Questions for published authors

[rolanni]

Over in another part of the internet, a question, in several parts, has arisen, to which I used to know the answer, but it seems, like so very much else, that the Wisdom of the Internet has produced a new, and startling, answer.  This happens a lot, as we get older, that what worked for us no longer works for anyone else, so this is in the nature of a reality check.

So, first, the meta-question, with my own response beneath, in parenthesis.

1.  Do you need an agent?

(Well, no.  You don't need an agent.  We've variously had agents and didn't.  When we have had representation, I've found it to be worth the 15% commission.  In my experience, agents not only vet contracts, but they're also on hand to make those Awkward Phone Calls, such as:  "In the most recent contract, X Rights are reserved to the author, and yet you, the publisher, have now exercised those rights.  We assume, of course, that this is an honest error, but, still, it needs to be addressed.  How would you like to proceed?"  Also, we often ask our agent for advice regarding situations we haven't faced, and which she likely has, by reason of representing many authors. So, that.)

2.  Is it "better" (as in "more cost effective") to have a lawyer go over your contract, as opposed to an agent?

(My received wisdom is that lawyers look at publishing contracts and their heads explode, because they simply don't know what the words mean.)

3.  Will the publisher get angry with you, the author, if, after they've offered you a contract, you hire an agent (or a lawyer) to go over it?

(Myself, I think that a legitimate publisher would be delighted to have a pro going over their contract and dealing with the writer's questions, rather than having to cope with that, themselves.  I also think that, in the probable case of the agent/lawyer finding nothing amiss, that this finding would be the beginning of a foundation of trust between author and publisher.)

4.  Would you ever not read a contract because you know that the publisher would never, ever act against your interest as an author?

(Myself, I think that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Also that good fences make good neighbors.  Mistakes happen.  Somebody new in the Contracts Department might send the wrong contract, for instance.  It's a pain, but -- just better, all around, to read the thing and reassure yourself that your publisher loves you.)

5.  I addressed this somewhat in my answer to #1 above, but -- Do you feel that having an agent is actually cost-effective?  Why or why not?  Examples are encouraged.

Comments

Agents

[charlie russel (from livejournal.com)]

We had agents for many years, and found them worth their 15%. But towards the end of the relationship with out most recent agent, it became clear that he no longer was adequately acting as our agent, but had become a third party with a different agenda that wasn't necessarily in our best interests. We fired him, and haven't regretted it since. Of course, by the time we'd read contracts for 15 years we had a good idea of what to dig our heels in about. (Speaking of which, I actually thought cross-collateralization was evil until I saw your description of basket accounting. Now that is truly and completely EVIL!)

Re: Agents

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

We, too, had to let an agent go because she stopped being our agent and began, in the case, to be her agent. She taught us a lot before we parted ways, though, so it's hard to see the relationship as a failure, merely that the parties had grown apart.

(Speaking of which, I actually thought cross-collateralization was evil until I saw your description of basket accounting. Now that is truly and completely EVIL!)

Basket accounting is a Tool of the Devil. But -- tell! What's cross-collateralization?

Re: Agents

[charlie russel (from livejournal.com)]

Cross-collateralization is almost basket accounting, though there are differences if I understand basket. Series aren't really part of the non-fiction/computer book world. But if I write a book for Publisher ABC, and it does well, great. I write another one, and it never earns back it's advance? It will start to eat the profits of the first one. IOW, very like basket accounting. The difference, I guess, is that one doesn't sell books as a series, so each contract is written separately. I could, therefore, have books which were cross-collareralized and books that weren't on the same royalty statement. The publisher has less obvious profit motives for mis-behaviour. Though many of the same rules apply.

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

I have had three agents. The first one never read the contracts she sent me. The second one made promises, never kept them, and treated me like a fifth-class citizen. The third dumped me because I "wasn't prolific enough" and she couldn't be bothered to read the synopses I sent her.

I would never, ever have an agent again.

There are a lot of literary lawyers out there. Going to a lawyer who does not specialize in literary and intellectual property issues makes as much sense as going to someone who specializes in real estate law to defend you in a murder trial. They're not that hard to find; Laura Resnick has a Literary Lawyers Directory on her Writers Resource Page (http://www.sff.net/people/laresnick/About%20Writing/Writers%20Resource.htm).

Even with a lawyer, though... question #4 is the kind of thing that too many of us (including myself) have done, and it is pure STUPID. If you're signing a contract for ANYTHING, you READ that contract. And if someone tells you, "Oh, we never enforce that clause," or "Oh, it doesn't really mean that," you DON'T believe them and you get it CHANGED--or you will get exactly what you deserve as a result. Believe me, I know.

Contracts

[gareth griffiths (from livejournal.com)]

Contracts are for when everything falls apart. When all goes well who needs them, but when the walls come crashing down they are essential. 'We never enforce that' ... 'OK then you won't mind removing it will you'. 'It doesn't mean that' 'OK what does it mean... so lets make it say that'. It is all too easy at the start of a business relationship to 'not want to offend' by taking a contract to bits. You do not have to offend, but you do have to insist. Whether that means an agent or a lawyer I have no opinion - I suspect there are good and bad agents - taking the analogy of sport a player's agent will help negotiate the best deal for the player - if hey do that they earn their money. The key as observed in comments is that it must be the best deal for the player (or writer) not (just) the best deal for the agent.