How to Get Published and Deal with Clients, Co-Writing, Copyrights, and Contracts

By Gini Graham Scott

How to Get Published and Deal with Clients, Co-Writing, Copyrights, and Contracts covers a range of topics for both full-time and part-time writers -- from finding publishers and agents and getting published to being successful as a freelancer. It is a continuation of the previously published book: HOW TO FIND PUBLISHERS AND AGENTS AND GET PUBLISHED.

It is divided into the following sections:
- the steps to finding publishers and agents and self-publishing
- getting a copyright and dealing with piracy
- freelancing successfully
- working out co-writing arrangements
- entering into contracts with publishers and agents
- what to include in ghostwriter and co-writer contracts

The book has been developed from blogs on these subjects on Publishers Agents and Films, and it is used in a workshop series on these topics.

The author Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D., has published over 50 books with major publishers on numerous topics, and has published an additional 40 books through her own company Changemakers Publishing. She is a frequent speaker on finding publishers and agents and self-publishing, as well as on the subjects featured in her books.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gini Graham Scott
• Release date: Jun 23, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310679469

Gini Graham Scott

Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D., CEO of Changemakers Publishing and Writing, is an internationally known writer, speaker, and workshop leader. She has published over 50 books with major publishers on various topics and has written over 3 dozen children's books. Her published children's books include Katy's Bow, Scratches, The Crazy Critters First Visit, and Where's the Avocado? published by Black Rose Writing. She has published 8 children's books through her company Changemakers Kids and is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She does workshops on self-publishing and creativity. She also helps clients write books as a ghostwriter and self-publish or find publishers and agents. Her websites are www.changemakerspublishgandwriting.com and www.ginigrahamscott.com.

Book preview

How to Get Published and Deal with Clients, Co-Writing, Copyrights, and Contracts

A Guide to Getting Happily Published and Paid

By Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D.

Changemakers Publishing & Writing

3527 Mt. Diablo Blvd., #273 . Lafayette, CA 94549

www.changemakerspublishingandwriting.com

How to Get Published and Deal with Clients, Co-Writing, Copyrights, and Contracts

Published by Gini Graham Scott at Smashwords

Copyright © 2015 by Gini Graham Scott

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Table of Contents

Part I: Finding Publishers and Producers

Chapter 1: The Steps to Write Your Book, Find Publishers and Agents, and Get Published

Chapter 2: Searching for Publishers

Chapter 3: Turning Your Book into a Film

Chapter 4: Creating a Platform as an Author, Screenwriter, or Speaker

Part II: Working with Clients

Chapter 5: Should You Write Anything before Getting a Payment or Contract

Chapter 6: Advance Purchase Commitments and Payments from Established Companies

Chapter 7: Adjusting Your Fees and Payment Arrangements as a Freelancer

Chapter 8: Making Special Arrangements for Clients

Part III: Working as a Co-Writer

Chapter 9: Working as a Co-Writer and Taking a Percentage

Chapter 10: Working out a Co-Writer or Ghostwriting Arrangement

Part IV: Dealing with Copyrights

Chapter 11: Do You Really Need a Copyright

Chapter 12: Protecting Yourself from Piracy

Part V: Contracts with Publishers

Chapter 13: What to Expect and Avoid in a Contract

Chapter 14: Warranties, Indemnity, and the Grant of Rights

Chapter 15: Editorial and Production Arrangements

Chapter 16: Royalties and Payment Arrangements

Chapter 17: Getting Paid and Author's Copies

Chapter 18: Future Books, Revisions, Updates, and Return of Rights

Chapter 19: Publicity, Book Excerpts, Co-Author and Co-Publishing Deals, and Pay-to-Play

Chapter 20: Contract Terms to Avoid or Negotiate with Publishers

Part VI: Contracts with Agents, Clients, and Co-Writers

Chapter 21: Contracts with Agents

Chapter 22: Ghostwriter Contracts

NDA Agreement

Mutual Confidential Disclosure Agreement

Ghostwriter Agreement

Chapter 23: Co-Writer Contracts

Letter of Agreement (Co-Writing to Ghostwriting)

Letter of Agreement (Ghostwriting to Co-Writing)

About the Author

Part I: Finding Publishers and Producers

Chapter 1: The Steps to Write Your Book, Find Publishers and Agents, and Get Published

Here’s a quick overview of things to keep in mind when you write your book, look for publishers and agents, or decide to publish your book yourself.

