Advancing Through the Publishing Contract: Show Me the Money!

Welcome back to our continuing Thursday series on publishing contracts! Today, we continue our tour of John Q. Penman's publishing deal.

Immediately following the initial rights paragraph we see the following:

"Publisher will pay Author, or Author's authorized representative (if named below), the sum of _____________ dollars ($_____.00) ("Advance") as an advance against Author's earnings under this Agreement. The Advance is payable in three installments, as follows:

(a) 1/3 upon full execution of this Agreement.
(b) 1/3 upon Publisher's acceptance of the manuscript for the Work.
(c) 1/3 upon first publication of the Work in the United States."

First: congratulations to John. He's receiving an advance, which is an up-front payment from the publisher for the Work. The amount of an author's advance will vary with the size of the publisher and the type of work, and some smaller presses don't offer advances at all.

Most industry professionals agree that advances are smaller now than they were ten years ago, but that's not necessarily a reason to worry. Remember: the advance is money received against earnings - so a smaller advance just makes it easier for the author to earn out - which happens when the author's total royalties exceed the advanced amount.

Earning out makes you a success in the publisher's eyes - and that is every author's real goal.

In most cases, the advance is paid in two or three installments.  The first one is usually paid "on signing" ("on full execution of the Agreement" means when all parties have signed the contract). In a two-payment situation, the second payment is usually made when the publisher accepts the final manuscript (in a three payment situation, this is when installment 2 is made). Where, as here, the contract calls for three payments, the third one will either coincide with publication of the work or (more rarely) with completion of copy edits.

Many authors get tunnel vision about advances - to the detriment of other, more important contract provisions. While the advance is important, ultimately it's the royalty percentage, grants of rights and "out of print" (and termination) clauses that play a much larger role in the author/publisher relationship. Don't let the advance (or lack thereof) blind you to the larger picture!

Evaluate the advance like every other provision: in the context of the contract as a whole.

What are your thoughts on advances? I'd love to hear your opinions in the comments.

Posted by Susan Spann 

Susan Spann is a California publishing attorney and the author of Claws of the Cat (St. Martin's / Minotaur, July 2013), the first novel in the Shinobi Mystery series featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori.

More Than You Bargained For: Contracts Up Close & Personal

As a publishing attorney, I hear lots of questions (and complaints) from authors about publishing contracts. One of the most common is, "I just don't understand what it says."

A problem we're going to fix here at Chiseled In Rock.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be dissecting and explaining publishing contract language in detail, to help all authors - independent and traditionally-published - better understand their publishing deals.

Whether you're a seasoned pro or still working on that all-important initial manuscript, it's a series that will help you understand your rights, your contracts, and the publishing business - it's your business, after all!

Today we'll start with a brief explanation of defined terms.

Defined terms are the often-capitalized words in a contract that have a specific or special definition. The defined term is usually set off by parentheses or quotation marks (sometimes both), and is usually a shortened form of a longer name or idea.

Defined terms are legalese shorthand, allowing attorneys and others to read a contract without repeating parties' names and redefining deal-specific terms (some of which have elaborate definitions) every time the words appear in the contract. They have the effect of simplifying contract language, but they can also be traps for the unwary, especially with complicated terms like "Royalties," "Territory," and "Option."

An example from the header of a standard publishing contract:

Fictitious Publishing Company ("Publisher") and John Q. Penman ("Author") are entering into this Publishing Agreement ("Agreement") dated January 17, 2013 ("Effective Date").

Did you spot the defined terms?

Throughout the rest of this publishing contract, the capitalized term "Publisher" means Fictitious Publishing Company and "Author" means our new friend, John Q. Penman. (We'll be seeing a lot of John, and his publishing contract, in the weeks to come. Tune in and see if he's made a good deal or a bad one.)

The term "Effective Date" will show up again, when we get to the paragraph about contract term and termination, so keep it in mind, because the contract generally won't re-define it the next time it appears.

Tune in next week when we dive right into the meat of "John's" contract - the territory and rights clause. Until then, keep it legal!

Posted by Susan Spann

Susan Spann is a California publishing attorney and the author of Claws of the Cat (St. Martin's / Minotaur, July 2013), the first novel in the Shinobi Mystery series featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori.