How to understand a publishing contract: Points of vigilance and traps to avoid for authors
By Cristina Rebiere and Olivier Rebiere
()
About this ebook
Tools for Authors: How to understand a publishing contract
You just finished writing your novel, your essay, your memoirs. Or anything good. You are so euphoric because a publishing house wants your text? It vows to « take care of all » You will be able to – AT LAST – take a rest and harvest the fruits of your hard work. Champagne! You deserve to celebrate… You only have to sign the papers, below, on the right hand. Easy! …But STOP!!!
ATTENTION. A publishing or editing contract is a very special literature that binds you in time and space… and your author’s dream can quickly turn into nightmare if you do not detect in due time possible traps!
Do you think that a contract is unreadable for the man in the street? Do you run to the next lawyer to « digest » it and « translate » it in common english?
Think again, it is perfectly possible to understand a contract, to reduce costs and potential risks during the execution of a contract, by understanding the points of vigilance of a publishing contrct.
Who are we?
We are authors and have published dozens of ebooks. Having both a higher education in law school, our experience has led us to deal with many contractual documents. Olivier had to draft, negotiate, review and implement many contracts: drug trials, cultural institutions abroad, commercial companies. Professor in higher education, he practices daily « legal education ». Cristina was director of a publishing house and knows the constraints of this often difficult world and also did a lot of legal work.
So we know the problem « from both sides of the fence » and would like you to understand that it is quite possible and realistic to hold together an effective partnership with your publishing house.
So, for a cordial and profitable cooperation with the publishing house, we want to share this useful information, from our experience, with you
What will you find in this practical eguide « How to understand a publishing contract »?
23 sections organized in 6 parts What is a contract? Publishing contracts Others points of vigilance Negotiations or talks Execution of a publishing contract Ending a publishing contract 120+ pages of useful info advice and examples to understand
Do not be afraid of publishing contracts anymore, decrypt them and develop a cordial and profitable collaboration with your publishing house!
Are you ready?
Kind regards,
Cristina & Olivier Rebiere
Cristina Rebiere
Courte biographie:Cristina Rebière est auteure de nombreux guides et livres. Elle a dirigé une maison d'édition, un parc d'aventures et mené à bien de nombreuses missions dans la fonction publique européenne. Elle est aussi spécialisée dans la formation continue.Ses origines:Après la Révolution roumaine, Cristina interrompt de brillantes études pour entrer à l'université en France où elle suit tout le cursus en faculté de droit et obtient une Maîtrise en Administration Économique et Sociale. D'abord chargée de communication dans un Institut Français en Allemagne, elle devient statisticienne à Bruxelles pour un bureau d'assistance de la Commission Européenne. De retour à Bucarest elle est successivement contrôleuse de gestion, directrice de maison d'édition, experte européenne puis professeure de français. En Roumanie elle fonde avec son mari une entreprise de team building puis le premier parc d'aventures jamais créé dans ce pays - construit de leurs mains - qui attirera des milliers de personnes, écoles et entreprises dans la pratique du sport et d'activités de cohésion en pleine nature. Avec son équipe, elle conçoit et construit des parcours d'escalade dans les arbres pour d'autres clients.Au rectorat de l'Académie de la Martinique, Cristina prend en charge la coordination de la Cellule Académique des Fonds Européens et de Coopération où elle accompagne les porteurs de projet dans le montage des dossiers, assure la formation en ingénierie de projet, gère un réseau de plus d'une soixantaine d'enseignants référents à l'ouverture internationale. Elle assure la gestion opérationnelle de plusieurs projets de coopération. Elle assure l'actualisation du site internet de la Délégation Académique aux Relations Internationales et à la Coopération.La pédagogie de Cristina Rebière est basée sur le pragmatisme et l'efficacité.Domaines de compétence:management de projet, voyage, marketing social de contenu, team building, formation initiale et continue, expertise en fonds européens, budgétisation, planification, productivité et stratégie, coaching, ingénierie financière, webmestre, statistiques, procédures, web intégration, conception graphique, communication, conception et construction de parcs d'aventure
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How to understand a publishing contract - Cristina Rebiere
Authors
Welcome!
We welcome you in the first ebook of the Tools for Authors collection " How to understand a publishing contract " a practical guide which, we hope, will help you understand the contracts that publishers will eventually propose to you and above all, will allow you to avoid some traps.
What author does not dream of being edited by a publishing house ??? However, be aware that this dream can become a nightmare if you do not take some precautions...
In this guide you will find the basic legal concepts to understand, explained simply, but also how to read a publishing contract, how to analyze it and which are the vigilance points and traps to avoid. There is also a section devoted to negotiation. The key to succeed is to understand correctly in order to decide wisely and give an informed consent .
You should know that the tips you will find in this guide, ideas, advice and resources are all from our concrete experience in this field.
Indeed, we are also authors and have published dozens of books.
Having both a higher education in law school, our experience has led us to deal with many contractual documents. Olivier had to draft, negotiate, review and implement many contracts: drug trials, cultural institutions abroad, commercial companies. Professor in higher education, he practices daily legal education
. Cristina was director of a publishing house and knows the constraints of this often difficult world and also did a lot of legal work.
So we know the problem from both sides of the fence
and would like you to understand that it is quite possible and realistic to hold together an effective partnership with your publishing house.
So, for a cordial and profitable cooperation with the publishing house, we want to share this useful information, from our experience, with you :-)
Depending on the capabilities of your reader, you can enjoy zoom features in the pictures. You can use hyperlinks highlighted throughout the eGuide. We tried to do our best to make your reading experience as pleasant as possible, despite the great technology gaps between different reading devices.
Gradually, as the standard of digital books improves we will continue to enhance your reading experience!
Well, let's go!
Kind regards,
Cristina & Olivier Rebière
I. What is a contract?
In this part we will just explore, simply and quickly what a contract is, starting gradually to present the specifics of a publishing contract.
Sections of this part
1. Introduction
2. Essential concepts and keywords
3. Different states
of a contractual document
4. The large blocks
of the contract
1. Introduction
Warning: we are not specialist lawyers. If you need legal advice on specific points that would not find a satisfactory answer in this book, please consult a lawyer.
However, no need to rush to a lawyer before you analyze and understand by yourself a publishing contract that a publishing house offers. Here are some keys to apprehend the terms and especially, to better understand.
We had to deal with many contracts in our professional experiences (drafting, negotiation, execution, ending) and it is essential for you to familiarize yourself with this kind of literature
, particularly important for your professional life and especially for your Copyright author's future . These contracts are the basis of what will be an important part of your future income, the " royalties ". The publishing contract is therefore an important way for you to access a certain financial independence - at least that is what we wish you from our heart - and you have to give them the attention they deserve :-)
Suppose you have just received a contract proposal from a publishing house. You are necessarily happy because as we said before, this is the dream