Today I’m a guest at Writer Unboxed, where I discuss five publishing trends that writers should keep an eye on. Here’s a brief excerpt related to contracts:
By the time I left trade publishing (2010), the contracts were being tweaked every 6 months to reflect a changing business environment and new opportunities in digital publishing. I’m starting to wonder if there will ever be a “typical” contract again, given the increasing number of variables. Consider:
- The increasing leverage of successful self-published authors (see Hugh Howey and his traditional publishing deal that allow him to keep his e-book rights).
- New digital imprints or start-ups that offer very different contracts than established outlets—and rightly so, though some are good contracts and others are bad, more on that below.
- Print publishing deals and distribution rights are becoming more and more like subsidiary rights. In other words, they’re not always the most important or profitable right for an author to license.
- Foreign and translation rights will become increasingly important as e-book sales grow in international markets.
Unfortunately, most publishing contracts are closely guarded and not available for public review. So what is an author to do? Here’s my advice.
Visit Writer Unboxed to keep reading.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
Interesting. Thank you for sharing. <3