Publisher & co-author contracts

[ATP]

Hello folks.

I have obtained e-mail agreement for an e-book co-authorship with a writer and prominent financial authority. He is now waiting for the 'next step' - which I take to mean the contract.


What I need now is a 'good' e-book contract, suitable for me, who will be both publisher and
co-author. Can any one here kindly direct me to a site/s where I may find such? Is there anything in particular that I should know about getting into such a situation?



Any and all advice welcome.

Thanks,


ATP

[Cathy C]

What you are looking for, in legal lingo, is a "Book Collaboration Agreement." The issues that are dealt with in such an agreement are:


1. The duties of the parties and the rights of one party if the other author doesn't perform as agreed.

2. The split of royalties and expenses of publication (i.e., who need to pony up dollars to produce the book?)

3. Disclosure of the contents of the book with or without the permission of the co-author.

4. The effect of voluntary withdrawal from the project by one co-author, and rights to the work so far completed.

5. Control of physical and material notes, manuscripts, transcripts, records, drafts, etc.

6. The effect of death or disability of one of the co-authors during writing or after completion.

I have a good sample from an entertainment law workshop I took. It's very basic, but could be used by your attorney (and I ABSOLUTELY suggest you get an attorney for this) to draft something more on target with your project. If you want to PM me, I can tell you where to get a copy of the workshop materials.

[writerjenn]

You can also go to www.epicauthors.org (http://www.epicauthors.org) and view their sample contract for an idea of what is standard in the e-publishing world.


Jenn

[ATP]

Thank you both for this. From what I can gather, such contracts have the relationship as collaborator or publisher-author.

Would the contract be different if one is the publisher as well as co-author? Have either of you heard of this situation? Is it common?

Thanks,

ATP