sell at least a specified minimum number of copies in a stated period of time. Short form contracts often fall woefully short on author termination rights (if they mention them at all).
3.  Sales Statements. It’s not enough for the publisher to send the author royalty checks. Each check should be accompanied by a sales statement detailing the number, price, and other relevant information about the books sold, returned, and exchanged during the period in question. Not surprisingly, however, short-form contracts often skip right over the issue of sales statements—and unwary authors often focus on the royalty numbers, and forget the need for sales documentation until the contract is signed and the first (unexplained) royalty check comes in.
4.  Audit rights. The author should have the right to audit the publisher’s books and records (as they relate to the author’s work) at least once in every calendar year. Good audit language goes beyond this single sentence, too (we’ll deal with the issue in more detail in another post this autumn).
5.  “Out of Print” status defined and tied to sales. Short-form contracts often either omit the author’s “out of print” termination rights altogether (whoops…) or tie “out of print” status to “availability” – meaning that as long as an ebook version of the work exists, the book is never out of print. Unless an author is watching for this, it’s easy to miss the omission of out of print language.

 Note: this list is not exhaustive. There are many other important provisions which short-form contracts often omit (or fail to mention). I’ve listed the ones above as an example, to demonstrate just how dangerous short-form contracts can be for unwary authors.

Sometimes, publishers say that these clauses “aren’t needed,” or that authors and publishers should be able to trust one another to “do the right thing.”

SHENANIGANS ON THAT.

It’s true that publishers and authors should be able to trust one another, and that good publishing relationships do function like a partnership between the author and the publishing house.

However, it’s also true that good fences make good neighbors, and good contracts make for good partnerships—in publishing and elsewhere.

Never rely on any promise or representation which isn’t contained in the body of the contract. Contract law says that a promise which isn’t contained in the contract generally does not exist as part of the deal. (There are exceptions, but you should never rely on falling within an exception to the rule.)

And never, ever sign a publishing contract—especially not a “short-form” deal—without obtaining a professional’s opinion to ensure the contract protects your legal rights.

In the months to come, we’ll look at some other important contract terms, and how to protect your rights when you enter into a publishing deal.

In the meantime: have you ever seen a “short-form contract” (less than five pages long)? Did you notice any important clauses missing from the deal?

 Susan Spann writes the Shinobi Mysteries, featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori and his Portuguese Jesuit sidekick, Father Mateo. Her debut novel, CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur Books, 2013), was a Library Journal Mystery Debut of the Month. The second Shinobi Mystery, BLADE OF THE SAMURAI, released on July 15, 2014. Susan is also a transactional attorney whose practice focuses on publishing law and business. When not writing or practicing law, she raises seahorses and rare corals in her marine aquarium. You can find her online at her website, and on Twitter (@SusanSpann).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I don't "do" poetry.

In my first writing class–a seminar style graduate-level class for English majors (what was I thinking?)–this math major freaked when I was handed a long poem and told I'd be leading a discussion about it.

The professor gave me advice that I still use for finding the significant takeaways from articles and conference sessions. In my notes, I highlight the phrases or sentences that I connect with, then I compile those golden lines into a shorter piece that means something to me.

Here are my golden lines from  the RWA 2014 conference, from craft to marketing to building a social media platform. I've noted who gave the sage advice. I hope you get something from my take-away.

