Novel Writer for Hire

Seeing the format of a standard publisher’s format might make you feel depressed. It has single – spaced text covering several pages. The series of paragraphs and subparagraphs might even make you feel intimidated and your mind wonders what could become a problem among the contents.

Actually, most of the matters in the contract are present only to provide fair protection for you and the publisher. After reviewing the contract, you are free to discuss the parts of the contact.

However it is still important that you know of the whereabouts of a contract. Here are some of the contents of a standard contract.

Supply of Copy Meeting “Satisfactory” Standards

If you are in one of those instances when all that was presented that influenced the publisher’s purchase are sample chapters and an outline of a novel, most likely your contact will contain details on an agreed date to when you should submit the complete manuscript. Included should also be the specified length of the manuscript to which you both agreed upon. If your ms. violates your terms provided in the contract, for example the ms. did not meet the agreed date or length, consequently the publisher has the right to demand the return of any amount that was given to you.

Most of the time, the publisher is more flexible. If he does not find your ms. “satisfactory,” he might give it back to you. The only chastisement that you will get is that you will not get the rest of your money until you meet their standards. He might even give you points to improve on to achieve “satisfactory” status and some helpful tips. Submitting your ms. late will result to the delay of your collection of money and delays in final publication.

Authorization for Copyrighted Material

Every time a writer tries to include a copyrighted material in his novel such as the lyrics of a song or an excerpt of a poem, then he has to gain the rights over the material usually by paying for them. When you let the publisher do it, you have to pay him. And if he doesn’t succeed, you just have to let go of those copyrighted material. In other extreme cases when the material is too important for the novel to work, then the contract can be disregarded and all advance payments made by the publisher should be returned.

Bestowing Of Rights

In this portion of the contract, you are giving the publisher the right to make copies of your work. These copies may come in different forms such as in filmstrip, audio cassette, hardcover, depending on the choice of the publisher. As an author, you are free to decide in which countries or regions you wish the publisher to sell copies of your novels. This freedom is also provided in this section. For instance, you wish your novels to be sold in all parts of the globe except for North America. In this way, you can sell North American rights separately in a different contract.

Depending on the content of your contract, you may also provide your publishers with other rights such as producing excerpts of your novel in other books for publicity, marketing translated versions and selling prints to book organizations. Typically, a written consent is required to keep you informed or such sales.

Proofreading and Writer’s Revisions

In this part, you consent that you will read the copy of your novel to detect errors and correction and that the rectified pages should be sent back to the publisher without delay. The publisher has the right to charge you if the modifications require the revision of the primary manuscript and the retyping of more than 10 percent of the novel. The provisions in this section of the contract can affect your income negatively.