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Publishing Contracts 101: Beware Internal Contradictions

Header image: man's hand holding silver fountain pen preparing to sign a document (credit: Cytonn Photography / Unsplash.com)
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It should probably go without saying that you don't want your publishing contract to include clauses that contradict one another.

Beyond any potential legal implications, internal contradictions suggest a publisher that either doesn't understand its own contract language well enough to spot the problem--or a publisher that simply doesn't care. Neither is a good sign for what lies ahead.

Contradictions can be tricky to spot, especially for first-time authors who aren't experienced in contract legalese. Here's an example that came across my desk recently: an anthology contract from Dark Lake Publishing that provides for rights reversion 12 months after publication:

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none CONTRACTS

Bad Contract Alert: Stary (aka Dreame)

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This is another in my series of blog posts about serialized fiction app contracts (you can see all of them here).

This time the subject is Stary (official name: Stary Pte Ltd, based in Singapore), one of the largest and most well-established of such companies. At least sixteen apps operate under the Stary umbrella, of which Dreame is probably the best-known. Most cater to English-language readers, but there are several for readers of other languages, including Spanish, Russian, and Portuguese, and one specifically for Filipino writers.

Procedurally, the Stary apps are much like the others I've written about. You must sign up for the app and publish at least three chapters, with a minimum of 3,000 words, before you can apply for a contract. (You could also be invited to apply--like other serialized fiction apps, Stary aggressively solicits for content.)

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none LITERARY AGENTS AND AGENCIES

The AALA (Formerly the AAR) Revises Its Canon Of Ethics

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The Association of American Literary Agents (AALA) recently announced some major revisions to its Canon of Ethics, a series of guidelines for ethical practice to which member agents must adhere.

(Note: the AALA was formerly known as the Association of Authors' Representatives [AAR]. The name change was made in 2020. The legacy website, with the older version of the Canon, is still online.)

The two most significant changes are to Clause 5, with members now prohibited from participating in packaging fees on clients' TV and film deals, and from accepting producer fees without clients' written permission; and to Clause 8, which now permits members to provide paid editing services (formerly, members were prohibited from providing such services).

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none BUSINESS OF WRITING

A Contract Clause to Beware: Claiming Copyright on “Publisher’s Content”

Header image: fountain pen on a sepia background over the words "Publishing Contract" (credit: alexskopje / Shutterstock.com)
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Hi, everyone. My name is Michael Capobianco, and although I’ve been an adjunct member of Writer Beware for some time now, this is my first official blog post.

I’m also the Chair of SFWA’s Contracts Committee, which means I see a lot of bad contracts, both for book-length and short fiction. I’ve gotten used to much of the unfortunate and often contradictory clauses in these contracts, but last week I ran into something that caught my attention: a virtually identical terrible clause in two separate small publishers’ book contracts, a clause that I had never seen before.

Both contracts were for original fiction, but aside from the fact that neither paid an advance, they looked fairly different from one another until they came to this clause. To save you any further suspense, here it is:

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none PUBLISHER COMPLAINTS

Author Complaints At GenZ Publishing

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GenZ Publishing is "on a mission to bring new authors to the world." Founded in 2015 by Morissa Schwartz when she was just out of college, GenZ publishes a wide range of genre fiction, as well as some nonfiction. It also has a YA imprint, Zenith Publishing.

Ms. Schwartz, who describes herself as a bestselling author, is also an entrepreneur: in addition to GenZ/Zenith, she's the founder of Dr. Rissy's Writing & Marketing, which offers various PR services along with copywriting, editing, and consulting; and, according to her Reedsy bio, of a ghostwriting company called AmWriting. She was recently elected to the IBPA Board.

GenZ first came to my attention in 2016, thanks to an unusual clause in its contract (see the second paragraph).

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