The Journal: Traditional Publishing Contracts: Derivative Rights

In today’s Journal

* Quotes of the Day
* From Dan Baldwin’s Writing Tip of the Week
* About Kris Rusch Licensing Books
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Quotes of the Day

“There is only one thing you can do, I think. Log out of BookScan. Close Goodreads. Log off Twitter. And go write. I know it’s not a very original thought. But clichés can be true. Maybe it’s the only true thing.” Lincoln Michael

“At the root of most fear is what other people will think of us.” Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday

Below is reprinted most of Dan Baldwin’s recent blog, which appeared in his Writing Tip of the Week on October 3. It was too good to not pass along, with his permission, of course:

Contracts: Derivative Rights

While rummaging through some old files I came across a contract offer from a major traditional publisher from many years ago. I thought I’d share the thoughts that popped into my mind. The following excerpt is taken directly from that contract, a contract I did not sign in its original form.

GRANT OF RIGHTS AND SUBSIDIARY RIGHTS

Author hereby grants to Publisher, for the full term of the applicable copyright in the Work in each and every country of the world….

Derivative Rights: The exclusive right to create adaptations and derivative works of, or any commercial products adapted or derived from, the Work or any element thereof….

Why is this a good idea?

Notice that the Author hands over (grants) a hell of a lot of rights to the publisher who had nothing to do with the creation of the original work, the characters, the plot or the hours spent blunting your fingers on the keyboard. The contract goes into great detail listing all the media past, present and future applicable to the great handover. Unless the contract specifies otherwise, the publisher controls the life of the book and anything developed from the book. Can you say movie… video game… paperback… toys… cereal boxes….

The creator grants all future goodies to the marketer. Again, why is this a good idea?

Such clauses, and there are many of them, are what I and many others call “dealbreakers.” I’m not so desperate to publish traditionally that I’d be willing to just grant the rights to something I’ve created.

“Well, well, Mr. Fleming, you’ve really come up with something with this James Bond of yours. We see a great future and a lot of income from the old boy. We’ll take it from here. All of it. Don’t let the door hit you in the butt as you leave.”

FYI – I did sign with the publisher, but not until we negotiated many significant changes in the initial offer. These days I wouldn’t waste the effort. By the time I can handle all such negotiations, I can Indie publish and be well on my way to completing the next book.

The bottom line: when it comes to [granting rights], don’t get taken.

Quote of the Week: “The meek shall inherit the earth… but the strong shall retain the mineral rights.” Anonymous

Recommended Reading: Deal Breakers 2013: Contract Terms Writers Should Avoid by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

About Kris Rusch’s Licensing Books

Thanks to Dan Baldwin for the post above.

Though Rusch herself wrote that Deal Breakers 2013 is “woefully out of date,” it might still be useful for anyone seeking a traditional publishing contract.

On the other hand, to read Kris’ updated articles on Contracts and Dealbreakers, visit https://kriswrites.com/business-musings/contracts-and-dealbreakers/. The links to the free blog posts are listed there. If you scroll down a bit, you can also find all of those posts and probably more info in one book titled Rethinking The Writing Business.

Talk with you again later.

Of Interest

See “Fall Special Workshop Sale” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/fall-special-workshop-sale/. Just FYI.

See “Sales Numbers, Goodreads Reviews, and Other Ways to Drive an Author Mad” at https://countercraft.substack.com/p/sales-numbers-goodreads-reviews-and.

See “476 Ways to Avoid Saying ‘Said'” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/476-ways-to-avoid-saying-said/. Note that they aren’t recommending using dialogue tag verbs other than said.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………………… 300 words

Writing of WCGN 5: Tentative Title (novel)

Day 1…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX

Total fiction words for October……… XXXX
Total fiction words for the year………… 623282
Total nonfiction words for October… 960
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 166920
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 7090202

Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… 13
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 1
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 3
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 66
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 217
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31

Disclaimer: In this blog, I provide advice on writing fiction. I advocate a technique called Writing Into the Dark. To be crystal clear, WITD is not “the only way” to write, nor will I ever say it is. However, as I am the only writer who advocates WITD both publicly and regularly, I will continue to do so, among myriad other topics.