JacketFlap connects you to the work of more than 200,000 authors, illustrators, publishers and other creators of books for Children and Young Adults. The site is updated daily with information about every book, author, illustrator, and publisher in the children's / young adult book industry. Members include published authors and illustrators, librarians, agents, editors, publicists, booksellers, publishers and fans. Join now (it's free).
Login or Register for free to create your own customized page of blog posts from your favorite blogs. You can also add blogs by clicking the "Add to MyJacketFlap" links next to the blog name in each post.
Blog Posts by Tag
In the past 7 days
Blog Posts by Date
Click days in this calendar to see posts by day or month
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: book contract, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 5 of 5
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: book contract in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
I had a chance to sit down with an editor friend recently to discuss one of the least fun (but most important) parts of the publishing process: the deal/contract negotiation. And lucky for me, Editor agreed to let me share some of that conversation with you here on Pub Crawl. We talked about a number of topics, but the one I’m going to focus on today has to do with three clauses:
1. Competitive Works (a.k.a. Non-compete clauses)
2. Option
3. Next Work
These are 3 different paragraphs somewhere in your book contract, but they are all intertwined, especially in this day and age of hybrid publishing and author branding. Before I get into the conversation, let me break down what these are right quick:
Competitive Works clause – this clause has to do with any work you write after the book you’re being contracted for, and specifically on whether or not it would compete with your contracted book for sales in the marketplace.
Option – this is the next book the publisher has the first right to review, before you submit to anyone else.
Next Work – this clause states rather explicitly that the book you’re being contracted for is going to be your next book, and that you can’t publish another book until (usually) 6 months after the contracted work.
Does that all make sense? I sure hope so. If you have questions, leave them for me in the Comments and I’ll do my best to answer. For now, I’d like to get into the highlights of the conversation I had with Editor….
Editor: The trifecta of non-competes/option/next work drives me crazy because I have to narrow down what I can work on next with the author. What’s happened a lot recently is that I’ve bought a book–very clearly a stand alone–and then the option becomes….
Me: Let me guess–next book “in the world of the Work or featuring the same characters”?
Editor: Right. And I’m thinking “No, because this is clearly a standalone, and then that takes away my option.” And so then they get into Competing Works and request that they can publish anything as long as it doesn’t include the characters in the book. And so we get into sticky situations because I didn’t offer for this book as a series, I want to buy it as a standalone, and I want to have a first crack at your next book. I don’t want my authors writing an unnecessary sequel for the sake of satisfying their option with me. And the tough part for me is that a lot of this is happening during the initial deal negotiation, not the contract stage anymore.
Me: Oh, yeah–it has to. I can’t tell you how many times a contracts department will come back at me with “we can’t agree to that language, you should have discussed it with the editor at the time of deal negotiation. It’s too late now.” So it’s forced us to have more complicated and complex negotiations with editors from the get go.
Editor: (Nods) I get that, too. One of the difficult things to navigate is how to make the offer if there’s suddenly going to be a sequel later. When a submission comes to me with an outlined sequel or sequels, the offer is very different than if it’s a standalone. And when the option is narrowed down simply to sequels, so it feels like they’re just trying to get out of the option.
Me: I don’t think it’s that they’re trying to get out of the option. I think it’s actually that we’re trying to give our authors an option. What if their editor leaves? What if their publisher gets bought out by another house? I’ve had publishers take the full option period they have, just to say no in the end. And when that happens, it’s like, man–you just put the author’s career on hold for 4 months.
Editor: Yeah, that’s not a good situation either. It’s true that editors move all the time.
Me: Do the agents you work with typically give you a look at the work first anyway, no matter what the option says? Out of professional courtesy?
Editor: The agents I work with consistently do, yes. I feel very strongly about the authors I work with, and I’m hoping to cultivate a career and a brand with them, not just one book. The agents I typically work with know that.
Me: We do. (smiles)
Editor: And sometimes there are agents that push for a multibook deal when it might not be the best decision to. If I’m acquiring a book that comes out in 2016 today, and the sequel in 2017–it makes me a little nervous, too, about what the future might bring.
