Many textbook authors, especially new authors, are intimidated by the idea of negotiating their contracts, but strategic and artful contract negotiation is essential to ensure that you get the best offer possible.
“It is very important to negotiate your contract, because the first offer will not be the best deal, so you’ll just be leaving money on the table if you don’t negotiate,” said Stephen Gillen, intellectual property attorney at Wood, Herron & Evans.
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:
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:
When negotiating a contract with an acquisitions editor, gather as much information as you can about that person during the negotiation, said Steve Gillen, an attorney with Wood Herron & Evans.
“The more information you can gather about their interests, objectives, constraints, etc., the better armed you will be for the negotiation,” he said. “Ask the editor questions about herself to find out how close she is to reaching her new contract signings goal (and possibly earning a bonus). The higher the advance, the more attention the acquisition editor will pay to your book.”
