Writing Novels to Screenplays

July 17, 2009 | Posted by John Halasz

Hire a Novel Writer

It is strongly advised to avoid any agreement providing your publisher a portion of any deal made with cinemas or televisions. If your novel does make it to films or TV shows, consequently your publisher’s sales will surely increase. It will be excessively advantageous for him if he still gets a share. However if you think that there is very little probability for your novel to get to Hollywood, then you can offer your publisher a portion of film rights to get a larger advance. This means that your contract will provide that a sale made to film or television, will give the publisher additional income.

Do not expect to earn money when your novel is produced in formats especially made for the handicapped such as in Braille, since your publisher is unlikely to charge you in this kind of occasions.

This section of the contract should provide that the publisher should send you two royalty statements annually, each covering a six – month disclosing period. The arrival of each statement should be about 90 days after the end of the disclosing period. It commonly takes the form of a computer printout supplying you with the following information: number of copies shipped, number of copies sent back unsold, and the number most likely sold. The publisher will likely keep hold of a portion of the royalty just in case some copies might be returned. Whatever is left refers to the definite number that the publisher is liable of paying.

Most probably, you will not receive any check on the first or probably, also the second disclosing period. This is because your advance will likely have expended the total impending royalties on these two periods. Once your royalties will sum up greater than the amount you advanced, that’s when you’ll start receiving checks.

This part of the contract should be indispensable. Sign only a contact which provides that the publisher is obligated to send you two royalty statements in a year. Do not take the risk to go for years without being aware of the status of your sales by signing a contact that guarantees a statement only after the novel has produced more than its advance.

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Categories: Fiction Writing, Novel Writing | Tags: Creating Characters for Novels, Creating Characters for Short Stories, Film Rights, How to Write Novel Characters | Comments Off