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The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Book Business

Book Business

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 Nast media organization, which includes magazines like Vogue, Wired, Glamour, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker, surprised their freelance writers with an agreement that has Condé Nast controlling the film and television rights to articles published by their magazines, with a cap on the revenue paid to the writer. Why? Because past articles turned into big box office hits like Argo, Eat Pray Love, and Brokeback Mountain.

This contractual assertion placed the writers in a bind because they did not want to lose the chance to write for these well-known magazines.

This is not something new, per se. A few years ago, a radio personality and I were in conversation about his book project. But then his flagship station was bought out, and the new owner gave the radio host a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. Either he gave up his show or he signed a new agreement that gave the owner 25% of all revenue from books derived from ideas he discussed on his show. He felt he had to sign the agreement to keep his job as a radio personality. But it meant that if a book earned him $100, he would have to pay $25 to the station and $15 to his literary agent.

Another author discovered that 100% of any income they derived from their books had to be first paid to the ministry for which they worked. The money would pass into their account, but the organization had to receive it first. The issue was the ministry attached an administrative fee for passing it through.

A pastor was sued by his church for writing books that were based on sermons he gave from the pulpit. The church claimed he wrote his books on “company time” and, therefore, the church should receive the income derived from his royalties. The problem was a lack of an agreement in the pastor’s employment documents that addressed that situation.

Sometimes you have enough clout to negotiate the most onerous terms out of such agreements. Sometimes you do not. Having an agent or a lawyer may help, but ultimately it is your responsibility because it is your signature on the contract.

The bottom line is that it is wise to review every line of any agreement you sign and make sure you understand the implications. Claiming later that you did not understand won’t solve a situation.

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Category: Book Business, ContractsTag: Book Business, Contracts

The Myth of the Unearned Advance

By Steve Laubeon September 12, 2022
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[I wrote much of this article back in 2011. Upon review, I stand by the analysis. I’ve left the past comments to accentuate the discussion.] ______________ A common myth permeating the industry is that a book is not profitable if the author’s advance does not earn out. I would like to attempt to dispel this myth. First, let’s define the term “advance.” When a book contract is created between …

Read moreThe Myth of the Unearned Advance
Category: Book Business, Career, Money, Writing CraftTag: Agents, Book Business, Contracts, Get Published, Money, Traditional Publishing

Deadlines and Taxes

By Steve Laubeon May 23, 2022
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Two certainties in the life of a writer. Deadlines and Taxes. You know what a deadline is. It has the word “dead” in it for a reason. And intrinsic to the reality of taxes is the April 15 income-tax filing deadline for those living in the United States. But what about those taxes? Many articles appear every Spring about taxes when approaching the filing date. But I thought we should explore a …

Read moreDeadlines and Taxes
Category: Book Business, Legal Issues, Writing CraftTag: Book Business, Contracts, taxes, Writing Craft

F Is for Foreign Rights

By Steve Laubeon March 21, 2022
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by Steve Laube

Publishing is a global concern. The new Penguin Random House (co-owned by Bertlesmann from Germany and Pearson from the UK) is the largest publisher in the world. The fourth largest publisher is based in the Netherlands. (See this link for a list of the top 50 largest publishers worldwide.) There are thousands of publishers outside the U.S. most of which publish in their …

Read moreF Is for Foreign Rights
Category: Book Business, Publishing A-ZTag: Book Business, Foreign rights

A Is for Agent

By Steve Laubeon March 14, 2022
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by Steve Laube

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 …

Read moreA Is for Agent
Category: Agents, Book Business, Book Business, Career, Creativity, E-Books, Legal Issues, Publishing A-Z, Writing CraftTag: Agent, Book Business, publishing

B Is for Buy Back

By Steve Laubeon February 28, 2022
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by Steve Laube

Many authors are also speakers and as such usually have a book table in the back of the room where the audience can purchase a copy of their book during an event. This can be a very valuable source of income for the author if they have negotiated a “buy back” price (also known as the author’s discount) at the time of signing their book contract.

Check Your Contract …

Read moreB Is for Buy Back
Category: Book Business, Publishing A-ZTag: Author Buy Back, Author Purchases, Author Sales Tax, Book Business, Publishing A-Z

D Is for Dispute Resolution

By Steve Laubeon February 21, 2022
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by Steve Laube

Pray that it never happens to you. But if there is a situation where you find yourself in a legal battle with your publisher regarding your book contract there are terms that will dictate how that disagreement is handled.

Here is one version from an old contract:
Any claim or dispute arising from or related to this Agreement shall be settled by mediation and, if …

Read moreD Is for Dispute Resolution
Category: Book Business, Contracts, Publishing A-ZTag: Book Business, Contracts, Disputes

A Is for Advance

By Steve Laubeon November 22, 2021
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by Steve Laube

Whenever I lecture about money the room becomes unusually quiet. Instead of a common restlessness from listeners there is a thrumming impatience to reveal the punch line. The punch line that declares every writer will be rich.

Now that I have our attention let’s turn to the topic of the day. The Advance. This is defined as the money a publisher pays to the author in …

Read moreA Is for Advance
Category: Agency, Book Business, Publishing A-ZTag: advances, Book Business, Publishing A-Z

What to Do About Morals?

By Steve Laubeon November 8, 2021
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In a post written last weekend Richard Curtis, agent extraordinaire, expressed surprise at a new morality clause that has apparently appeared in HarperCollins' contracts. Read his post here [warning: there is some Adult content and comments included in the post].

What the general market doesn't realize is that many Faith-based publishers have had a "moral turpitude" clause in their contracts …

Read moreWhat to Do About Morals?
Category: Book Business, Contracts, Legal IssuesTag: Book Business, Contracts, Legal Issues

Always Be Curious (The ABCs of the Writing Life)

By Steve Laubeon October 4, 2021
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by Steve Laube

Depending on where you live and your school district policies you may already be in a back-to-school mode or preparing for it.

It got me to thinking about the need for all writers to always have a "back to school" mentality.

Here are five things we can learn from always going "back to school."

Read moreAlways Be Curious (The ABCs of the Writing Life)
Category: Book Business, Steve, Writing CraftTag: Book Business, Creativity, Writing Craft
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