Negotiating the foreign sales clause in textbook contracts

If authors are not careful when negotiating language related to foreign sales in their book contracts, they can end up earning next to nothing on international sales of their books.

Stephen Gillen, an attorney with Wood Herron & Evans, said that although he cannot provide exact language authors can use to negotiate the foreign sales clause in their contracts without knowledge of the unique facts and circumstances of each case, he suggests authors use the following to start the discussion with their publisher:

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Authors share advice for writing your first textbook

Writing that first textbook can be a really time-consuming and exhausting experience, but knowing the ropes beforehand can make it less daunting.

Easy money. A screenplay. Fame and glory. If you’re thinking about writing a textbook, put these out of your mind. But if you’ve got a lot of knowledge to share in return for the satisfaction of just doing it, there’s some advice out there for writing your first textbook.

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How to choose a textbook publisher

When selecting a publisher for your manuscript, don’t leap before you look. Most authors are so happy to find a publisher interested in their proposal that they accept the first offer that comes along and sign the standard publisher’s contract. After all, if it’s standard, then contracts from all publishers must be alike. Not so. All contracts are negotiable. Not only do you need to do your homework before accepting any publisher’s offer, you need to do your homework before you ever submit a proposal to a publisher.

Before choosing a publisher:

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How to get the most out of peer reviews

Rather than seeing the peer review process as negative, veteran academic authors William Stallings and Francine McKenzie encourage authors to see it as a valuable opportunity to improve their work.

McKenzie, an associate professor at the University of Western Ontario, said authors should see peer reviews as part of a process of improving a piece and one’s writing skills in general. “Think of peer review as more an intellectual exchange than a judgment,” she said. “With this mindset, authors can approach peer review with enthusiasm instead of apprehension.”

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How to leverage a TAA Textbook Award

Receiving a TAA Textbook Award is not only a great honor, it can also be used to increase book sales and advance your writing career.

Judy Rasminsky, coauthor of Challenging Behavior in Young Children and Challenging Behavior in Elementary and Middle School, both of which have received TAA Textbook Excellence (Texty) Awards, said she and her coauthor Barbara Kaiser have leveraged the award in several ways, including:

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How to find a textbook publisher

If you have an idea for a new textbook a great way to start looking for a publisher is by attending your discipline’s annual meeting — which typically hosts book vendors — where you may be able to make some good contacts with publishing companies, said Dr. Laura Taalman, a mathematics professor at James Madison University.

“It is worth stopping by the exhibit booths of the publishers you are interested in; the editor you seek might be right there,” she said. “Sales reps can sometimes give you an idea if your book fits in with their company’s list. They also will often have contact information for the appropriate editors.”

When Taalman was looking for a publisher for her textbook, Integrated Calculus: Calculus With Precalculus and Algebra, (which was published in 2004 by Houghton Mifflin) she shopped the idea around to sales reps at her university and at yearly math meetings. “The sales reps communicated with the math editors and someone turned out to be interested,” she said.

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