Multicultural Books
“There
are many Mansions in Parnassus!”
Sample
Book Publishing Contract
The HyperTexts is pleased to announce that we are now partnering
with MBooks
to sponsor books by the poets we've published, and that we and MBooks
will also consider publishing books of poetry, prose, essays and fiction by
writers whose work we esteem. These books will be very attractive softcover
books, also available as e-books, and if a book meets very attainable sales and
profit targets, we will also consider hardcover and/or jacketed hardcover editions. There
is no investment required by the writer, and after a book has sold 50 copies,
there will be a royalty paid to the writer for each subsequent book sale. The
writer will receive five free author's copies, and there is no obligation on the
part of the writer to market, sell or ship books (unless the writer agrees to
engage in such activities, which obviously would contribute greatly to the
success of the book and are therefore encouraged though not required). If you have been published by The
HyperTexts or similar literary publications and are interested in further details, please check out this link
for more details, then contact Mike Burch at mburch@aocg.com.
Please note: This is a sample proposal and the actual contract you
negotiate with the Publisher may have somewhat different wording and terms. This is not a vanity or subsidy book publishing
proposal. You as
the Author are not required to pay the Publisher anything, unless you require more
than the five free Author's copies of the book provided by the Publisher, and
then all you pay for is the books themselves. There are no setup fees. If you
wish to sell books, there is also an option for you to buy books at a
substantial discount from the publisher and sell them at whatever price you
prefer. For more information, see the
Activation
Clause, Options A and B. If you have been published by The
HyperTexts, your book may be printed under the aegis and sponsorship of
The HyperTexts.
RE: Sample
Publishing Proposal
Between
(The
Author)
And
MBooks (The Publisher)
Dear
Author:
Would
you wish to receive a publishing contract such as the following?
As agreed this is a publishing proposal between MBooks,
the Publisher, and yourself, the Author …
For our investment in your book we shall do the following:
1.
the book shall have 108 pages or fewer … It is understood that, if the
pages are to be fewer than 108, the reduced No of pages must be agreed upon in
advance between publisher and author. However,
the author is to understand that the POD (print-on-demand) Agency will charge
the publisher the same unit price per book if the book contains 48 pages—(the
absolute minimum size they handle)—or if the book contains 108 pages.
If the book contains more pages up till 740 pages the POD Agency shall
charge an extra 1.3 cents US per page. These
rates are for a simple soft cover only.
2.
we shall set up your book for production as a soft cover book on a POD
basis
3. we shall set up your book for sale over the Internet to a potential
market of 82 million people as an e-book
4.
we shall make you a gift of five free author’s copies
5.
we shall market a limited number of books ourselves to a small circle of
regular buyers of our books, as well as to Canadian Libraries
6.
over and above the first five copies we shall sell an unlimited number of
additional books to the author for a per book cost of $US 7.50 each ($CANADIAN
9.00 or so depending on fluctuating rates of exchange), plus Postage, S & H. This low price is for the soft cover version of the book of 108 pages or
fewer. Hardcover and jacketed books
will be more expensive (the price is also contingent upon the number of pages).
These higher figures shall be determined later according to the
specifications of each publication.
7.
it is impossible to determine in advance exactly what PS&H shall be.
We think it is safe to say that PS&H shall be more or less the cost
of Postage for single copies and multi-copy shipments.
Other expenses covered by PS&H are packaging and preparation of the
invoice but the Publisher shall be happy to absorb these minimal charges.
We estimate that PS&H in the case of single copies shall be $US 6.25
($CDN 7.50), and in the case of shipments of less than ten copies shall be $US
5.00 per book or less. In the
case of a bulk shipment of ten or more copies PS&H shall be lower,
decreasing on a per-book basis as the size of the shipment increases. The reason these expenses are somewhat high is because since
9/11 the rate of exchange of the US$ to the CDN$ is at an all-time low.
This disadvantage can be countered if the author agrees to order from the
Publisher not less than 10 books at a time.
PS&H within Canada on one book is around $5/book decreasing on a
per-book basis as the size of the shipment increases.
