Understand your... contract
Secured a publishing deal? Make sure you understand its terminology and implications, with guidance from Simon Whaley
On 30 April 2003 I received my first author contract. Hodder & Stoughton wanted to publish my One Hundred Ways For A Dog To Train Its Human. It was a day of mixed emotions. There was uncontainable excitement that I was having a book published. And then, as I flicked through all fourteen pages of the contract, a sense of horror overwhelmed me as I appreciated what was at stake.
No matter how tempting it might be, especially if it’s a project you’ve been working on for several years, never sign anything you don’t fully understand. Even if you think you understand it, double check, because you must be sure. I’m stating the obvious here, but it’s important: an author contract is a legally-binding business contract. Consider it with a business head on, not a writer’s head, because once you’ve signed it you have to live with the consequences. And that could be for a considerable time.
Always seek advice from reputable organisations. The Society of Authors has a contract vetting service, which is free to members, as does the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain. (If this is your first accepted book and contract offered, you can still join on the strength of it, as an associate, and have the contract vetted.) The detailed feedback for my first book contract opened my eyes to the complexity of the document and was worth far more than the cost of being a Society member.
Kate Pool, deputy chief executive of the Society of Authors, shares her personal views on the subject of author contracts. She points out that a contract is a two-way agreement. ‘You want to be confident that what you will receive in return justifies what you are giving to the publisher,’ she says. ‘What exactly is the publisher undertaking to do? What rights are you handing over? For how long? Who pays for what and how is any income divided? What termination mechanism is there if things go wrong?’