This week, we’re starting a new Wednesday blog series on publishing contracts and understanding legalese. Each week, I’ll be taking a paragraph (or two) from a publishing contract, explaining what the language means and how the terms can be written to favor the publisher, the author, or both.
It’s my hope that this series will help both independent and traditionally published authors understand the standard legal terms used in publishing contracts (and publishing “terms of use” for online publishers) in order to facilitate negotiation and positive business relationships between authors and publishers (small and large).
The language I’ll be using is my own, hybridized from a variety of real contracts but not taken exclusively from any single source. Use of a “Frankencontract” helps us look at situations you wouldn’t see in the real world, but for teaching purposes it’s helpful to view the various issues from different angles.
Tune in next week for Paragraph 1 – The Recital!