By Lise Horton
Too many of our members
have been personally impacted by publisher difficulties. Ellora’s Cave.
Torquere Press, Samhain (which has experienced a rebirth), and Secret Cravings
(which closure seems to have avoided major bumps, though I have no personal
knowledge). But they are merely the most recent examples, and were preceded
over the last several years by Triskelion, Crescent Moon Press, Dorchester
Publishing, Aspen Press and the subsequent operation started by stranded Aspen
personnel, Musa.
The abrupt closing of All
Romance E-books has once again fomented that bitter backlash that has arisen in
the past when a publisher has sunk into chaos and shut its doors. ARe’s demise
may have been without warning, but with publishers, both for the submitting
author, as well as the author established with a particular house, there are
ways to be vigilant and hopefully avoid a bad situation before it starts, or
gets worse.
Of course, there will be
times when a shutdown will catch everyone unawares, and if you are a contracted
or published author with a house, you can perhaps be attuned to certain issues
that can signal a problem and you can extricate yourself early in the process
to avoid being tied up in legal issues or bankruptcy.
So you want to submit. How
do you vet a publisher?
First, go to the source.
Check every nook and cranny of the publisher’s website. Is it professional
looking? One house that engendered criticism had numerous typos, grammatical
errors and punctuation problems, and representative samples of authors’ work
showed bad writing and bad editing.
How much information is
given about the principals? Their industry experience or credentials? (Too many
turn out to be a couple of friends who self-published and then decided to
become “publishers” with no real expertise, and sometimes merely a desire to
make an easier buck.)
What details are included
for submitting authors? It’s vital you know what is TYPICAL in order to spot an
aberration, such as the claim I saw on one site that no marketing would be
expected of an author because they needed to immerse themselves in their art,
and not deal with such trivial realities (the actual language was even more
florid).
Do they include the most
important details, such as formats they publish in and basic royalty rates?
Response times on submissions?
Delve deeper. Pick a
representative sample of the house’s titles. Check out reviews on Amazon. Are
there substantive complaints about bad editing, problematic formatting, lousy
cover art and writing skill in the books? (Every book gets a couple of bad reviews,
but be wary if a lot of the house titles get a lot of bad reviews.) If you can
afford to, even buy a couple of titles and vet them.
Reach out to a few authors
for references for the house.
And check out author sites
like Writer Beware, Absolute Water Cooler, Preditors & Editors and Dear
Author for consistent complaints and
discussions about a house (a caveat being you’ll always find a couple of grumpy
folk in the best of places). And keep abreast of your RWA email blasts and news
because they keep on top of bad situations too, like ARe, and previously
Ellora’s Cave.
Give yourself a research
window. Follow the publisher on social media. Do they promote authors? Do they
have a blog, newsletter, author contributions? How do they comport themselves?
Recall Tina Engler/Jaid Black’s on-line meltdowns and threats, at the very
worst of the EC scandal, yet they were still soliciting submissions and people
were still submitting! That behavior should be a major red flag.
If everything passes the
sniff test and you submit and are offered a contract, undertake phase 2 of your
vetting (you’re not committed until you
sign that contract). NOTE: Do not be so eager to be published, no matter
what, that you ignore concerns about any aspect of this process! And talk to your
RWA friends! They’ve seen it all!
Your best option would be
to consult a publishing lawyer (or literary agent) if you’re given a contract.
NOT your Uncle Dick, the personal injury guy. Publishing is industry specific
and not knowing industry standards means they might not spot an egregious
clause, or realize a vital provision is missing.
The entire contract is
important, but a few areas are key when a house might be in trouble.
Reversion of rights. Know
how you can request your rights back; under what circumstances (e.g., breach of
contract terms such as scheduled payment of royalties or royalty statements).
If the publisher can
assign the rights to a third party (typical), what are the terms and
restrictions? Do you lose additional
rights, do the royalties or reversion terms change?
Does the contract address
bankruptcy (it is a quagmire, no matter what, but if they don’t even MENTION
the potential situation, that should make you very wary)?
As for basic provisions,
if they’re muddy, or missing, or vastly different than standard, ask for
clarification. This is a business transaction and you need to embrace your
power as a party to a legal contract. Don’t be cowed. And keep accurate records
of email correspondence on these topics, because any promises made (such as
“good faith negotiation”) can be your legal ace in the hole.
Bottom line. You have to
eventually make a choice. If the stars align, it may be a publishing match made
in heaven. But if something goes wrong, from bad luck at a good house, to
nefarious doings at a bad one, you should gird your loins, handle what needs
doing and then move on. Hard to do. Painful, frustrating, maddening.
Then write your next book,
find a new publisher, and get back on your author horse.♥
Lise
Horton in published in erotica and erotic romance, including her Golden
Flogger-nominated 2015 BDSM erotic romance, HOLD TIGHT, and she presented her
workshop on sensory description, A Feast for the Senses, at the 2016 BDSM
Writers Conference. She returns in 2017 as Chapter Secretary and at her day job
is in her 26th year as legal assistant at an entertainment law firm
dealing with publishing. Lise writes smoldering, intense romance replete with
laughter, and kink. Visit her at www.LiseHorton.com
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