Features essential, irreplaceable information on publishing contracts, good & bad clauses, libel, slander, & invasion of privacy issues, electronic rights conditions, the business of publishing, including marketing & selling books, magazine publishing, collaboration & agents agreements, & copyright legalities. Paper.
This is a fantastic reference for writers interested--and all should be--in legal issues concerning contracts, collaboration, agents, defamation, copyright, taxes, and high-tech publishing. Authors Brad Bunnin and Peter Beren have written this guide with such style and clarity that you might find yourself reading it, rather than just consulting it. But that's okay: you can't help but feel empowered by having read such a thorough and, when appropriate, opinionated text. Consider, for instance, the book's first chapter, "The Publishing Contract." Contrary to what publishers tell you, Bunnin writes (Beren contributed the chapter on "The Author and the Business of Publishing"), there is no such thing as a standard book contract. In fact, he says, "virtually without exception, publishers willingly change contracts at the author's request." Bunnin proceeds to lead his readers, line by line over 63 pages, through every single element of a publishing contract, including the grants-of-rights clause; warranties and indemnities; royalties, revisions, and remainders; and "all that incomprehensible, apparently unimportant stuff at the back of the contract." Whether or not you've retained a literary lawyer to work on your behalf, you'll want a book such as this on your shelves, to refer to when you need advice on avoiding defamatory statements, protecting yourself against copyright infringement, or even knowing which home-office expenditures you may deduct come tax time. --Jane Steinberg
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
This novelist wouldn't do without it!:
Without this book, I would never have been able to negotiate my first book contract. Bunnin and Beren gave me the necessary tools: book contract language and what it means, fair and unfair clauses, negotiating tactics, and how to get most of what I wanted. The sections on contracts alone are worth the price. They are by far the most valuable aspect of this book
But there is more here than information about book contracts. This book will teach you the necessary skills to be a business person, to think... more info
Knowledge really is power:
Aside from writing every day and knowing his craft like a master, the best thing any writer can do for himself is to understand writing as a business. "The Writer's Legal Companion" is an excellent tool to get you started down that road.
You don't have to wonder at what will happen when you get an offer. You don't have to guess at what this clause and that one means, or what your rights are. You don't have to blindly put all your faith in an agent's say so on what is good and what is bad. The information... more info
Never Sign the First Contract:
To understand why, I will begin with a page on author-publisher contracts from my own book: Successful Nonfiction: Turning Thoughts into Books.
"The contract you receive from your publisher may be in two colors and printed on fancy paper but it is not chiseled in stone. Only new authors sign and return a publisher's first offer. You may make changes to the contract and return it-that is a "counter offer". The contract may go back and forth until someone "accepts it."
While many books are designed to help writers navigate the increasingly complex array of legal and marketing issues, most just skim the surface. This book is a rare exception. Not only does it help writers avoid awkward business arrangements, but it provides specific examples of wording which would be essential to include in contracts. But is this book an absolute must? Only for the writer who is serious about avoiding problems and making sales. Buy it!
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