Writing Excuses 8.28: Your First Contract
We haven’t talked much about contracts in the past. Why not? Well, we’re not lawyers and we’re not agents, so our experience with contracts has been as parties to them. But there are things we can still offer without delving into the baffling legalese.
So we offer them: we talk about how we approach contracts, how we value ourselves when entering into a contract negotiation, and what sorts of resources we have. We talk about some terminology, some of the clauses to review, and the incentives in front of the publisher and the author.
Note! Any advice you hear from us must be qualified based on your situation — your publisher, your agent, your market — and especially based on when you’re listening to this ‘cast. If it’s not 2013 right now, the odds are pretty good we’re wrong.
Audio Note: Yes, there’s a long lead-in there. Jordo will fix it eventually, I’m sure.
Profanym of the Week: “Schick a Brit.”
Homework: Write, as part of whatever story you’re working on, a contract that is both horrible and magical.
Thing of the week: Without a Summer, by Mary Robinette Kowal, narrated by Mary herself.
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