Me: Especially with all of the industry changes and upheaval.
Editor: Exactly. Do you often push for a multibook deal?
Me: It depends entirely on the book, the author, the editor, the publisher, etc. Sometimes a multibook feels necessary because it means that publishers will….
Editor: Commit.
Me: Yes! And it gives the author a chance to grow without losing momentum. It often guarantees a certain amount of investment from a publisher.
Editor: It’s frustrating because publishing is so fast and so slow at the same time. For me, I’m very focused on the author, their project and the brand. I want to go beyond the book and cultivate a bigger brand, but I don’t always have the ability to hit the go button.
Me: It sounds like what we need to do is all work more closely together than every before–the author, the agent and the editor as a trio.
Editor: Yes. I think we all want what’s best for the author in the end.
–
You heard it here, folks! Getting to be a fly on the wall of some publishing industry folks. This is what we’re discussing all the time! And there’s more where that came from.
—
Joanna Volpe is a literary agent who represents all brands of fiction, from picture books to adult. When she’s not reading, she’s either cooking, playing video games, or hanging out with her husband and chihuahua.
Leila Nabih sent the above illustration to help wet our appetites for warm starry evenings. Leila graduated from London Art College with a Diploma in Illustrating Children’s Books and she has illustrated a short story available on itunes entitled “Imagine”. She is currently working on two other Children’s books to be published this year. Her prefered media in terms of art licensing is digital. For children’s Illustrations she tends to mix and match between watercolours and digital. Here her blog link: http://leilanabih.wordpress.com/ and facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/LeilaNabihIllustrations
Hay House Publishing is reviewing full-length nonfiction manuscripts for this year’s Hay House Insights Nonfiction Writing Contest, which will award an author a publishing contract and a $5,000 advance under its self-help imprint Balboa Press.
This contest is open to any subject, topic, or theme, as long as it is nonfiction. Submit only unpublished, full-length works.
The judges will evaluate manuscripts on creativity, story structure, expertise of the subject, writing style, and obedience to the publisher’s editorial values.
Hay House Publishing, along with its imprint Balboa Press, specialize in self-help and inspirational books. The company also publishes a wide range of other subjects, including children’s books, cookbooks, fiction, and poetry.
OVERVIEW
You may enter the Hay House Insights NonfictionWriting Contest by completing the steps listed below anytime during the submission period. Only one manuscript submission is permitted per entrant. Any entrant who submits multiple entries will be disqualified.
Submissions period begins on March 1, 2013. The deadline to submit an entry for the contest is 11:59 p.m. ET on May 1,2013. On June 3, 2013, the winners will be announced. All prize winners will be notified and posted on www.balboapress.comand the Hay House Facebook page, www.facebook.com/hayhouse.
There are no entry fees, no subsidy payments and no purchases of any kind required to enter and/or win the contest. Balboa Press and Hay House reserve the right to declare any entry ineligible if it is determined that the entry is not in accordance with the terms stated in Balboa Press’ Editorial Standards or in the Official Terms and Conditions.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE
All writers of full-length nonfiction books, of any subject are eligible to enter.
All entrants must have original and completed manuscripts.
Must be 18 years of age or older or with parental consent.
Employees of Balboa Press or Hay House are not eligible to enter the contest.
CONTENT REQUIREMENTS
Minimum of 30,000 word count required.
All manuscripts entered must be contained in one single Word document.
All manuscripts must be submitted in English.
PRIZES FOR THE CONTEST
Entries are judged based on the context, originality, creative imagination, characterization, artistic quality, and the adherence to Balboa Press’ Editorial Standards.
One Grand Prize winner will receive:
Hay House Insights contract and $5,000 advance
First Place winner will receive:
FREE Discover publishing package with Balboa Press
Video Press release and distribution upon publication
After entering the Hay House Insights NonfictionWriting Contest, you will receive an email within the next two business days outlining the last steps you need to take in order to complete your contest entry. If you do not receive entry details within the allotted time, please contact us at [email protected].
