Some thoughts about fiction contracts

This post brought on by having seen some scary contract clauses from various publishers, of late. Remember that you don't have to sign a book or story contract as is. Many reasonable publishers will negotiate on some points. You lose nothing by asking.

That said, there's a lot of good resources out there for interpreting contract legalese. Best option of all, if you don't have a good agent, is to find an attorney who specializes in literary contracts. If you don't have one handy or can't afford one, there a number of other options.

Here, for example, is a website about interpreting short fiction contracts:
litreactor.com/columns/analyzing-a-short-fiction-publishing-contract
And another on novel contracts:
www.absolutewrite.com/novels/negotiating_book_contract.htm
And still more:
www.thepassivevoice.com/06/2011/how-to-read-a-book-contract-%E2%80%93-non-competition/

But whatever you do, don't sign it without reading it and making sure you understand it and what at least some of the implications are. Some of the things you're looking for:

• Are you being asked for exclusive rights? For how long? Short fiction should generally be first rights for publication, with perhaps some other caveats on reprints, as a rule. Novels are more complicated.
• Who retains the copyright?
• At what point do the rights revert to you? What's considered "out of print"?
• When and how do you get paid?
• Do you have the right to see and sign off on any final edits?
• What happens if you don't agree to the edits?
• Indemnity clauses and nondisclosure - in the event of a legal judgement related to your work, how much are you liable for? Be very careful with these. You don't want to be held liable if your email gets hacked or something becomes public knowledge through fault of your own.
   

In short, treat contracts like a business transaction, meant to protect both you and the publisher. It's a business relationship, not a favor from the gods. You don't have to agree to anything unreasonable; know what your options are.