In her 2025 TAA Virtual Conference session, “Can My Publisher Really Do That?”, Brenda Ulrich, an intellectual property attorney with Archstone Law, said that authors often ask her questions that boil down to “can my publisher do that?”, but what they’re really asking is, “what does my contract allow my publisher to do?”.

“At the end of the day, the rules of your relationship with your publisher come down to what’s in the contract,” she said. “That’s why it is really important to carefully negotiate a contract from the start and make sure that from the start you understand what it means. That way, when things get dicey and divisive, the contract is the road map that you, the publisher, your lawyer, and ultimately, perhaps even a court, will look at to determine whether you or your publisher can ‘do that.’”

She shared some of the most common questions she hears from authors. Here are two:

Can my publisher change my contract without asking or telling me?

Ulrich: No. Contract language may only be amended through a written, signed amendment to the agreement, or if the parties sign a new agreement that explicitly overrides the old contract. You’ll find language about this generally down in the terms and conditions section of your contract somewhere close to the end. It may be called ‘entire agreement’ or ‘amendment’ or something along those lines. So no, your publisher can’t change your contract without asking or telling you. What this literally means is that they can’t change the wording of your contract. That takes both parties executing a formal document.

Where arguments often arise is whether the language of the contract can be interpreted to allow for something the publisher is doing, perhaps something new that they have not done before. This question is rarely open and shut. A lot of arguments, and sometimes even lawsuits, arise around this question. One example of this: there’s often a paragraph with pretty general language saying that the publisher has sole discretion about what format or media the work will be published in. Are those kinds of general paragraphs enough to cover things like creating courseware products based on your work? Or other derivatives or bundles or custom products? All of these products may look very different than the manuscript that you submitted. But the answer is likely: yes.  The contract language about how the work gets published is usually quite broad and general and gives the publisher a lot of discretion.  Therefore, this contract language would be interpreted to mean yes, they can do that.

A less clear situation: If you’ve been publishing your book in one format for many editions, can the publisher make a wholesale switch in the end format or product without asking or telling you? Perhaps they can, but if that change in format is likely to change your obligations, e.g., your deliverables under the contract, that’s when it’s worth it to change the actual wording of the contract – through an amendment – to reflect this change.

My publisher changed how my royalties are calculated. Don’t they have to ask me first? Do they have to tell me?

Ulrich: “Your publisher can’t change your contract language around royalties without your knowledge or consent. The real question is whether the way they are calculating the royalties still aligns with the terms of the contract. You always have the right to ask your publisher a) how they are calculating your royalties and b) what language in the contract allows for how they’re calculating your royalties. If you see sudden big drop offs in your royalties with no explanation, that is something to pay attention to. Especially if it looks like the total units sold haven’t changed or dropped off in a meaningful way, or you haven’t lost adoptions, that’s a big red flag. And that’s the time to start asking some questions.

And don’t wait too long to start asking questions, because many contracts put a time limit on how long a royalty statement can be questioned before it becomes final.  It can be hard because sometimes it’s a pattern that emerges over multiple royalty statements, but it’s why you want to keep on top of reviewing your royalty statement in a timely way. I’m not going to pretend that royalty statements are easy to read. I know they’re often not. Sometimes it helps to have a professional accountant or auditor take a look at them with you.

The bottom line is, the more you know, the more empowered you are. That means keeping on top of your royalty statements by looking at them when they come in. If you start to see a disturbing pattern that doesn’t make sense, raise those questions right away. It’s your right to understand.”

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Watch the full session on demand. Free for registrants. Non-registrants can purchase access here.