1. For the first read through of your completed manuscript, print out a hard copy. Don't stop to fix problems. Use a check-mark to note where the prose drags. Put parentheses around horrid sentences. Circle sections needing more detail or emotion. Use a question mark for "What did I do here?"  (James Scott Bell)
2. At every juncture, look at the situation from each character's POV and have each make the best move they can from his or her own POV. (James Scott Bell)
3. A complex character has two emotions at war at the same time. This increases reader interest. (James Scott Bell)
4. What would make your character throw a chair through a window? Find those moments and deepen the POV and emotional impact. (James Scott Bell)
5. Backstory rule of thumb: You're allowed a total of 3 sentences in the first three chapters. In the next three chapters you're allowed a total of three paragraphs--not all together! (James Scott Bell)
6. Give your agent a list of what you do really well when you go out for a contract. (Eloisa James)
7. The Six Goals of Online Book Promotions: sales, new readers, exposure, name/brand/book recognition, build relationships with readers, networking with authors, bloggers and reviewers (Laura Kaye)
8. A writer's power is in her ability to evoke an emotional response in the reader. (Robin Perini)
9. Details can take your story from melodrama to powerful. SPICED: Specificity, Powerful verbs, Image-making picture-forming words, Compelling dialogue, End hooks, Deep POV (Robin Perini and Claire Cavanaugh)
10. The Care and Feeding of the Social Media Beast: Consistency is key. Blog two to three times a month on your website, Facebook one to two times a day, Twitter five to eight times a day, Pinterest one to five times a day, Instagram one to three times a week. Do not link all your social media! Each has a different job and a different audience.(Tyra Burton and Jana Oliver)
11. Insurmountable odds make a book breathless. Your goal as a writer is to make the reader think, "How is the writer going to pull this off?" (Sarah MacLean, winner of the 2014 RITA™ for Best Historical)
12. How to keep your creative brain waves functioning at optimal levels: Write at the same time every day. (Kathleen Baldwin)
13. Tips for Upping the conflict: (Sarah MacLean, except where noted)

• Torture your character. Think the worst thing that can happen and do that. (Carrie Ryan)
• Use your characters' fears against them. Scare them into action.
• Any time your characters are close to getting together, throw them an obstacle.
• Don't write from a place of fear that you can't figure out the dilemma.
• Don't pull your punches. Put in all the emotion and action.

 Bonus URL from Penny Sansavieri, a marketing expert who specializes in internet marketing: If you are selling your books on Amazon, this gets you to a "back page" with a drop down menu of all the categories. You're allowed two categories, but pick three to five and change them monthly. Find the narrowest categories you can. The algorithm kicks it when you're number one in a category. It doesn't matter if there are only five other books in the category. Your best chance to get Amazon to promote your book with its algorithm is to be number one in any category.

http://www.amazon.com/-/b/?node=1000

I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout out to Lisa Wells who mentioned Writers in the Storm at her Blog Bites session.

And finally, the best advice of all:

 You did really well. I was unhappy because last year I got asked for two fulls, and this year I only am sending two partials and a query. Bless you,
Laura Drake, for giving me a kind attitude adjustment. Sometimes I can be my worst enemy. You did really well, too. Congrats on that beautiful golden lady. (And thanks for letting me carry it!)

Want to share some of your golden lines from RWA14? Do you have advice to pass along? I don't know about you, but I freely admit that I need all the help I can get!

 Fae Rowen discovered the romance genre after years as a science fiction freak.  Writing futuristics and medieval paranormals, she jokes that she can live anywhere but the present.

Punished, oh-no, that’s published as a co-author of a math textbook, she yearns to hear personal stories about finding love from those who read her books, rather than horrors of algebra lessons gone wrong.  She is grateful for good friends who remind her to do the practical things in life like grocery shop, show up at the airport for a flight and pay bills.

A “hard” scientist who avoided undergraduate writing classes like the plague, she now enjoys sharing her brain with characters who demand that their stories be told.

 

Shannon Baker

I write mysteries. I don’t write sci fi/fantasy because my mind is tethered to the real world too tightly to make the great leaps required to build whole new worlds. And by tethered, I mean, I’m not that imaginative. Write what you know, they say. It’s good advice that makes creating fiction so much easier than if you had to make it all up from scratch.

When we moved to Flagstaff in 2007, there was a huge controversy waging over pumping treated waste water onto a ski area on the San Francisco Peaks just outside of town. Those peaks are sacred to several local tribes and feature in their creation stories. It’s where the tribes collect plants and herbs and perform vital ceremonies.

