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 nearly 25 years working in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. She is the editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2023. Her latest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. In addition to serving on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, she works with organizations such as The Authors Guild to bring transparency to the business of publishing.
Interesting. Thank you for sharing. <3