BTW — I agree with Nonny and Nora. I would feel very uncomfortable signing a contract that ties me to any one entity forever.

I see a lot of people holding forth on what the contract does, but nobody posting what it says.

While Harlequin retains the rights to my backlist for them, they do so according to the terms of the contract, by keeping the books in print. I believe the oop term for reversion is 5 or 7 years. I’d check that, but that’s what agents are for.

The 5 or 7 is a long time from some standpoints, but at least there’s a defined end–and I believe it’s in the same neighborhood for my contracts with Putnam/Berkley. I assumed that was industry standard.

Forever just isn’t acceptible to me. I can’t imagine it would fly well with most agents either.

I wonder how many established authors will sign up to this?

Every publisher has a “boilerplate” contract that fits almost all their authors/books. I cannot stress enough how important it is that authors read and understand their contract before signing. If you don’t understand something in it, ASK. And get experienced, professional advice. Then consider your own priorities and career plans, and what elements of the contract may or may not be negotiable.

Raelene Gorlinsky, Publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing Inc.

However, I have been wary of S&S ever since their publication of Ian Kelly’s biography of Beau Brummel. They promised this book as an e-release and then reneged. The biography may not have done well in print but I suspect that over a longer period of time it may have performed well as an e-release.

Based on this experience, my perception is that S&S have problems on the e-pub side. I signed up for news of the Brummel book. Every month, I get an email thanking me for a current purchase (none) followed several days later by an apology (noting that I have no recent purchases). Damn, this looks bad.

I would recommend that any author signing a contract with S&S should have the contract examined by an agent and a lawyer.

I can understand, to a point. From what I understand (and please correct me if I’m wrong) J.R.Ward didn’t sell very well when she was writing as Jessica Bird. Now that she’s gained a larger fan base, however, I would imagine her JB books are selling much better. I can see how a publisher would want to continue to make a profit in cases such as this.

But…well, aren’t they hurting themselves?

Ellora's Cave, like almost all major publishers, has a contract with grant of rights for life of copyright. HOWEVER, our contract does indeed include the standard and normal clause allowing the author to get their rights back if the book is out of print (which for ebooks would mean we are no longer offering it for sale) OR if sales drop below a certain amount within a year.

I’m not sure I understand this. What, exactly, does that mean? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a book selling forever. I.E. if I published a book tomorrow, I don’t think it would still be flying off the shelves ten years after the fact. So at some point, whether it be a week after publication or ten years after, the sales are going to drop, aren’t they? So why have the “life” clause then?

A blatant fact error in your article on S&S and contracts has been brought to my attention, and I ask that you correct your article.

Ellora’s Cave, like almost all major publishers, has a contract with grant of rights for life of copyright. HOWEVER, our contract does indeed include the standard and normal clause allowing the author to get their rights back if the book is out of print (which for ebooks would mean we are no longer offering it for sale) OR if sales drop below a certain amount within a year.

It is that minimum sales requirement clause that S&S is reported to be eliminating – thus leaving an author with no way to reclaim their rights to the book even if S&S chooses not to offer it for sale any longer.