Tuesday News: Publishers at Comic-Con, self-publishing and agent contracts, how BookBub works, and the Telegraph’s 1914 archives
Publishing NewsBookBub / Comic-Con / contracts / History / Literary Agents / marketing / newspaper / Publishers / research / Self-publishing / World War I8 Comments
No Lack of Major Prose Houses at Comic-Con – I think this article is a great example of how diversified entertainment options are, both in terms of partnerships between media outlets and formats, and competition for reader/viewer/gamer eyeballs and dollars. Jane has long said that it’s other forms of entertainment, not other books, that publishers and booksellers have to worry about. I, for one, think she’s right.
Comic-con may celebrate comics but the fans are on the lookout for books and related media of all kinds. Over the weekend, HarperCollins and its partners are set to preview an interactive, multimedia project based on writer James Frey’s Endgame trilogy, which chronicles teens hunting for ancient keys that could save the world. At its core, the project is an augmented reality game that allows players, using their smartphones, to scavenge for items around Comic-Con. Endgame is also getting the film treatment by 20th Century Fox. Frey, HarperCollins, Google’s Niantic Labs and 20th Century Fox collaborated on the project, and they’re planning panels, signings, access codes to games. –Publishers Weekly
Self-Publishing and Author-Agent Agreements: The Need for Change – A pretty important article on the extent to which existing contracts between agents and authors impact self-published and hybrid authors, especially those who have had rights reverted on books that were originally covered under the agent-author agreement. It still slays me that literary agents don’t need to be a) licensed, or b) attorneys, despite the fact that they are so clearly in a fiduciary role. So given that, it seems that authors need to be even more careful and educated about what they sign and who they choose to represent them and their work.
I’ve warned in the past about interminable agency clauses in author-agent agreements (language through which an agency claims the right to remain the agent of record not just for the duration of any contracts it negotiates for your book, but for the life of the book’s copyright). One of the many concerns raised by such language is what happens if you want to self-publish backlist books that the agency originally sold for you. With an interminable agency clause, might your agency feel entitled to a share of your self-publishing income? –Writer Beware
How BookBub’s Selection Process Works – A very interesting, graphically enhanced, explanation of how BookBub chooses its selections. The overwhelming theme? A successful book is more likely to be chosen to enjoy even more success. Hmmm.
It’s important to know before reviewing the graphic that BookBub has always limited the number of titles we feature in order to avoid overwhelming our subscribers and to ensure all our partners’ listings have an equal chance of performing well. So while every book that gets submitted to us goes through this process, only about 10%-15% of them will be chosen for a feature. We hope this graphic reveals just how tough those decisions can be for our editors! –BookBub
Life on the eve of war – If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, or just fascinated by life in Britain in 1914, at the edge of a war that changed the world in profound and innumerable ways, check out the Telegraph’s newspaper archives for that year.
A month before the outbreak of war Henley Regatta opened in “brilliant fashion”, The Daily Telegraph reported, with record crowds and “perfect” weather. It presents an image of Edwardian Britain as we fondly imagine it to have been, before the sudden cloudburst of August 1914.
Of course, the reality was far different for the 99 per cent of people who did not own land, collect rents or vacation at Biarritz and Marienbad. Most Edwardians worked in dark, noisy factories, cut hay in fields, toiled down dirty and dangerous mines; had bones bent by rickets and lungs racked by tuberculosis. Life expectancy then was 49 years for a man and 53 years for a woman, compared with 79 and 82 years today. They lived in back to back tenements or jerry-built terraces, wore cloth caps or bonnets (rather than boaters, bowlers and toppers) and they had never taken a holiday – beyond a day trip to Brighton or Blackpool – in their entire lives. –The Telegraph
Thanks The newspaper archives are fascinating. The best books I’ve read on that period are Barbara Tuchman’s The Proud Tower and The Guns of August. I highly recommend them.
The Fateful Year: England 1914 by Mark Bostridge
Peace and War: Britain In 1914 by Nigel Jones
The Last Summer: May-September 1914 by Kirsty Macleod
are recent reads I’ve loved. They’re more about the social history of British society on the eve of WWI.
I’ve just been to the First World War gallery at the Imperial War Museum, London. It’s just been reopened after a four year renovation. Highly recommended, if you find yourself in that neck of the woods.
August 4th is the 100th anniversary of the declaration of war by Britain on Germany.
Thank you for posting the archive link – I really enjoyed it, and second the reco of “The Guns of August. “A classic. Has anyone read Thomas Otte’s recent “The July Crisis”? It isn’t in my library’s Overdrive collection, and I’m wondering if I should break down and buy it.
For a fictional look at the before and during of WWI from a regular person’s POV, albeit YA, I recommend L.M. Montgomery’s “Rilla of Ingleside” – it’s been one of my favourites since I was a kid, and came to appreciate it even more as I studied WWI through high school and university.
Robin,
I am SO glad I caught your article! I’ve been speaking with another author friend of mine about contracts and the role agents play with those of us fortunate enough to require one.
Your statement about, “an agency claim[ing] the right to remain the agent of record not just for the duration of any contracts it negotiates for your book, but for the life of the book’s copyright,” shocked the ink out of me. I had not thought about this…only about the duration of a contract.
Looks like I’ll have more subject matter to consider with my author friend now. Luckily, he’s a contract lawyer by profession. =)
Greatly appreciate the article.
@Jaime Buckley: RE: talking to your author/contract lawyer friend. From everything I’ve learned, publishing law is an entirely different kettle of fish, and terms that even other lawyers think they understand mean something different. Upshot: before you sign a publishing contract, consult with a publishing lawyer.
Thanks for that BookBub link. Having been rejected 16 times myself it’s interesting to see how it all works.
Based on my limited BookBub experience I think your comment “A successful book is more likely to be chosen to enjoy even more success.” must be very true. One of my first purchases was by a USA Today best selling author. The book was poorly edited (trouble with homonyms). I was annoyed by the quality because I thought that the “tough decisions” made by BookBub editors would serve as a filter to careless presentation. I tried to confirm the author’s status as USA Today best selling author, and learned it is a big group — 150 books every week. Then I read several reviews and consider that a majority expressed the same idea, in slightly different words. My overall impression is of being hoodwinked. I’ll consider BookBub recommendations more carefully in the future.