Step Two: Submit Your Entry
The next step is to email your manuscript entry to: [email protected]. Follow the entry details below and remember, only one manuscript submission is permitted per entrant; any entrant who submits multiple entries will be disqualified. (Please thoroughly review the Official Terms and Conditions to ensure that you are eligible and will not be disqualified.)
To complete your entry for the Hay House Insights NonfictionWriting Contest, please carefully follow listed below:
All manuscripts entered must be in one single Microsoft Word document or Adobe PDF file (.doc, .docx or .pdf).
Clearly list your name as a header on each page of your submission.
In the subject line of the email, type “Balboa Press Publishing 2013Writing Contest (YOUR FULL NAME).”
In the body of the email, include:
your full name
physical mailing address (no P.O. Box please)
phone number
email address
the title of your submission
Attach your manuscript submission to the email (do not paste it in the body of the email).
There is a 30,000 word count minimum. Entrants that do not meet these content requirements will not be considered.
Once you’ve submitted your entry, you will receive a confirmation message verifying your manuscript was received and your contest submission is complete. Due to the volume of submissions, please be aware email confirmation may take up to two business days.
You may enter the Hay House Insights NonfictionWriting Contest (the “Contest”) by completing the steps listed at http://www.balboapress.com/NFpublishingcontest anytime during the submission period. Only one manuscript submission is permitted per entrant. Any entrant who submits multiple entries will be disqualified.
2. WHEN TO ENTER
Submissions period begins on March 1, 2013. The deadline to submit an entry for the contest is 11:59 p.m. ET on May 1, 2013.
3. ENTRY FEES
There are no entry fees, no subsidy payments and no purchases of any kind required to enter and/or win the contest.
4. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF ENTRANTS
By submitting your entry, you hereby specifically represent and warrant that your contest entry:
Is original material written by the contestant and is the sole responsibility of the contestant;
Has not been copied, in whole or in part, from any other work (as written in any language or in any medium, whether now known or hereafter devised)
Has not been previously published, produced, or distributed in any audio or visual form, or otherwise exploited in any medium (whether now known or hereafter devised, in whole or in part) where the author does not hold the copyright, self published manuscripts are eligible
Does not defame, and does not infringe or violate the right of privacy, right of publicity, copyright, trademark, service mark, trade secret, or any intellectual property, proprietary or other right(s) of, any third party;
Does not include the name or likeness of any actual person(s), without having obtained the express prior written consent of such person(s) (or of such person’s parent or legal guardian if such person is a minor) in each instance;
Entrants are entirely responsible for all content submitted;
Balboa Press and Hay House reserve the right to declare any entry ineligible if it is determined that the entry is not in accordance with the terms stated in Balboa Press’ Editorial Standards or in these Official Contest Rules; and
Meets each of the content requirements found in these Official Contest Rules.
5. WHO IS ELIGIBLE
All entrants must have completed manuscripts.
Entrants must have
Must be 18 years of age or older or with parental consent.
Employees of Balboa Press and Hay House are not eligible to enter the contest.
6. CONTENT REQUIREMENTS
Minimum of 30,000 word count required.
All manuscripts entered must be contained in one single document.
Entrants that do not meet these content requirements will not be considered.
Entrant must retain a copy of the submitted entry either in either digital form or hard copy form.
All non-winning entries will be destroyed except for entries submitted by entrants who decide to purchase a book publishing package from Balboa Press.
7. CONTEST JUDGING PROCESS
All of the submitted entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges. Judges reserve the right to disqualify entrants that do not comply with these Official Contest Rules. Winners of the Contest will be selected during a two-round process:
Round One: Entry must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on May 1, 2013, to qualify for judging. In the first round, a panel of judges will review all entries. They will select 30 entries to move on to round two.
Round Two: The 30 entries that make it into round two will be reviewed by a separate panel of judges.
