Earlier this fall, TAA hosted an audio conference titled “Contract Negotiation: E-books & E-rights” featuring attorney Lisa Moore, principal of The Moore Firm, LLC. Moore’s outstanding presentation culminated in a rich Q&A discussion that provided valuable insight into textbook publishing contract negotiations.
Following are abbreviated excerpts edited by TAA from the transcripts of that discussion.
If you want to become a more successful and productive author, said Marilyn “Winkie” Fordney, the author of insurance billing…
Successful contract negotiation requires knowing “what you’re willing to give up and what you’re not,” said authoring attorney Michael Lennie, with Lennie Literary & Author’s Attorney.
Authors should negotiate better terms on several contract provisions, he said. They include:
Q: “How do you go about getting a contract to publish an academic book? How is the process different from getting a contract for a college-level or K-12 textbook?”
A: Stephen E. Gillen, Attorney, Wood Herron & Evans:
“Textbook contracts vary significantly based on curricular level. The K-12 market works with much higher volumes but is price sensitive (because schools adopt and purchase the books). The college market works on lower volumes but is less price sensitive (because professors adopt but students purchase).
Q: “I’m in discussions with six publishers right now for my first book. One of them has just made a preliminary offer, including a 12 percent royalty on the first 2,000 sold and 15 percent thereafter. They also offered me a $3,000 advance against royalties to prepare a camera-ready copy over the summer. The editor has informally projected something like 2,000 books/year sold at about $90-100 per, saying it costs them $60-70 per. Here are some of my questions: 1) How common is it to have a lower percentage on the first chunk of books?; 2) Even if it sold only 1,000 at $80, 12 percent of that equals $9,600. Shouldn’t they be willing to part with more than $3,000 of it up front?; 3) How much am I saving them with a camera-ready copy? Doesn’t that cut out a lot of work for them and shouldn’t that translate into a much better deal than this? Sounds like a cookie-cutter offer.”
A: Don Collins, former managing editor at a publishing company:
“First, it is very common to offer a lower rate on the first textbooks published. The publisher is in business for profit and at every point the publisher wants an advantage although in your case it seems slight. Second, up front money is an expense. If the book does not sell then the publisher is out this money. But you get to keep the advance. And lastly, you may think of giving camera ready copy as saving the publisher money. It probably is. But the way publishers play the game is to take only authors who are willing to do this.
Only after your work has proven successful and you have established a reputation will you have much of a chance of negotiating better terms.”
Q: “How do you determine the division of royalties, the typical percentages for members of the author team, and the…
