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The Business Rusch: Stand Up for Yourselves

Mythopoet

Auror
Here's a great message for writers from longtime author Kristine Kathryn Rusch:

Here are a handful of examples that I’m personally familiar with:

-The acquiring editor for Writer A moved to another company. The new editor loathed the book she inherited. Instead of passing the book to another editor, she demanded rewrites–ten of them over three years. That ended when this new editor moved to another company, and yet another new editor came on board. The latest editor noted that Writer A had missed her deadline not only for the first book, but for the other three contracted (ignoring all the revisions the writer had done), canceled the contract and demanded the company be repaid in full.

-The company that Writer B, a #1 New York Times bestseller and a beloved name in the genre, had worked with for twenty years got bought out by another company, and in the mess that followed, Writer B got assigned a new editor. The new editor loathed the genre and thought Writer B was a has-been (even though her sales said otherwise). The new editor was unbelievably rude to Writer B. Writer B was reassigned to new editors twice. Each editor was in her twenties and fresh out of college. Neither of them treated Writer B with respect. Writer B finally decided to retire from writing, having enough money in the bank to live out her days without financial worry.

-Writer C, a brand-new writer, sold a trilogy for a mid-six figure advance. The vice president who bought the book assigned an editor to the project who was notorious for not working hard. That editor did not acknowledge receipt of Book One for a year, and finally handed out revisions after much pressure from Writer C’s powerful agent. Book One came out with a terrible cover, tiny print, and no promotion. The editor still hadn’t read Book Two or Book Three, even though they were on his desk. Finally, Powerful Agent demanded action. The vice president, citing the poor sales of Book One, canceled the contract and demanded repayment of the rest of the advance.

All of these things did not happen to just one writer. They’ve happened to many writers that I know of. I can site at least four examples for point one, a dozen for point two, and three in the past eight years for point three.

So…how does a writer stand up for herself?

1. She knows her business. I say this damn near once a month. Understand copyright law. It’s the foundation for your writing business. Buy the Copyright Handbook. Study it. Learn it. Make understanding all the nuances of copyright and trademark law one of your hobbies. Trust me, this is a lifelong process, since the law is constantly changing.

2. Understand contracts. Learn what you need to have in them to make them palatable for you. If you don’t understand a contract, then ask someone. If you think you understand a contract, make sure a trusted second reader with a legal eye looks at it. If you are in any kind of doubt, hire an intellectual property attorney and make him explain the contract to you clause by clause, implication by implication. Ask for the best case scenario if you sign that contract and, more importantly, the worst case.

3. Have an escape clause. Most contracts I signed in traditional publishing back in the pre-ebook days had an end date and/or a way to determine when that contract ended. This is changing in the modern publishing world–and that change does not benefit writers. Make sure anything you sign has a way out.

4. Make sure your publishing partner meets the terms of the contract. Most traditional publishers do not follow the terms of their own contracts. The royalty statements and payments often arrive months after the contractually mandated due date. In the old days, when those payments came through agents, it was impossible to know what was late and what was mismanagement on the agent’s part. Now, it’s pretty easy to figure out.

I’ve threatened dozens of times to cancel a publishing contract for late payment. I did it back in the old days so that I could get paid. Now I wish I had canceled some of those contracts, particularly with a company that refuses to revert the rights on one of my novels.

5. Be willing to walk away from a bad deal. Most writers think that because they have an offer, they have to take it. No, no, no, and no. That’s just the beginning. The contract needs to be signed by both parties before the deal is final.

6. Be willing to walk away at any point. Sometimes a relationship that seemed good turns bad. That’s why contracts should have termination clauses. Even if there isn’t one or a clear one, you can probably get out of the contract in one way or another.

7. When all else fails, negotiate a new deal for your release. Existing contracts can be amended and terminated, as long as both parties can come to an agreement.

8. STAND UP FOR YOURSELF. Seriously, people. Writers put up with things in their writing contracts and their writing business that they would never put up with in real life.

Read the rest of this very enlightening and inspiring post here: The Business Rusch: Stand Up For Yourself « Kristine Kathryn Rusch

And if you aren't already, I strongly recommend that you visit Kris' website every Thursday for her weekly Business Rusch posts that are aimed at helping writers learn good business.
 
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In general, I’ve been treated very well by my publisher, but even so, there are certain “industry standards” that I don’t agree with. The 25% ebook royalty rate, forcing authors to change names, restrictive non-compete clauses, ridiculously low thresholds for rights reversion, I could go on and on. With the growth of other opportunities (self-publishing) my hope was that publishers would have to change their tune in order to attract and retain authors. I now think that I was being naive. The supply/demand equation is still very much in the publisher’s favor. They can afford to let authors leave because there are many waiting in the wings that will accept bad contracts and abusive behavior. I’ve stopped waiting for the changes to occur. At the end of the day each author has to determine what is best for them, and it’s abuses like this that makes self-publishing more attractive.
 
I love Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog. She wrote an e-book on how to be a freelancer/small business owner, and it was the best, most thorough advice on freelancing that I've ever read. She's started up a few different businesses, but since she's a writer just about everything in that book has relevance for a freelance writer. I would definitely suggest checking it out. It's a long read, but it's free and it's more than worth the time.
 

LadyKatina

Dreamer
Very good stuff. I was sorry to hear that Kristine Kathryn Rusch had decided to end The Business Rusch this week.

The Business Rusch: All Good Things « Kristine Kathryn Rusch

She isn't taking it down, but she's encouraging folks to to go back over the blog now, and capture the stuff they want to be sure not to lose.

"Everything will stay up, although the website’s new design will premiere in May, so some of the older posts might get a bit garbled. If they do, let me know, and I’ll fix. But I recommend printing up the ones that mean the most to you or capturing them in a file or something, just in case."
 
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