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Over at Amazing Stories, Michael J. Sullivan talks about reading the details of a royalty statement--and a contract. Listen closely.
A fan recently asked me why so many experienced writers are not trying harder to go back to New York publishing. Here's a good example. If you, or your agent or literary lawyer, miss this one word--it's a big deal. If Michael J. Sullivan and his spouse had pushed harder, would he have lost the contract? Not if the editors recognized what ended up making the publisher a great deal of money.
Listen closely when writers and editors talk about these things. Because an editor cannot work for you--they must work for their employer. But they can talk about the abstract all the time. They are talking to you--educate yourselves. In many cases a change more favorable to you is already printed up to be attached to your contract--you just have to call the contracts department on it. The editor wants you to call them on it. Your editor (a good editor) wants a win-win--happy author, publisher with writer selling well.
In a contract negotiation, each side has one or two things that they will not budge on for love or money. As long as those things do not overlap, a deal can be made. Took eleven months once with HarperCollins. But the deal was made.
Wish it had made this kind of difference for me.
A fan recently asked me why so many experienced writers are not trying harder to go back to New York publishing. Here's a good example. If you, or your agent or literary lawyer, miss this one word--it's a big deal. If Michael J. Sullivan and his spouse had pushed harder, would he have lost the contract? Not if the editors recognized what ended up making the publisher a great deal of money.
Listen closely when writers and editors talk about these things. Because an editor cannot work for you--they must work for their employer. But they can talk about the abstract all the time. They are talking to you--educate yourselves. In many cases a change more favorable to you is already printed up to be attached to your contract--you just have to call the contracts department on it. The editor wants you to call them on it. Your editor (a good editor) wants a win-win--happy author, publisher with writer selling well.
In a contract negotiation, each side has one or two things that they will not budge on for love or money. As long as those things do not overlap, a deal can be made. Took eleven months once with HarperCollins. But the deal was made.
Wish it had made this kind of difference for me.