Entries are judged based on the context, originality, creative imagination, characterization, artistic quality, and the adherence to Balboa Press’ Editorial Standards. The judges will select one Grand Prize winner, one First Place winner, and one Second Place winner. All decisions of the judges are final.
20 percent discount off any Balboa Press publishing package.
No transfer or substitution of prizes permitted, and no more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded. Winners are solely responsible for all costs or expenses not specifically exempted herein, and any and all applicable federal, state or local taxes on the value of their prizes.
Winners must execute, notarize and return within 5 days of receipt by winner a liability release, a publicity release (where legal), and any other documentation that Sponsors require. By the act of accepting a prize, winners (or their legal guardian, if applicable) agree to the release of winner’s name, pen name, likeness and city and state of residence for potential publicity purposes and use on Balboa Press or Hay House web sites, except where prohibited by law without further compensation.
Entrants and winners are under no obligation whatsoever to purchase a publishing package but may be offered the opportunity by a Balboa Press Publishing Consultant.
9. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Void where prohibited by law. Federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.
Balboa Press and Hay House are not responsible for any individual’s inability to enter this contest, including but not limited to: failed software or hardware transmissions; unavailable network, server, telephone or other connections; errors of any kind, whether human, electronic, or mechanical regarding lost, misdirected, late, incomplete or damaged entries; or for any damage to any computer, network, hardware or software related to or resulting from participation.
Balboa Press and Hay House reserves the right to end or modify the contest if fraud or technical failures compromise the integrity of the contest as determined by our sole discretion.
Entrants agree to the following: The Sponsors, their respective promotional partners, affiliated companies, agencies and their employees are not liable for injury, losses, damages or costs of any kind resulting from participation in this contest, or in results of accepting or using the prize awarded. By entering the Contest, participants agree to be bound by these rules.
Balboa Press and Hay House respects the privacy of our members. By entering this contest, entrants opt into the use of their registration information in accordance with the Balboa Press and Hay House Privacy Policy and consent to receiving correspondence via telephone and/or email by Balboa Press and Hay House.
The Contest may be terminated without prior notice at any time after it begins.
10. CONTEST SPONSORS
Hay House, PO Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018
Balboa Press a Division of Hay House, 1663 Liberty Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403
Today is Part 2 of “Children’s Writing and Publishing Process - The Traditional Path”
The prior article focused on the writing aspect of writing for children to get published. The first step is to learn the craft and actually write. The second step is to have your work critiqued. The third step is to revise and edit until your manuscript is POLISHED.
Now, we can move on to Part 2’s focus: Submissions, a Contract and Sales, and a Career in Writing.
2. Submissions
Before you think about submitting your work anywhere, be sure you’ve completed the necessary steps in number one. You’re manuscript needs to be as polished as you can possibly get it.
Submissions can fall into two categories: those to publishers and those to agents. In regard to submitting to agents, in a Spring 2011 webinar presented by Writer’s Digest, agent Mary Kole advised to “research agents.” This means to find out what type of agent they are in regard to the genre they work with and the agent platform they provide: do they coddle their authors, do they crack the whip, are they aggressive, passive, involved, or complacent. Know what you’re getting into before querying an agent, and especially before signing a contract.
Here are a couple of sites you can visit to learn about agents:
The same advice works for submitting to publishers also. Research publishers before submitting to them. Know which genres of children’s books they handle and the type of storylines they’re looking for.
Whether submitting to a publisher or an agent, always follow the guidelines and always personalize the query. There may be times the guidelines do not provide the name of the editor to send the query to, but if you can find that information, use it.
According to Mary Kole, it’s also important to know how to pitch your story. This entails finding the story’s hook. Agents and publishers also want to know what the book’s selling points will be and what successful books it’s similar to. In addition, they will expect to be told what your marketing strategy will be. It’s a good idea to create an online presence and platform before you begin submissions; let the agents and publishers know you will actively market your book.
