Negotiating a Book Contract: A Guide for Authors, Agents and Lawyers

by Mark L. Levine

Publishing contracts can readily be negotiated that balance the rights and interests -- and meet the needs -- of author and publisher alike. This book is designed to alert authors, and their agents and lawyers, to the many points that are either omitted entirely from some publishers' contracts or are written primarily from the publishers' perspective. Authors should be aware that virtually every publisher regularly revises its standard contract in many areas when asked to do so by authors and their representatives. It is only the author who doesn't know it is perfectly acceptable to ask for changes to the standard contract. Most of the points noted in this book can be obtained simply by asking; others may require harder negotiation.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1988

About the author

Mark L. Levine, one of the country's leading authorities on book contracts, is a former partner of Boston's Sullivan & Worcester LLP and has also been a publisher and book packager. He writes the Contracts Q&A column for the Authors Guild Bulletin and is the founder of www.BookContracts.com. He also conducts seminars for non-lawyers on negotiating and on contract law.

Levine has spent virtually his entire legal career drafting and negotiating a broad range of contracts. He has represented major domestic and foreign financial institutions and Fortune 500 corporations in sophisticated corporate and financial transactions in addition to representing authors and agents in publishing matters. He is a former vice president and member of the Board of Directors of the American Book Producers Association.

He is the author of three books, with total sales of more than 200,000 copies. Negotiating a Book Contract: A Guide for Authors, Agents and Lawyers is Levine's third book. He is co-editor of The Tales of Hoffman (Bantam Books 1970), a documentary of courtroom confrontations from the "Chicago 7" conspiracy trial (four printings), and The Complete Book of Bible Quotations (Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster 1986; eight printings).

He has also successfully published Picture Stories from the Bible ... in Full-Color Comic-Strip Form (over 100,000 copies sold), hardcover reprints of paperback books that were originally published in the 1940s by M.C. Gaines, one of the founders of DC comics and the father of William M. Gaines, founder of Mad Magazine.

Levine is a graduate of Columbia College, NYU School of Law (where he was a member of Law Review) and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (where he was the recipient of the Louis and Pauline Cowan Award for Excellence in Media Management).

Levine is also an experienced voter protection attorney who has worked for progressive political candidates in New York, New Hampshire, Ohio, Maryland, Missouri, Wisconsin, South Carolina, West Virginia, Florida and Mississippi.

A native of Bath, Maine, he lives in a suburb of New York City.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Sims · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very helpful in negotiating my first book contract all by myself, as well as reviewing contracts later negotiated for my by an agent.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-3.5 stars: This was a really great starter's - or refreshed's - guide to the basics when it comes to publishing contracts. For the most part, the main points are explained & hit upon, but there was a fair amount missing once payments, warranties, and basic terms were outlined. Clearly, the information re: electronic rights was pretty much all out of date at this point & I would have appreciated a much more in depth look at the types of subrights one can grant to the publisher or sub license & the clauses/terms involved there. A closer look at remainder stock & deep discount royalties, clauses regarding reissues & not just nonfiction new editions, would have been appreciated as well.

This wasn't a bad book by any means, but it won't shed too much light on anyone whose already familiar with publishing contracts (and be warned, of course, that there are many points of advice here that may not be practical or considered standard practice). Solid pick, however, for anyone in need of a starter's guide! Just be sure to mark down all your questions as you go :)

[Bryan Thomas Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful book. Should be on the shelf of every writer serious about selling their work. Only downside is the price. It's expensive for a thin little book. But definitely informative and a key reference.

[Deborah Sheldon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a grim, joyless slog of legalese, but the information is priceless.

[Livia Blackburne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really helpful and easy to use reference.