Thanks very much, everyone. While I've decided to give this guy a miss, I've e-mailed him the following letter. His answers may be interesting:
Dear Torquil
I read your "Final Agreement" .pdf file with considerable interest and found myself wondering about some points. I need some clarifications about these questions:
Your Point No 2 (Grant of Rights). You mention (2.1) the "full legal term of the agreement and all extensions thereof". What is the full legal term? It is not defined or denoted under point 1 of the agreement. How are any extensions to be managed, by a formula or by mutual agreement or by case by case negotiations?
(2.2) Will your site also seek out further opportunities for publishing the books in print/other format? In specifying that you have the complete right to negotiate with other interested parties, are you limiting yourself to unsolicited approaches or will you also act as a literary agent?
Your point No (4) Option on Future Work. Now according to this point during the course of the agreement the publisher, that's you, has the right of first refusal to any and all material the author writes, even if commissioned by a third party, and the author has a right to accept an offer from another party if only it's better than what you're offering.
This point has me asking several pertinent questions:
1. Is it fair to the author to bind him to a publisher for material the author has not yet written? What if the author prefers to submit his future work elsewhere? I don't know what you'd have done in my place, but certainly I'd balk at giving anyone rights over my future work.
2. By taking the rights of first refusal, isn't the publisher throwing the author open to the possibility of lawsuits if the author is commissioned to write something by a third party? If the author has to live in fear of lawsuits, isn't he perforce going to avoid writing anything at all for a third party during the course of the agreement, and doesn't the author, in effect, become bound to the publisher? Another feature of the contract that would be an immediate deal-breaker for me.
3. What is the criterion for "better" offer from a third party? That's not defined, and it should be. Is offering a greater royalty percentage a "better" offer? Suppose another publisher offers lesser royalty but greater potential sales? Are your 10% hardback and 8% paperback royalties at industry standard level? And why should the author not be deemed competent to judge for himself which offer to accept?
Your point (5) Payment. What is the mode of payment? How is the author to know whether the number of downloads is actually as stated by the publisher? Is there any independent method of verification? Is it industry standard to carry over payments of below 50 pounds to the next quarter?
And three other questions: 1. What, precisely, will the publisher do to promote the book? In print, books can be advertised and prominently displayed in bookstores, reviewed by magazines and newspapers, and the like. I don't know how, except by random happenstance and aggressive self-promotion online by the author, potential readers would arrive on your site. I would need to know more about this.
2. I have read on your home page that you don't edit works but publish "raw manuscripts" as you put it. Since I do a strict self-editing I don't really mind this, but the samples of writing I have read on your site weren't particularly grammatical or well-presented. I am not sure of reader enthusiasm under these circumstances.
3. How about the author's access to his own work on your site? Nothing about that is mentioned. Again, I need information on this.
Hoping for a quick, detailed and satisfactory reply.
Bill
PS I may have follow up questions.