Why Contracts Matter If an Author Plans to Self Publish

by A.C. Williams @ACW_Author

What happens when your publisher shuts down? More and more authors are turning to self-publishing as a way to resurrect their titles after their press has closed. 

Last month we talked about how important it is to know your career goals before you re-publish a book (Why Do You Want Your Book to Be Re-published). Once you decide to move forward with self-publishing, you’re on your own with your business plans. No one is going to design a marketing strategy for you, so you need to do it. But making the plan is only the first step. You might think that the next step is moving forward with publishing your book, right? 

Wrong. 

Believe it or not there are more questions to ask, and almost all of them are legal questions. Don’t skip this. If there is any part of this series that is more important than the others, it’s this one. You need to know what rights you have concerning your manuscript. 

Ideally you would have already sorted this out in advance, but in many instances I’ve heard of, authors don’t get a lot of notice before a press closes. You may not have any leeway to negotiate your rights. 

Before we get into this, a disclaimer: I am not a legal expert. If you need more information, please consult a professional. I can only tell you what I have learned, and every situation is different. So if something in this post sparks a thought in your brain, please check it out in the context of your own situation, and don’t hesitate to bring in a legal expert. This stuff gets really complicated really fast. 

For your sake, I hope you already negotiated your rights before you signed with your publisher, but if you don’t have an agent, you may not have known what you could ask for. You may not have known what you should ask for. And if you were working with a very small press, they may not have even give you a real contract. 

So the first step in this process is to review your contract. Look for any legal documents that passed between you and your publisher as you worked with them to get your book published. 

If you don’t have a contract, that may be something you need to discuss with a lawyer. If you are still in contact with the people who published your book, email them to ask for a document that indicates you are the owner of the manuscript and all its associated rights. There is a chance you will be asked for that document, and if you don’t have it, you could get in trouble when you republish your book. 

But I’m going to assume that you had a contract. Most reputable publishing houses do. 

Make sure all rights to your manuscript have reverted back to you, the author. Make sure that you can print and distribute your book in any format at any time or place that you decide. Make sure that your publisher did not retain ownership of the manuscript in any way. 

If they did, contact a lawyer. But, again, if they are at all reputable, usually all print rights and distribution rights should have been returned to you as the author. And they shouldn’t have claimed ownership or copyright on your manuscript to begin with. You will likely need to pay a fee to obtain the formatted documents and your cover art, if you want it. 

I am aware of some publishers that retain ownership of the edited manuscripts and not the unedited ones. Purchasing the edited manuscript sometimes can cost the author a pretty penny. You can have your manuscript back, just not with any of the edits included. This might not be a deal breaker for you, but if your book had extensive edits, it could make a difference. 

This is the primary reason why you always, always, always need to check your contract carefully before you sign it. It’s not that you doubt a publisher’s integrity; they are doing business, and so are you. You have to be clear on what they will do for you and what they won’t. 

It all comes down to the contract. So for those of you who haven’t published traditionally yet, pay attention. Don’t just take a publisher’s word for it. Read your contract. Know what’s in it. You have no control over when your publisher might have to close. If you’re fortunate, they will communicate with you and be willing to work with you if they do. But make sure you are protecting yourself with the contract first, and if you have any concerns or worries or questions about a contract, ask. 

Ask them to clarify it. A major red flag is a publisher that doesn’t understand the implications of their own contracts. And if they can’t explain it in a way that makes sense, talk to a legal expert.

Contractual language can be difficult to read, so if you’d rather not learn how, get in touch with someone who can. There are many books on writing contracts and negotiating contracts that you can read, and there are even classes you can take to learn how to navigate contracts. 

Once you determine that you have print rights and distribution rights for your manuscript in all formats (paperback, hardback, ebook, audiobook, etc), then you can proceed. Get an official reversion of rights document from your publisher, and then you can take the next step toward getting your book back into the hands of your readers. 

Just remember, don’t sign your name to something you don’t understand. You don’t have to be an expert on contracts, but it’s worth investing some time to make sure there are no surprises waiting for you if your publisher has to close. 

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A.C. Williams, also known as Amy C. Williams, is a coffee-drinking, sushi-eating, story-telling nerd who loves cats, country living, and all things Japanese. Author of more than 20 books, she keeps her fiction readers laughing with wildly imaginative adventures about samurai superheroes, clumsy church secretaries, and goofy malfunctioning androids; her non-fiction readers just laugh at her and the hysterical life experiences she’s survived. If that’s your cup of tea (or coffee), join the fun at www.amycwilliams.com.