8.
outside the Author’s closest circle of family & friends all sales
must be transacted through the Publisher or through the distribution partners of
the POD Agency. An end consumer
will order through a bookstore and the bookstore will order through a
wholesaler. A Library will also
order through a wholesaler. The
Publisher, in order to sell books himself, will order directly from the POD
Agency. It is very likely that the
wholesaler or distribution partner shall likewise both order directly from the
POD Agency. However, as a matter of
professional courtesy towards the Publisher, the POD Agency shall not sell books
directly to the Author, and the Author will be required to order through a
wholesaler or else through the Publisher. Since
the Publisher allows the Author privileged rates it is in the best interest of
the Author to order through the Publisher …
9.
the publisher must be paid by check, e-wired funds or money-orders for
orders the publisher fulfils. Sales,
however, may be transacted directly through the distribution partners of the POD
Agency, (Lightning Source Inc. —LSI) These
distribution partners shall be Ingram, Baker & Taylor, amazon.com, and
participating bookstores. LSI
shall, in turn, pay the Publisher commissions after deducting costs.
All these distribution partners accept credit card payments.
These options shall be advertised through LSI as well as on www.thehypertexts.com.
End-consumers who choose to order through the Publisher may always pay
the Publisher by check and the charges for this method of payment are low.
10.
there shall be no royalties payable to the author on the first 50 books
sold to the public, which does not include books sold to the author at the
reduced rate … (this clause is necessary so we can recover our investment)
11.
the author shall be paid royalties of 10% of Net after the first 50 books
have been sold
12.
the book shall retail for $US 21.95 and for $CDN 26.95, (unless it
contains more pages or is produced in a more expensive binding).
The psychology of the sincere poetry lover is such that he will pay as
much as $US 42.95 or more for a book he seriously wishes to purchase and that he
will not pay $US 1.50 for a soppy love-story. In the case of all hypertexts authors they are not as unknown
as they may seem to be. They are
known on THT to all the leading names in contemporary poetry in N. America.
And we all know that good books are very expensive and that most poetry
books however major have a life-span of only a few hundred sales.
These considerations, in my opinion, justify a significantly higher cost
for the book. If, at a later stage,
we determine that the book is not selling owing to this seemingly high figure,
we shall at that stage bring the asking price down a little and, if the occasion
calls for it, I shall consult with the POD Agency regarding this issue. My gut feeling as to what will work as a deterrent to
potential sales is not so much this selling price but if we actually offer the
distribution partners less than the 55% wholesale discount they are asking in
which case they might conclude that we are somewhat cheap and not worth their
while at all.
13. at the Author’s discretion the print edition of the book may or may not
have a price printed upon it
14.
the e-book shall retail for $US 9.95 ($CDN 11.95)
15.
the wholesale discount on both the print version and the e-book shall be
55% and royalties on both versions shall be an additional 10% of our Net, paid
directly to the author … (the cost to us is 65%).
In both cases this royalty may be raised to 15% of Net if the book meets
profit targets determined by the publisher.
The reason the discount is high is not because the wholesalers are
required to stock/warehouse a certain No of hard copies but because they are
required to split this figure between themselves and all participating
bookstores. I personally think they
are asking too much. However the
POD Agency has tipped me pointedly that, whereas I have a right to say the
wholesale discount is only 30% or 20%, if I actually go ahead and do so,
offering the distribution partners less than what they are asking, this may
indeed become a serious potential deterrent to significantly higher sales.
16.
this Net figure, in both cases, shall constitute the selling price, $US
21.95 or else $US 9.95 respectively, (or the corresponding figures in Canadian
$), less the 55% wholesale discount payable to our wholesale distributors, less
the production cost of each book. In
the case of the e-book production expenses are minimal and shall be absorbed by
the publisher. For this reason
there shall be only a 55% figure (representing the w/sale discount) deducted
from the e-book, viz: 55% of $US 9.95 or approx $US 5.47—which shall be split
equally between LSI and the distribution partner.
This leaves us with a corresponding Net figure of $US 4.48 ($CDN 5.38)
out of which the author shall receive a 10% royalty on each e-book sold which
comes to approximately $US 0.45 ($CDN 0.54) per e-book sold.
17.
in the case of the print version the corresponding Net figure is $US
21.95, less the 55% w/sale discount payable to our distributors, less the
production costs per book ordered through our POD agency.
This corresponding Net figure comes to $US 7.36 ($CDN8.83) per book out
of which the author shall receive a 10% royalty on each book sold which comes to
approximately $US 0.74 ($CDN0.88) per book sold in the print version.
18.
in regards to the e-book the author shall be paid royalties immediately
commencing with the 1st e-book sold.
E-book sales do not count toward the 50 book sales mentioned above.
