Can you share in what ways you found the contract unfavorable? The more your fellow writers know, the better decisions they can make for themselves, not just with this publisher but with any.
Maryn, thanking you in advance
This happened several weeks ago in a faraway land (New York), but the whole process was sketchy. The publisher sent me a contract on one day and then sent a different contract the next day saying it was more friendly. Why the apparent slip up? Are they not organized?
The biggest term in the contract that I could never accept was that it required me to sign away the copyright. Basically, I was giving them my novel (and all derivatives which would have included the subsequent novels in the series I plan to write). It became a work for hire. Only a ghost writer would ever do something like that.
Further, there was no mention of author copies of the novel once it was published. I've seen this at some publishers, and the purpose seems to compel
you to buy your own novel from them. So they could do the minimum editing/production on it, make it a print-on-demand work, and then make money off of you. At least that's how it seemed to me.
There were other issues in the contract. The contract required me to assign the copyright to the publisher, but then later it stated that the publisher would register the copyright in my name. That was contradictory.
There was no mention in the contract of me having any input on the edits the editor could make to my novel.
There was a tw0-year publication window before the deal would terminate. That seemed excessive to me. They could just sit on my novel for two years and I couldn't do anything about it or with it.
There was some language in it that would apply to nonfiction works (revisions) that wouldn't apply to novels, so why was it in the contract unless they were sloppy?
There were other points. I have some experience reading legal contracts, and I might have been able to redline this one into something I'd accept, but it seemed too much work for what seemed a dubious opportunity.
There are a number of sites online (Authors Guild for one) that offer sample contracts favorable to writers. At the least these sites will list the things to watch out for in contracts.
I hope that helps.