Writing Your Book

•Collect your blogs, articles, or journal notes into a book

•Use transcripts from your workshops, seminars, or talks to groups

•Do interviews and have them transcribed

•Develop a chapter by chapter outline for what to include and target future blogs, articles, journal postings, interviews, etc. to fill in each chapter

•Dedicate 1-2 hours a day for writing, or consider a ghostwriter

What You Need to Pitch Your Book to a Traditional Publisher

•If your book is fiction and you are unpublished, you normally have to complete the book, plus create a 1-2 page single spaced synopsis.

•If your book is nonfiction, you generally need to write a proposal plus 1-3 chapters to submit to agents and/or publishers, even if the book is completed. The beginning of the proposal is generally 10-15 pages, and includes an overview of the book, chapter by chapter outline, and plan for completing the book. It also should include a market and competitors section listing similar or related books already published, the publisher, and how the book is doing; an author’s bio; and an author’s platform section, indicating what PR you have gotten in the past and how you can help support the book in the future.

•Unless you already have an agent or knowledgeable rep pitching your book, you need to write a query letter or have one written for you to send to publishers/editors and/or agents.

Contacting Publishers and Agents about Your Book

•If you can contact publishers or agents at conferences, workshops, and through personal referrals, that’s ideal.

•If you already have an agent, make sure your agent is continuing to pitch your book; you might also propose supplementing what the agent does by making some contact with publishers yourself; some agents will welcome this; others not so much. If you do make some of your own contacts, be sure to check with your agent in advance to make sure not to contact anyone your agent has already contacted. Keep your agent aware of the responses, and refer any editor or publisher who expresses interest to your agent for follow-up.

•If you feel your agent is no longer actively representing your book, end your agreement and find a new agent or pitch the book yourself.

•If you plan to query traditional publishers and agents, don’t self-publish the same book, unless you have a powerful platform and can build large sales for this book. Publishers don’t want to publish a book that already has been published, unless there are big sales.

•A good approach is self-publishing a book to build your platform and sell it yourself; then pitch a follow-up or related book to mainstream publishers and agents.

Sending an E-Mail Query to Publishers and Agents

•If you don’t have an agent or personal connections for contacting agents or publishers, an e-mail query can be an effective way to contact them.

•You can contact a large number of editors and agents with a personalized query, so they respond directly to you. Publishers Agents and Films can help you send these queries to hundreds of agents and editors based on your type of book.

•While many editors at major publishers want submissions by an agent, some will accept queries from writers and some will make exceptions for a really good query letter.

•When you send a query don’t include attachments or graphics, since a regular text query is more likely to be received and read, but you can include links to a website. Editors and agents often will not open any attachments due to fears about viruses, trojans, and other malware.

•Keep your query letter short and to the point, since a successful query letter is typically about 300-400 words, and no more than 500-600 words, and includes these key components:

1) A strong subject line to attract interest; it should indicate specifically what your book or script is about and be in upper and lower case, Title Case, or Sentence case.

2) A short summary statement of 1 or 2 sentences highlighting what the book or script is about and what makes it especially interesting and salable.

3) Two to three paragraphs describing the plot of a fiction book, the main topics covered in a nonfiction book, or the main plot points in a script.

4) A sentence or two about the book or script’s key selling points and why the book or script is marketable to your main audience.

5) A short paragraph about your own background, including what may have inspired the book or script, and recent highlights about previous publications or films, writing, and relevant work experience.

6) A sentence or two about any PR or promotion you have already gotten.

7) A final sentence indicating that if the recipient is interested, you would be glad to submit a more detailed synopsis, proposal, sample chapters, or the complete manuscript.

8) Be prepared to follow-up within a week or 10 days with a proposal, synopsis, sample chapters or complete manuscript, or a script treatment.

9) Include personal contact information at the end, including your name, company if any, city, state (full address and zip is optional, though good to include), website if you have one, phone, and email.

Self-Publishing Your Book

•A simple low-cost way to publish your book is as a Print-On-Demand (POD) book through CreateSpace and Kindle, though there are multiple services with various pricing plans. You can use one of their templates or design your own cover, and you can order as many or as few books as you want at about 1/3 of the retail price.

•Generally you need the final copy formatted according to the publisher’s guidelines in a WordDocument or PDF, with appropriate margins and any graphics or photos in the text.

•While you can self-publish yourself, Publishers Agents and Films can guide you through the process or set up everything for you.

•Keep the pricing low to attract sales – about $9.95-14.95 is a good price point for a paperback book; $2.99 for an e-book.

Chapter 2: Searching for Publishers

When you are searching for a publisher for your book, don’t only target publishers who are interested in your type of book but the editors who handle that subject. The way to do this is by using keywords, such as historical, relationships, self-help, although this is not a perfect science, since these searches will pull up some editors who still don’t handle that particular type of book within the category selected.