Quote:
Originally Posted by anamardoll
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.  |
This is why it's important, as a writer, to have a good agent. It's the agent's job to sort out the contractual stuff, and to make sure that you aren't signing away things that you aren't aware of.