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The Steve Laube Agency

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The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Contracts

Contracts

Evaluating Surprise Contract Offers

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 19, 2025
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If you don’t work with an agent and you receive unexpected interest in your books, here are guidelines that may keep you from signing a contract that doesn’t further your career:

  1. Make no hurried promises over the phone or email. Take the time you need to assess the offer and interest. Legitimate book publishing normally moves slowly, so anyone demanding immediate decisions should be regarded with suspicion. Books take time to write, so an author must not feel compelled to make a career decision during a quick conversation.
  2. Search the Internet to see if this person is who they say they are. Look everywhere. If you are only able to find people with that name or a close match working in a different field but not publishing, run away.
  3. Search the Internet to find the publisher. Again, look everywhere. No website or any way to find them? Run away.
  4. If you find a publisher’s website, read every word. An expensive website doesn’t mean the publisher is right for you. Don’t let emotions about being connected to a glitzy business carry you into a poor decision.
  5. Who is the publisher? Most publishers who offer edits and guidance for a fee are legitimate businesses. Numerous authors who work with these publishers buy many books they sell directly to their readers. While this model is perfect for some authors, it is not a traditional deal where the publisher incurs the bulk of the production expense and takes most of the marketing load.
  6. Still unsure? Ask around. Ask your author friends if they know this person and business. No one knows everyone but your author friends do, or they can find someone who does.
  7. Check your emotions. Scammers trade in emotion. They want authors to feel wanted and loved enough to part with their money. One method is to promise authors much more money than they dreamed they could earn through writing. The more money you’re being offered, the more you need to seek professional publishing advice. Everyone wants to think they’ve just been discovered and are finally being paid what they’re worth. While this could be true, a professional will ensure an impartial assessment and evaluation of your offer.

Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments.

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Category: Contracts, Get Published, The Writing LifeTag: Scams

Fun Fridays – March 1, 2024

By Steve Laubeon March 1, 2024
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Contracts can be confusing. Enjoy this wisdom from Chico and Groucho Marx (from their movie made in 1935; some things never change):

Read moreFun Fridays – March 1, 2024
Category: Contracts, Fun FridaysTag: Contracts, Humor

Defusing Contract Landmines

By Steve Laubeon February 12, 2024
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It is crucial that every author knows that if they sign a contract, they are legally bound by the terms within that contract. Even if it is to their disadvantage. Our agency is often approached with a phrase like “I signed a bad book contract and want out of it. Can you help?” Usually, the answer is “Unfortunately, no.” After so many years of running into landmines buried …

Read moreDefusing Contract Landmines
Category: Book Business, Contracts, Legal IssuesTag: Book Business, Contracts, Legal

R Is for Reversion of Rights

By Steve Laubeon November 27, 2023
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You’ve published your book with a publisher. But it has been some time since it was published, and it feels like the publisher is no longer interested in promoting your book. Or the book is “old” enough that the publisher isn’t going to spend new money to sell copies but is simply keeping it available. Or the print edition of the book is no longer available, but it is still …

Read moreR Is for Reversion of Rights
Category: Book Business, Contracts, Publishing A-Z

Review Any and Every Contract You Sign

By Steve Laubeon May 22, 2023
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Today’s headline sounds like a blinding flash of the obvious, but you’d be surprised how many writers are not careful about the agreements they sign. Those with a literary agent have a business partner who will review their book contracts; that is a given. But that does not remove the writer’s responsibility. And what about their magazine or online article contracts? Years ago, the Condé …

Read moreReview Any and Every Contract You Sign
Category: Book Business, ContractsTag: Book Business, Contracts

Author Accounting 101

By Steve Laubeon April 17, 2023
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You are a published author. You must be rich! You are an agent. I know you are rich. If it only were true. Let’s attempt to explain some of the bottom-line basics of Author Accounting. Please remember this exercise is generic; your mileage may vary. I will use some simplified numbers, so we can all follow the math. Let’s start with a $20.00 retail-priced book. The publisher sells the book …

Read moreAuthor Accounting 101
Category: Book Business, Career, Contracts, E-Books, Economics, MoneyTag: Author, Economics, Money

The Landmine of Fair Use

By Steve Laubeon March 13, 2023
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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote on “The Cost of Permissions vs. Fair Use” which raised more questions. Therefore, I dug up a post I did on similar concerns. I replay it here to help you navigate these issues. Remember, I’m not an intellectual property attorney; I can only point to current best practices. Steve, What are the standard fair use rules for quotes of other published …

Read moreThe Landmine of Fair Use
Category: Book Business, Contracts, Copyright, Legal IssuesTag: Copyright, fair use

Book Industry Trends

By Steve Laubeon November 7, 2022
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Publishing is partly an exercise in guessing what might be the next surprise bestseller. Some of it is an educated guess based on certain trends we see in the industry and in society at large. Any exercise in naming these trends bears the risk of expressing the obvious or being out of date the moment they are stated. So bear with me as I tinker with some of the factors that are either influencing …

Read moreBook Industry Trends
Category: Book Business, Contracts, E-Books, Get Published, TrendsTag: book industry, Trends

L Is for Libel

By Steve Laubeon May 9, 2022
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by Steve Laube

 To libel someone is to injure a person’s reputation via the written word (slander is for the spoken word). I wrote recently about Indemnification but only touched on this topic. Let’s try to unpack it a little further today.

First, be aware that the laws that define defamation vary from state to state, however there are some commonly accepted guidelines. Anyone can claim …

Read moreL Is for Libel
Category: Book Business, Contracts, Publishing A-ZTag: Libel, Publishing A-Z

I Is for Indemnification

By Steve Laubeon April 25, 2022
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Publishing is not without risks. Plagiarism, fraud, and libel by an author are real possibilities. Thus within a book contract is a legal clause called indemnification, inserted to protect the publisher from an author’s antics. The indemnification clause, in essence, says that if someone sues your publisher because of your book, claiming something like libel (defamation) or plagiarism etc., …

Read moreI Is for Indemnification
Category: Book Business, Contracts, Copyright, Legal Issues, Publishing A-ZTag: Contracts, indemnification, lawsuit, warranty
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