In order to show a profit for every title, most traditional publishers provide themselves with a financial cushion against books that get returned to the warehouse due to overstocking, damage, or lower than expected sales. In your contract’s “Reserve for Returns” clause, the publisher will specify a certain number of royalty periods over which it will reserve or hold back your royalty income in order to cover the anticipated expense of returned books. Royalty pay-out to you doesn’t even begin until after the publisher has recouped your advance, so depending on the quantity of your printing, a “Reserve for Returns” clause as written by the publisher could diminish your income from royalties for quite some time. This is one industry secret you will want to watch out for when you review your contract.
Keep your book “in print”!
March 21, 2010
We’ve all had the experience of tracking down a desired title only to discover that the book is “out of print.” This is what happens when an author or illustrator signs over all the publishing rights to the publisher and the publisher lost interest in keeping the book available to new readers. In fact, most books eventually fall into an “out of print” status, but you don’t want that to happen to yours after only one printing. Fortunately, there are ways to protect your publishing rights that will give you some control over keeping your book in print.
Did you know that once you sign your new book contract exactly “as is,” you’re turning over ALL the publishing rights to the publisher for the copyright life of your book? And once you’ve signed away all your publishing rights, you’ve signed away all control of your book in the future. Why does this matter? Well, it means you’re relying solely on the publisher to keep your book in print. Under constant financial pressure, however, publishers tend to focus their attention on the next season’s list of potential best-sellers. If your book is not a money-making smash hit, the publisher may lose interest in it. What happens to your work then? Under most circumstances, the “as is” literary contract you signed won’t allow you to take your book back and go to a different publisher. This is one of the little secrets of the publishing business.
