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Do Some Plots Break Their Contracts?

May 23, 2013 in Art, Business, Contracts, Creativity, Tamela, Writing with 22 Comments

by Tamela Hancock Murray

businesswoman tears contract

In 1995 I watched the movie Cold Comfort Farm. A British comedy, the story was not without charm, though I wouldn’t recommend this parody of literature for everyone. Early on, Aunt Ada, who seemed to be a bit crazy, said, “I saw something nasty in the wood shed.”

Throughout the movie, I waited to find out what Aunt Ada saw. I waited. And waited. But the question was never answered, at least not for the viewer. I tried to find out if the novel solved the mystery and was unsuccessful in that quest, making me believe the book did not reveal the answer, either.

In my mind, the story broke its contract with the viewer. Since whatever Aunt Ada saw had a great effect on her, I think the nasty something should have been revealed.

Apparently I am not alone. Even now, the Internet is rife with posts about the mystery.

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A is for Agent

May 20, 2013 in Agency, Business, Career, Creativity, E-Books, Legal Issues, Publishing, Publishing A-Z, Steve, Writing with 21 Comments

by Steve Laube

open-book banner

I thought it might be fun to write a series that addresses some of the basic terms that define our industry. The perfect place to start, of course, is the letter “A.” And even better to start with the word “Agent.”

If you are a writer, you’ve got it easy. When you say you are a writer your audience lights up because they know what that means. (Their perception is that you sit around all day thinking profound thoughts. And that you are rich.)

If you are an editor, you got it sort of easy. Your audience knows you work with words and all you do is sit around and read all day. In my editorial days I was often told, “I’d love to have your job.”

But tell someone you are an agent and there is a blink and a pause. If they don’t know the publishing industry they think “insurance agent” or “real estate agent” or “secret agent.” Or if they follow sports or entertainment they think “sleazy liar who makes deals and talks on the phone all day.” I resent people thinking that I talk on the phone all day. (Hah!)

Even at a writers conference I always have someone ask, “What is it that you do?”

Deal Maker

An agent works on commission. Fifteen percent of the money earned in a contract they have sold to a publisher on behalf of a writer. I will be bold to say that any prospective agent who asks you for money up front is someone you should stay away from.

This is the category that most people focus on when defining the role of the agent. But it is only one small facet of what we do. Two months ago I published a list of the activities our agency had recently done as a way to help dispel the myth that we are only deal makers. It is how we earn our living but only a small part of our work.

Don’t get me wrong. This is a crucial part of what we do. Our contract negotiations are critical to the long-term health of the publishing/author relationship. Last Fall I taught a course at a conference called “Landmines in Your Book Contract.” Each time I read one from an “offending” contract there were gasps in the room. There is a good reason to have a professional review any book contract you are ready to sign.

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And, With, or Ghost?

May 13, 2013 in Business, Steve with 14 Comments

by Steve Laube

Showing results

Sometimes it is helpful to review publishing terms to make sure we are all talking about the same thing.

The cover of a book invariably will state the author’s name. Every once in a while there are two or more names listed (i.e. Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee). The use of “and” or “with” is the code word that tells the reader what type of professional relationship is between these names on the cover when it comes to how the book was written. Each is a “collaboration” but are not identical.

AND

If the names are connected by an “And” they are co-authors. Each with top-billing. They have worked hard to create a book something that reflects both of their perspectives on the topic.

Lean Bodies Fat WalletsThe cover to the right is a book from two of our clients coming out in December by Ellie Kay and Danna Demetre called Lean Body Fat Wallet: Discover the Powerful Connection to Help You Lose Weight, Dump Debt, and Save Money. They worked together to approach two rather different topics (wellness and finances) and put them under one umbrella of a book on general health and wealth. If you look carefully you will note that it lists Ellie AND Danna.

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The Painful Side of Publishing

May 8, 2013 in Business, Karen, Personal, Publishing, Theology with 49 Comments

by Karen Ball

Ache

We’ll get back to focus next week, but something has been weighing heavy on my heart and I want to share it with you.

We all know that publishing is a tough gig. It was proven yet again by what happened last week with the B&H Publishing Group’s fiction division (see Steve’s blog about it). It’s easy to commiserate with the authors impacted by this sudden change, to pray for them and encourage them. But I saw something happening in a number of blogs and author loops, and I confess it troubles me. What I saw was people making caustic comments about the publisher and about the people who work at the publishing house. Even to the point of questioning their faith. As in “How can they call themselves a Christian publisher and do something like this?”

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Changes at B&H Fiction

May 6, 2013 in Business, Steve with 36 Comments

by Steve Laube

 What is Next Sticky Note

In case you missed the news, last Thursday B&H Publishing (a division of Lifeway) realigned their fiction division. A number of changes accompanied the decision.

  1. B&H will continue to publish fiction, but only if the novel is connected in some way to other Lifeway projects, i.e. novelizations of movies like “Courageous.” [Please read their announcement on the company blog and this press release/article from Publisher's Weekly date 5/6/13. A third version appeared in Christian Retailing's daily newsletter.]
  2. Novels scheduled for release through March/April 2014 will continue as planned. But all novels contracted thereafter have been cancelled. Authors may keep advance monies prepaid and rights to those books will revert, but all future contracted advances will not be paid.
  3. Julie Gwinn, executive editor of fiction, will transition out of the company in July after completing current projects.