In this case there are no manufacturing expenses for us to recover and
the setup expenses are minimal …
19.
as an incentive bonus between the publisher and the author, we shall
produce at our expense a hardcover (or else hardcover with jacket) edition of
the book if such a thing is justified by the market.
(This is solely the publisher’s decision).
20.
in case a hardcover (or hardcover with jacket) edition of the book is
being contemplated, this matter—entirely at the Author’s discretion—may
call for a separate contract between the Publisher and the Author
21.
both versions of the book shall have a Canadian ISBN and shall be
advertised with National Library of Canada as well as with academic and public
library systems within Canada
22.
the author shall give the book a title of his own choice
23.
the author shall work hand-in-hand with the publisher to develop an
appropriate full color front and back cover for the book
24.
the author shall submit to the publisher the required manuscript in
MS-Word format (preferably Word 2000) … the publisher needs to be hardnosed
about this requirement to have the manuscript submitted on disk, or else as an
attachment to an email, in MS-Word format, since the publisher should not be
required to invest in expensive and extremely time-consuming data-entry and
proofing. The MS-Word file
must be a manuscript in a single document (not multiple files to be pieced
together by the publisher).
25.
the author is entitled by the publisher to request as many sets of galley
proofs as necessary
26.
Activation
Clause, Option A …the Author shall provide the Publisher with $US 750 ($CDN 900) up front to
activate this contract. In return
the Publisher shall provide the Author with 100 additional copies of his book at
a privileged cost of $US 7.50 ($CDN 9.00) each with no additional charges for
PS&H. The Author shall still
receive 5 free copies such that the first shipment of stock to him shall contain
105 books. The Author shall
distribute these books to his own circle of friends and poetry lovers.
These $US 750 ($CDN 900) shall be due as soon as the Author returns a
signed copy of the contract to the Publisher. All subsequent purchases of stock by the Author shall be at the rate of
$US 7.50 ($CDN 9.00) per book plus all extra charges incurred for PS&H.
As long as the Author agrees to this Option he shall enjoy privileged and
unlimited personal selling rights to his own book and he may thereafter order as
many books as he pleases from the Publisher at this privileged rate but not less
than a minimum order of 10 books at a time.
The Author shall have the right to make as high a profit as he can from
these sales without owing the Publisher any more monies than what is stipulated
herein and this holds even if he makes profits in the shape of large donations.
27.
Activation
Clause, Option B …The author enjoys the option of ordering fewer books than 100 but not
less than 10 at a time. [Note: the author can order no additional books and receive only the
five free author's copies, but if the author orders any books, he must order at
least 10, as ordering and shipping books individually is time-consuming,
inefficient and results in bad shipping cost metrics.] This shall be deemed sufficient to activate the contract.
However, in case the author orders less books than 100, he shall not
enjoy unlimited personal rights to sell his own book.
He shall be free to sell his initial order of 10 or more books but
over and above these startup sales all his additional personal sales must be
referred to the Publisher. Finally
all authors who choose this Option should understand that publications at our
expense depend exclusively on our evaluation of the marketability of the
writing. We shall do our best to accommodate qualifying authors but
only as time and funds permit. For
this reason there may be longer delays for authors who choose this option …
28.
Contingency
Clause …The cost-structure referred to throughout this publishing proposal shall
be reviewed and updated if necessary on a contract by contract basis.
In particular all exchange rates between the United States Dollar and the
Canadian Dollar shall be subject to revision and verification according to
fluctuating market rates at the time each contract is signed.
29.
Payment
Instructions:- It
needs to be understood that if the Publisher is paid the initial $US 750 by
check in US Dollars the Publisher’s Bank will put this check on hold for 30
days until it clears. For this
reason there may be a delay in the production schedule …
There shall be no such delay if the Publisher is paid by e-wired funds
and this method of payment is preferred and recommended.
The information for wiring the Publisher this money through electronic
deposit is as follows ….. FINANCIAL
INSTITUTION NAME — [For security reasons this information is not published
on-line]. This Account Number is for
payment in United States Dollars only.
The information for wiring the Publisher money in Canadian Dollars is as
follows … FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
NAME [For security reasons this information is not published on-line].
If
paying in US$ or else in Canadian$ by e-wired funds you simply need to provide
your Bank with the above noted information and the correct Account Number.
Author _____________________
Joe
M. Ruggier — Publisher