This situation seemed ripe for a murder mystery. I “borrowed” from real life and pretty much used the whole set up for Tainted Mountain. I jumped into it, researching and asking questions. It didn’t take me long to discover the Hopi tribe. Destitute and tiny, this tribe who makes its home on three mesas north of Winslow, believe they are responsible for the balance of the entire world. They view themselves as a microcosm of the world and what happens with them will be played out in full forces over the planet. I swear I didn’t make up any Hopi stuff. All of the weird, magical, amazing bits in my books are from real life research.

I was hooked. I started playing the “what if” game to build the plot. Who would be the most affected by this fight? Aha, the ski resort owner. Write what you know, right? I made Nora a business woman, even though accounting is not exactly a career path littered with excitement and action. I figured we wouldn’t be following our unfortunate heroine, Nora, as she built spreadsheets and created projection analyses.

About this time, I landed a day job in my new town. I was hired as an accountant at The Grand Canyon Trust, an environmental non-profit whose mission is to protect and restore landscapes on the Colorado Plateau. My position, as unlikely as it sounds, was finance manager and administrator of the Trust’s cattle operation on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Like Nora, my job was dry and boring. Oh, but the perks!

As with any good book, my time at the Trust was full of conflict. I never got used to the ebb and flow of finances at a non-profit. However, I loved working with inspired, passionate, creative people in those amazing landscapes.

At lunchtime, while I reheated my leftover beef stew, and they’d quaff some kind of green, lumpy juice they’d made from CFS shares, we talked and laughed and I learned about botany, biology, hydrology and Native American culture. They introduced me to quinoa, for which I am forever grateful.

They taught me about composting and cold frame gardening. My world view expanded as they shared their travel experiences and knowledge of strange and beautiful places. One woman spent weekends in the southern Arizona desert assisting illegal immigrants. Another woman took me cycling up Snowbowl Road and through Page Springs outside of Sedona. I reached new heights of happy hour accomplishment with another. The ranch manager took me to places on the North Rim that few people ever get to see. Those field trips—breathtaking!

I was in the early stages of plotting Tainted Mountain when I started at the Trust and quickly decided Nora needed to be an environmentalist. That would create big internal conflict for her and I had great examples of earnest and dedicated people I worked with. Using my new work situation, I again followed the “write what you know” advice.

When book two, Broken Trust, rolled around, Nora was out of a job. By this time, I’d left Flagstaff and was back in my capitalist comfort zone. Sticking with what I know, I let Nora find a position with a non-profit. I got to indulge my writerly urge for revenge on distasteful ex-coworkers. Nora steps into an organization full of characters that sprang from my mind…almost. I changed their genders and positions, mashed up traits and distributed them to various characters. I got to kill off a couple of them, make fun of others, and laud some, all to the background of this quirky world of Other People’s Money. I even set Loving Earth Trust, Nora’s new employer, in a farm house eerily similar to the one in which I worked. Except the fictional one is in Boulder Canyon instead of Flagstaff. That was the handiest part, since I knew the place often smelled like burnt toast, how the heater sounds when it kicks on and off, and the creepiness of being in the rambling structure alone at night.

Am I worried one of my old co-workers will read Broken Trust and be offended or sue me? Not at all. I’ve changed enough details and made stuff up so there’s no issue of libel. As to the people coming after me because I present them in a bad light: They’ll never recognize themselves. That’s the way it works. They don’t see themselves as despicable. But the real reason I’m not worried is that I’m pretty sure none of them will read it.

What about you? Do you write what you know? Have you used real characters or situations in your writing?

Shannon Baker writes the Nora Abbott Mystery Series, a fast-paced mix of murder, environmental issues and Hopi Indians published by Midnight Ink. Broken Trust, released March 2014, takes place in Boulder, CO. A lover of western landscapes, she can often be found backpacking, skiing, kayaking, cycling, or just playing lizard in the desert.  Tainted Mountain, the first in the series is set in Flagstaff, AZ and is a New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards finalist. Shannon is Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers 2014 Writer of the Year. She serves on the board of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and is a member of SinC and MWA.

Shannon's Website