I am currently in talks with a small press about publishing my novel, and they finally gave me a book publishing contract!
While I'm a writer by night, by day, I work as a lawyer, and so I draft and review agreements for a living.
When I received my book publishing contract, part of me really wanted to save some money and just review it myself.
But I didn’t.
Instead, I sucked it up and paid $200 an hour for an attorney who specializes in book publishing contracts (it took her about two hours to review mine). That's a typical price for a lawyer, but there are also other options like Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, which provides pro bono legal representation.
Book Publishing Contracts: Why You Need a Lawyer
For me it was a good move to hire a lawyer to look over my book publishing contract, for these two reasons*:
1. Lawyers Have Expertise
The attorney I hired specialized in reviewing publishing contracts and it showed. I knew she would have a better idea about the royalty rates, for example, but she had useful comments about nearly every single provision in the contract.
The reality is, my prospective publisher—like all publishers—drafted the agreement with an eye toward minimizing the publisher's risk, as it should.
But, as writers, we need someone to review that document with an eye toward minimizing our risk and getting us what we want (not to mention anticipating the things we may not even know that we want).
Agents (assuming they are not also attorneys) have experience but not necessarily expertise. They know what they have seen before, what’s typical, and what’s not. An attorney will have the depth of knowledge to really explain to you what you’re signing and serve as your advocate.
2. Lawyers Have an Ethical Obligation Not to Screw You Over
All attorneys must adhere to certain ethical standards, or else they risk being sanctioned, disbarred, or maybe worse!
There are extensive sets of rules in every state that require attorneys to be competent, honest, and diligent in the legal advice they provide and how they handle your money.
Lawyers are required to take a class on this in law school, are tested on it during most bars, and have to pass an additional test dedicated specifically to their ethical obligations. Ethics are taken very seriously in this field, and that’s good for you!
*FYI, these are tips based on my personal experiences as a writer. This is not legal advice!
What are other ways writers can protect themselves? Let us know what you think in the comments.
PRACTICE
Since we’re talking about the law, take fifteen minutes to write a scene that includes a lawyer. When your time is up, share in the comments section! And if you post, please be sure to give feedback to your fellow writers.
Happy writing!
It seems a contract with a publisher is everyone’s goal. Yet, I see publisher-backed authors posting and self-promoting as much (if not more) than Indie authors, and many have said publishers are not as agressive in that area. So what are the advantages?
I think the main advantage is that, in addition to helping you with editing and marketing, publishers have connections to libraries, book reviewers, etc. and just expertise in publishing. It’s hard enough to have two jobs (as many indie publishers do starting out), but to have to learn the whole publishing industry as well is daunting. The author has to go out and promote and publicize themselves but at least they don’t have to do also do all the legwork in figuring out where and how to promote, if that makes sense.
We also should not forget that publishing houses have more experience with other areas. They did see hundreds of books getting published. They know what sells and how well it sells. A self publisher might go too high and end up losing money or too low and be unable to satisfy the demand.
The main advantages of getting a publisher are (1) distribution to bookstores (all but impossible for self-published), (2) they do most of the work (except the actual rewrites), for which you trade approximately 55% of your take on the sales (i.e. Kindle Direct gives 70% of sales to author if selling e-book over $2.99, while standard cut with publishing house is 12-15%). Incidentally, it tends to be quite easy to get into libraries, even with self-published books as long as the content is appropriate and you’ve properly registered your book with the overseeing body in your country.
That said, a small press offers few of the advantages of either self-publishing or traditional publishing and this shows in their sales (at least with e-books on Amazon, data on the authorearnings site). They tend to have not much better distribution than you can do yourself, almost no marketing, and typically a small number of staff to work on your book. The biggest negative I perceive with small press publishing, however, is that authors may expect they’ve finally ‘made it’ and thus not do the marketing work that is still required, as they mistakenly expect the company will take care of this.
Great point Felicia!
I’d love to have a publishing contract for my book, but the legal part scares me. I hate messing with law courts and lawyers.
Haha. It was really easy for me to work with my lawyer. She’s actually also an agent and I had originally pitched my manuscript to her. She just reviewed the contract and gave me good comments. It didn’t take a lot of time- just money. Also, having a lawyer review on the front end can save you from having to go to court (or losing in court!) if there is a dispute.
I’m from a rather socialist country, it is legally guaranteed that you are able to afford a lawyer for whatever reason. They charge roughly $115/hour (depending on the currency exchange rates) and if you cannot afford that you will be granted a low interest credit.
Congratulations on the new contract!
I’m curious why you didn’t try to get an agent instead. Surely an agent has more experience with book contracts than a lawyer (who’ll be more general). In addition, an agent will see the interest in your book and try to drum up more interest, including foreign rights deals and, if warrented, deals for other media. I wouldn’t expect a lawyer to have any of that insight into the book/publishing/media industry. So I would think an agent would be a better investment.
Uh, may be it’s because agents don’t specialize in the legalese of a novel contract.
The lawyer I found is actually an attorney and an agent! That’s how I found her because I had pitched her in the past.
Lawyer fees might be hefty, but it’s a worthwhile investment. You worked hard on your book and you want to do everything you can to protect it!