Red Flags That Authors Should Be Aware of With Contracts
Authors are always eager to score publishing deals for their hard work, however, they can be so eager that they miss red flags
Becoming a published author is a dream for so many people, however, many authors forget to look for red flags a publisher has that could hurt them in the long run.
Authors who haven’t been able to snag a literary agent are able to find small publishers who accept unsolicited manuscript submissions.
This is why it is important to do your research.
Check their website: What are they offering? Who have they acquired? What can they provide you? Are they professional?
Check their social media: What do they post? How many followers do they have? What are they doing to spotlight their authors?
Check their books: Search their books and where they are sold. (Will readers find your work?) Which forms of these books do they sell? (Ebooks, paperbacks, audiobooks?)
By doing all of this research you will know how established the publishing company is.
After you have submitted and received your window of response time, you may hear a, we would love to work with you, from the publisher.
If you happen to start talking with the publisher, you can expect the following.
Pre-empt example of offer:
The publisher will typically send you an overview of the basics of the deal and what it would involve. And most importantly, they will spell out in plain writing that it isn’t an official deal offer.
After this is explained, they will ask if you are interested in moving forward.
If so, they will then tell you they will send over a contract within a certain amount of time and to keep an eye out for their email. They will also ask that any offers be kept quiet, not to be shared on social media or otherwise.
Receiving contract:
When you receive a contract, this is when you need to be thorough.
Oftentimes, the publisher will ask you to get back to them with an answer in a certain amount of time, typically a week to two weeks. This is to allow you time to look it over and have either a trusted friend, family member, or lawyer look over it as well.
As tempting as it is to simply jump onto the offer they have provided, this is the time when you should be picking through that document with a fine-toothed comb.
One of your best tools during this process is The Writers Guild of America. This is a resource that provides information on what a fair contract should look like and how to make it more of an equal playing field for both publishers and authors.
Negotiate:
If you have questions about pieces of the contract/ offer, be sure to try some negotiation. (But be sure to be fair.)
Some things to consider asking for:
Will the rights of the work revert back to you after the book is out of print?
Do you maintain a percentage of the profits for international versions?
These are just two examples of common things negotiated during the contract process.
The worst thing that can happen is that they aren’t willing to negotiate. If they aren’t willing to do so, then you are going to consider whether or not this deal is going to work for you.
For more on fair contracts, check out What Authors Should Know About Contracts.
Now that we have seen what the process looks like, we need to see what red flags you should be watching out for.
Recently, the Twitter writing community has been buzzing about the troubles between several authors and Sage and Sparrow Publishing Company.
If you haven’t been updated on this matter, here are the facts:
An author on Twitter received an email from Sage and Sparrow that their meeting was to be considered an official offer for publication. (Link here)
The author responded yes to the offer within the timeframe and waited for her contract to be sent.
This author then received an email from Sage and Sparrow explaining that they signed too many authors in one week and could not sign her at the moment. Sage and Sparrow then asked her to query again in January when their submissions opened again.
After the author revealed on Twitter what had happened, Sage and Sparrow singled her out and claimed that she was throwing ‘internet tantrums’.
Since this happened, Sage and Sparrow released a statement from their lawyer and many authors withdrew their manuscripts from Sage and Sparrow’s consideration pool.
As of right now, Sage and Sparrow have deactivated their account until further notice. A link here to their last statement: Sage and Sparrow Tweet
Here are some red flags to look for:
Agents/ Publishers approaching you:
Agents and Publishers who are good at their job or in the industry aren’t going out of their way to find authors.
So if you find agents or publishers contacting you and offering you a chance at a publishing deal, consider this a big red flag. Why? This is because they are hopeful that authors will be swept up in the moment of receiving an offer and accept whatever terms they are given.
Publishers with fees:
Publishers should never request payments to publish their work.
This is because the amount of money it takes to publish your book (editing, marketing, and distributing) should be made back from the sales of your book. And truthfully, if a publisher believes in your book and its ability to sell, they shouldn’t need any funds to produce it.
Website:
If their website doesn’t look professional, be sure to snoop.
Go through their about us page and see the staff working there. Go through their works page and see who they have already published. Also, be sure to click through their links and see what they are working with.
Their website should be geared towards readers, and not listing fees for publishing.
If it doesn’t look professional, that is a big red flag.
Timetable:
If the publisher offers you a contract and rushes you to sign it, don’t.
This is a sign of things to come or possible behavior to be seen down the road. If they are rushing to commit, then this means they are going to rush along the rest of the process and possibly not do things correctly.
When authors don’t pay attention to the red flags of the publishing industry, they run the risk of losing their work.
Placing your valued work in the wrong hands means you could lose your work.
Don’t rush towards the first deal you receive because it means becoming published. Take the time to review and research and you will find the right deal.