Along with the story’s hook, you need to convey: who your main character is and what he/she is about; the action that drives the story; the main character’s obstacle, and if the main character doesn’t overcome the obstacle, what’s at stake.
Ms. Kole recommends reading “the back of published books” to see how they briefly and effectively convey the essence of the story. This will give you an idea of how to create your own synopsis.
When querying, keep your pitch short and professional, and keep your bio brief and relevant. You will need to grab the editor or agent and make them want to read your manuscript.
3. A Contract and Book Sales
If you do your homework, you’re manuscript will eventually find a home. Don’t let initial rejection
0 Comments on Children’s Writing and Publishing Process - The Traditional Path Part 2 as of 1/1/1900
I’m having a submissions day. This is true: a manuscript that is only in a drawer or only a file on your computer will not sell. It’s only when you send out a manuscript to an editor that you get a contract, a sale, a publication.
I’m excited to say that Sylvan Dell will be publishing a companion book, DESERT BATHS. This follows desert animals through a 24-hour period and shows how they take baths. The same illustrator, Kathleen Rietz will be working on this story. Look for it in 2012.
Meanwhile, a sale doesn’t mean that you STOP submitting. Here are some other tips on submissions.
I don’t know how many in this audience can write in English and Spanish, but I thought perhaps there may be a few. If you are one of those bilingual writers, then you might want to submit something to this new non-profit publisher – Ediciones Monarcas. They have received money to publish books from Infinity Auto Insurance to help promote reading and enrich the learning environment for children in Hispanic households by providing parents and grandparents with education and the necessary resources to improve their children’s reading habits.
The contest awards a thousand dollars to one winner each month, but the contract does not include royalities. They will distrubutethe 50,000 to 60,000 paperbook copies to these Hispanic households.
Infinity Auto Insurance Leer Conmigo Award in Children’s Literature
Ediciones Monarcas—a new, not-for-profit publisher of bilingual (Spanish-English) books for children—announces the Infinity Auto Insurance Leer Conmigo Award in Children’s Literature. Each month we will award a $1,000 prize and publish the best submission we receive.
Guidelines:
• Deadline for the next $1,000 prize: Jan. 17, 2011
• Submissions should be appropriate for children K-5
• Submissions must be bilingual: English-Spanish
• Illustrations should not accompany the submission
• Content is open, although it must be age appropriate
• Send up to 32 pages total with these specifications: 16 pages max. in English, 16 pages max. in Spanish
• Each page should have no more than approximately 100 words. (Given linguistic requirements of Spanish that don’t govern English, the Spanish text will have slightly more words.)
• You may submit up to 5 mss, although send each in separate emails.
• There is no reading fee.
• Submissions from authors outside of the U.S. are very welcomed.
• We will distribute winning books via the Leer Conmigo Program in an initial print run of 50,000-60,000 copies.
• Email submission to: [email protected]. (Contest website coming soon.)
The goal of Leer Conmigo and its subsidiary Ediciones Monarcas is to enrich the learning environment for children in Hispanic households by providing parents and grandparents with education and the necessary resources to improve their children’s reading habits and to foster a life-long love of reading in multiple languages. Leer Conmigo and Ediciones Monarcas are supported by Infinity Auto Insurance Company (NASDAQ:IPCC and online at InfinityAuto.com.)
Sounds like a good cause, where you can get publsihed and make a little money. Please let me know if you submit and have anything to add.
This post doesn’t include what rights are given up or retained by the author of the submissions. I don’t mind giving up rights to a published piece but sometimes they retain all rights to rejected ms too. I almost submitted to a contest that said in the small print, “all submissions become the property of ___”. Why they would want a lot of rejected ms I can only guess. Is there any way to find out about the rights they give?
This post doesn’t include what rights are given up or retained by the author of the submissions. I don’t mind giving up rights to a published piece but sometimes they retain all rights to rejected ms too. I almost submitted to a contest that said in the small print, “all submissions become the property of ___”. Why they would want a lot of rejected ms I can only guess. Is there any way to find out about the rights they give?