And Nora, to answer your question about agents and epubs, some agents do take on e-published writers, but not many. You have to have a really good track record before they’ll sign you. I’ve tried to get an agent and though I’ve come close, it’s like the print pubs–really like the book, don’t want to take it on… Maybe once my book comes out, if the sales are good, etc.

This, right here, demonstrates why you can’t trust yourself to read legal prose.

“Warrantees” is a legal “term of art”. IANAL, but the meaning is something in the neighborhood of “promises” or “guarantees”* . “Warranties” is not the same word, and therefore doesn’t have the same meaning in a contract.

I’m not picking on the original poster, so much as showing why a writer really, really doesn’t have enough background information to interpret a contract correctly.

* I just looked it up, and I was SO wrong. “A warrantee (accent on last syllable) is a person or party who is guaranteed something. ” Which is why I can’t be trusted to read this, either.

It's another example of NCP making a vindictive move that damages their authors and their own house.

Chaoscat AKA Samahtha Storm

However, having someone look over your contract before you sign is mega important. I think one mistake a newbie makes is thinking that they don’t want to rock the boat. In my experience, most reputable publishers are more than willing to answer contract questions and work with the author. :)

I get the feeling that was the case with the supposed release of unauthorized material. If you contracted the book, in my opinion that makes it authorized and my IP lawyer brother-in-law agrees.

And this was on the NCP authors’ list this morning…………..

Ok, this was posted at my rwa group and this writer talked to the lawyers she worked with. This is what they said ****

Showed the New Concepts “PUBLIC NOTICES” to a publishing attorney in my
office – it is just a legal formality, and done in other arenas
(although he said he hasn’t seen it used in publishing before, but said
it would actually be a good idea to avoid confusion about who is holding
the rights on the properties in question). For the purposes (most
likely, he says, since he has no knowledge of New Concepts) of
clarifying for public information who the rights holders in these
properties now are and they they no longer have anything to do with the
stuff. It is not to inform the authors – it is to inform the public.

My take may be that they also want to divest themselves of any
responsibility should a third party suddenly start selling or excerpting
the works somehow.

Not an attempt to embarrass, really. And they have to use the names and
pseudonyms to avoid confusion over the same or similar titled books by
different authors.

And those instances in which the author has been accused or deemed to
have breached their contract and the notice indicates that the publisher
will attempt to recoup costs by not paying royalties, the publisher (if
they can prove breach) can recoup costs incurred if they so choose. If
it had been a traditional paper publisher, they could have demanded
their advance back, for example.

Not playing Devil’s advocate here, since I don’t really know anything
about the New Concepts issues. Just throwing in my legal 2 cents since
I can’t swing a dead cat without hitting an IP lawyer here ….

But I would never have sent anything to them because I could find no evidence they’d set up a business with a decent chance of making it. If there’s no record that the publisher is incorporated to do business and has a federal tax ID to use for paying authors, people should run the hell away, no matter how many good things are said about the publisher on blogs and message boards.

I think authors should also do a quick background check on a company before signing a contract. Heck, I do it before I even submit anything, but I'm paranoid like that. :-)

More than a quick one. I researched epublishers for months, pored over booklists and author websites and FAQs and submission guidelines, bought books so I could see the quality of their editing, googled like a madman trying to nose out every little speck of dirt I could regarding their level of professionalism in public, whether there were complaints from authors or customers. In the end, it came down to four I was willing to try. Samhain was my #1 and I feel very lucky to have them. Luckier still, whenever I read something like this comment thread. Holy crapweasels, who the fuck does Ms. De Pasture think she is?

Oh wait, she’s Desiree Acuna. I bought one of her books–it was the second ebook I ever read. When I finished it (oh, why did I bother finishing it?) I decided then and there that I wouldn’t be submitting my work to NCP–and that was before I realized Ms. Acuna and Ms. De Pasture were one and the same.

I have an agent (after just selling to NY), but our agreement is I’ll handle my own epub stuff with the two epubs I’m currently with (who I trust/have a relationship with). If I sell to an epub with some heavy contract stuff then she’ll step in.

As for my contract with LBF Books, I was lucky enough to have a lawyer friend look it over for me. Although my agent looked it over I still wanted a lawyer’s opinion.

I, like many others here, have been caught up in an epub bankruptcy that turned into a long road of nightmarish porportions. But not because of the contract, because of the federal courts’ response to said contract. Did it sour me on epubs or small presses? No, it only made me more cautious. Lesson learned. I still write for epubs and will for a long, long time – God willing and the muse providing.

I feel for all the authors caught up in this latest kerfuffle. It’s very stressful to have your work out there and not know what’s going to happen to it. I hope it’s all resolved soon.

-Kat

Alesia you are so right! I’m a lawyer too and there are things in my early contracts that I missed totally. An attorney who knows publishing contracts is a very good thing, or an agent.

My best wishes to everyone in this situation; seeing any people leach off of writers like soulless vultures makes my blood boil.

Schulyer, your dream sounds pretty. I’m sure there will be some people out there who prefer the warm fuzzy of writing who will flock to your banner. But if anyone were to ask me my opinion, I’d tell them to run the other way. If all you want are warm fuzzies, offer free reads on your website or any number of free story forums.

I’m single with no dependents. I have two full time jobs: one writing training materials and one writing fiction. I want to transition away from the first and make a living from the second. To do that, I have to be “Me, Inc.” Every decision about what to do with a completed writing project is a business decision. Given what I would bill my time at in my profession, I wouldn’t dream of turning over my creative work to a business that says money isn’t important.

If I’ve learned anything in the eight years I’ve been published, it’s this: you cannot think emotionally about your projects when you’re ready to sell. You cannot choose a publisher because they’re nice and have kittens and cute music on their website and treat their writers like a family. I certainly don’t treat the people in the corporate office in which I work as if they’re my brothers and sisters. Why would I do that in my fiction career?

No, that’s where I grab my pocketbook tightly and hold on for dear life. Like you, and like Jules Jones, I want a publisher who thinks of me as a business partner, not as a soulmate.

Go figure. Anyone know why she’s bowing away from NCP so quietly? When I was there with a question that even hinted a complaint she and Mandy were down my throat like a snot ball.

No, I did not get burned on a contract, however I feel that was pure luck on my part. I signed with a brand spanking new company while acknowledging a huge risk was involved. I rolled the dice, and for the most part things have been good, if not always rosey.

Now though, boy has my attitude changed. To have a career you must be well prepared and not all googly-eyed just because some publisher wants to put out your book.

And while I definitely have no money (just ask the creditors who ring my phone off the hook daily) I WILL spring for a lawyer to check over any future contracts. Or at least the first one if signing with a new publisher.

So many say they can’t afford to do this, and so did I, once. But now that I think on it, I spent my money foolishly on that first book. Would a couple of those conference fees have paid for a good attorney? You betcha. Would the gift baskets and giveaways have paid for said attorney? Yeppers. Would my sales have been harmed by giving up a few of these things? Undetermined, but I believe not.

I guess what I am saying is, spend what money you have wisely. You will definitely benifit in the long run.