Quote:
Originally Posted by rhadin
Yes they should be aware of what the terms of a contract means, but I think Amazon's KDP program is demonstrating how short-term writers think and how quickly they do they things without contacting outside experts or analyzing the terms of an agreement. It is like a chess game; the better players can think several moves ahead and strategize whereas average players think either no or one move ahead.
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Yes, how many people have we seen say, "oh, I could possibly get screwed on the vaguely-worded non-compete portion of the clause, but it's an EXPERIMENT! If this is the great regret of my life" (note: goalpost moving. Why does an idea have to be the WORST IDEA in order to be a bad idea?) "then my life will be a good one". It worries me.
A problem with book contracts, in my opinion, is that they're essentially a contract between a powerful party and a powerless one. I recently spoke with an author who got picked up for an ebook and she has only just now realized that her contract says that her publisher gets dibs on all future books she writes. This is greatly limiting her ability to churn out new books at the pace she is comfortable with, and on the subjects she wants to write about.
This isn't something that can be easily fixed by getting a lawyer. Just FINDING a good contracts/IP lawyer is a struggle. (I'd like one in my area, but haven't had luck looking.) And -- pardon me for pointing out the obvious -- they cost money. A lot of money. Not all aspiring authors have day jobs as software engineers like me.