E-Publisher Author Mills

I would add to the "Any publisher" list of concerns with:

Any publisher that has a contract provision that requires permission to use the cover art in advertising. This often means they've hired a freelance artist and either a) don't own the rights to the art or b) haven't paid for the additional use of display purposes. BIG worry for the author if they have a contract dispute. (Note: This is from my "been there/done that" file, where I had to pay the artist to keep using the cover assigned to me after the firefight was over and the publisher lost.)

Any publisher that does not have a physical address listed somewhere in the contract, or requires ONLY email notification of disputes. This can mean the company doesn't have a fixed address and can disappear into the night with unpaid royalties.

Any publisher that does not have as a contract requirement that they issue sales reports and pay royalties on a schedule of some sort. (Yeah, there really are contracts that don't require the publisher to pay.) Contract clauses that require a minimum of $25.00 before a check is cut are common in ebooks. But no requirement that they pay at all is a worry.

Any publisher that requires reserves on returns for an ebook-only sales. No such thing. Reserves on returns is a print provision. It would tell me the publisher has no idea what they're doing when it comes to contracts.

Any publisher that has no contract requirement that they either publish the book or return the rights within a specified period of time. (Yeah, there are those too.) This is called "mandated publication" in the industry and it applies just the same to ebooks as print.

There's my additions.