Creating Contracts as an Author

One aspect of being an author that is often overlooked is the need to have contracts in place to protect certain aspects of your work.

This isn’t to say that you should be afraid of sharing your work, thinking that it will be stolen. No, this actually refers to having legal rights and protections in place when you, as a professional author, bring others in to create high-quality fictional works.

Why you may need a contract.

There are several reasons why you may find yourself in need of a contract. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but a general layout.

1. When getting original creative work

Just as you want credit for your creative labor, other creatives desire credit for theirs. Because of this, you need to have foresight about when, how, and how far-reaching you want your book to go.

For example, you have an illustrator who designs a character. You want to turn that character into a franchise image. You need the rights to the artwork to do that.

Another example: You have a narrator record your book with a royalty agreement. You want to use a snippet of the recording for a TV ad or a YouTube mini-series. You’ll need to have negotiated distribution terms and payment expectations.

2. When spending a large sum of money

It takes money to make money. There are those who publish for the joy of it or with the mindset of not wanting to make money. There are pitfalls in that thinking that we won’t get into today.

Regardless, when you are investing a significant amount of money, you need to protect your investment. The same as you would when getting an apartment, buying a car, or securing a high-paying client.

The contracts you form as an author should protect your money, specify payment plans, deadlines, and how money will be transferred.

3. When you need to hold another person to the terms of an agreement

When working with professionals such as illustrators, editors, narrators, or photographers who have various offerings, you want to specify the work to be completed.

This will protect both of you. You won’t be able to demand work you didn’t pay for. Your contract party won’t be able to skirt completing work you paid for.

Before forming, signing, and completing a contract, you should have formal meetings, in person or online, discussing the work in detail. Have an idea of what you need and desire so that you can negotiate the best deal.

How to set up an enforceable contract.

1. Get a Template

You need to start off with a basic contract. When you work with a publishing professional, such as what you would find with Sunflower Romance Publishing, you’ll be given a sample contract to use or the company will negotiate contracts for you.

If you don’t have that access, you can use the free template provided by Google Docs called Independent Contractor Agreement.

2. Non-disclosure

Having an NDA built into your contract will save you from having to have another contract signed.

If the contract template you find doesn’t have one included, you can find the language for one from the free Google Docs template Non-Disclosure Agreement. You may need to modify these terms for some professionals, like illustrators who like to post progress videos or need samples to add to their portfolio, or narrators who may need to share your book with a producer to clean up the recording.

3. Outline payments

The payment section can really be set up for your benefit, and you should use it as such. If you need to pay a creative partner $1,500 and you don’t have that in a lump sum, negotiate a payment plan and put it in the contract.

You can have a down payment of $250 and five subsequent payments of $250. Make sure you add a tentative schedule for those payments.

Here are a few other things we recommend you include in your payments/compensation section:

• Avenues of payment. You can request invoices from a secure platform that will allow you to retrieve your funds in case a complaint needs to be filed.

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• Payment reduction for missed deadlines. For anyone who has worked with a creative who ghosts you or has poor communication, having a payment reduction plan may reduce payment due to unprofessionalism.

• Changes in charges. We recommend including a clause against having the agreed-upon amount changed after the work starts. Every now and then, you’ll come across a creative who doesn’t read or pay detailed attention to the requested job, eager to make a sale. This is why the details of the contract should be clearly outlined, with a section detailing the reasons the agreed-upon amount may change.

4. Collect mailing address

As a professional publishing company, we have had to master the art of suing a handful of creatives for malpractice. It’s something we hate doing but have had to do to protect the integrity of our work.

In the worst-case scenario, having the mailing information for the creative you are working with is important. It doesn’t have to be a home address, but an address near where they live and a place where they receive mail.

Protection of their mailing address should be included in the language of the contract. Think about the work you do as running a Fortune 500 company. Every single business, no matter the size, has an HR department with the mailing address of every employee on file.

You are your own HR department, and you need this information to properly operate your author business.

5. Work expectations

This is a section born of experience. As you work with creatives, you’ll find things that make doing the work easier, such as communication expectations, receiving progress videos, and how many revisions you’ll need.

As you learn what works for you, you may find it best to outline it clearly in your contract. Good communication is the professional expectation for success.

Final considerations

Not everyone will have access to a printer, scanner, or digital system for signing a contract. This may cause delays in receiving signed contracts. If you care about being able to move forward quickly, and having a system to collect and store contracts, you may want to look into free systems to get signatures.

Some professionals will have their own contract they want you to sign. If this is the case, make sure that you read the contract in detail to ensure it doesn’t conflict with the terms you care about. If you don’t like the details of their contract, renegotiate and push to have your contract be the binding agreement.

Want step-by-step guidance on forming the contracts for your current project? Get an Author Consultation andd meet with one of our publishing professionals.