Business decisions like this are just that…business decisions. To understand these business decisions one must view them through the lens of history. B&H has been publishing fiction periodically for a long time. In 2007 they made a decision to become more intentional and hired Karen Ball to be their senior editor (link to the press release at that time) and work with David Webb who was the Executive Editor. Soon thereafter they hired Julie Gwinn to direct the marketing of their fiction line.

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Focus from the Mountaintop: Career

May 1, 2013 in Business, Career, Karen, Writing with 12 Comments

by Karen Ball

Working on the rock

Focus. We all need it, in our careers, in our lives, even day to day. But as we discussed in previous blogs, there are different kinds of focus. Today we’ll take a look at how you can use Mountaintop Focus to guide you in your career as a writer.

As we discussed before, when you’re on the Mountaintop, you can see for miles and miles. So, first and foremost, Mountaintop Focus is big-picture time. It’s time to consider the whys and wherefores of what you’re doing. To determine—and then review and refine, if needed—your core values and goals. I’m sure you’ve all determined long ago why you’re writing, but it’s a good idea to review those reasons at least once a year to see if they’re still what drives you. Because life changes, and we change as a result. I started out wanting to write fun romance novels, novels that celebrated the wonder of romance and love between a man and a woman. But as life went on, I found myself asking some hard questions about those relationships. And about faith. And surrender. So the driving questions behind my stories changed. As did my core values/goals.

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Everyone is a Critic

April 29, 2013 in Book Review, Business, Craft, Creativity, Editing, Steve, Writing with 16 Comments

by Steve Laube

chef

One of the burdens an artist must bear is the scrutiny of public opinion. It can either be exhilarating or devastating. At the risk of oversimplifying the issue let’s look at some of the categories that define this topic.

Opinion
Everyone has an opinion. The problem for the author is to determine how much weight to give to those opinions. One mistake a writer will make is to ask someone or group of someones, “What do you think of this?” with “this” being your work or the cover of their latest book.

Think of it this way, if someone is asking for your opinion and genuinely says they want to hear your thoughts, you will give that opinion…and it is often critical. It is as if we don’t feel like we have been “honest” unless we find something wrong or something we don’t like. We can become overly nitpicky and focus on things that are not vital to the design or the composition of the project. And this is where it becomes dangerous for the author. The tendency is to place too much credence on these type of opinions given by those who may not have the experience or know-how to truly be of service. That is not to say their opinions are wrong or misinformed, merely that discernment must be used when filtering these comments.

The gathering of too many opinions can clutter a sure vision or shake your confidence. It can become like the cynical definition of a committee: “A body that keeps minutes but wastes hours.”

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Author Accounting 101

April 8, 2013 in Business, Career, Contracts, E-Books, Publishing, Steve with 8 Comments

by Steve Laube

Roll of money

You are a published author. You must be rich!
You are an agent. I know you are rich.

If it only were true.

A couple weeks ago we peered at the bottom line for the brick & mortar bookstore, now let’s attempt to do the same for the author. Please remember this exercise is generic, your mileage may vary. As before we will use some round numbers so we can all follow the math.

Let’s start with that $10 retail price book we dealt with before. The publisher sells the book for $6.00 to a store. That creates a “net price” for the publisher. Be aware that some contracts pay the author a royalty based on the retail price and some on the net price.

The net price is $6.00. They author’s contract pays them 15% of the net price. That would mean when this book was sold to the bookstore the author’s account was credited for 90 cents.

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Gotta Love Numbers

April 4, 2013 in Business, Tamela with 33 Comments

by Tamela Hancock Murray

I didn’t attend kindergarten so my initial encounter with numbers happened in first grade. One day, we were working on math problems. As we finished, the teacher let each of us choose a stick of modeling clay. The colors were red, green, brown, and gray. I really, really wanted red. Green would have been OK, but definitely not brown and certainly not gray. I urgently scratched numbers on the ruled paper with my fat, green pencil. Still, everyone who liked red beat me. Even green got snatched up. By the time I got to choose, I was stuck with brown.

Tamela Elemtary School photoThen came a test. I didn’t understand the problems the teacher wrote on the board. I decided if I made up my own problems, I would get an A. I viewed this as a great solution to an otherwise insurmountable dilemma. But I soon found the teacher disagreed. Furious and frustrated, she called my mother for a conference. On the paper was a big red F, circled several times.

“Why did you make up your own test?” Momma asked.

I answered, “I didn’t like the one on the board.”

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When Your Agent Makes You Speed Up

March 21, 2013 in Business, Career, Tamela, Writing with 20 Comments

by Tamela Hancock Murray

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Since I wrote last week about when your agent may make you slow down, I thought this week it might be fun to write about why your agent may make you speed up. Now, speeding up is never, never to occur at the risk of writing less than your best. Story craft, along with  care and attention to detail, are always musts for fiction and nonfiction. But there are times when we need to speed up.

Immediate Vacancy

Many is the time that I receive notice from editors looking for submissions when they need to fill a slot right away. Perhaps they are working on a special Christmas project, or a contracted author has been unable to meet a deadline. They may call on agents they know to be reliable with a list of equally reliable, talented authors, to help them fill that hole right away. So when your agent calls and says, “I know you’re working on a suspense/historical/devotional manuscript. Are you able to meet a deadline of two weeks from now for an editor in need?” At this time you can either accept, decline, or even ask the agent for another two weeks or so. Working with your agent, you may gain a well-deserved contract more quickly than you expected, along with the gratitude of your new editor. This is a very good reason for authors to work with agents, because agents tend to be privy to this type of inside information.

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