Book Publishing

[soboyle]

I'm in discussion with a publisher about a photography book deal, and have finally come to reviewing the written publishing agreement with the book publisher.
I have some specific question about publishing agreements, and wonder if anyone can direct me to a good source for getting answers.
Specifically, I want to make sure I am not restricting my ability to publish my work again in other publications, the agreement reads very generally, and I want to be very specific, so that I have a hard rule to follow going forward about what my rights to publish are. Anyone with experience with this have any recomendations, or offer and advice?

[jecxz]

I'm in discussion with a publisher about a photography book deal, and have finally come to reviewing the written publishing agreement with the book publisher.
I have some specific question about publishing agreements, and wonder if anyone can direct me to a good source for getting answers.
Specifically, I want to make sure I am not restricting my ability to publish my work again in other publications, the agreement reads very generally, and I want to be very specific, so that I have a hard rule to follow going forward about what my rights to publish are. Anyone with experience with this have any recomendations, or offer and advice?

L A W Y E R

[alainbriot]

I have some specific question about publishing agreements....
[/quote]

Why not post your questions here?

[Kirk Gittings]

L A W Y E R

Having done a few books I completely agree with the above. Get a professional opinion.

[soboyle]

Thanks Alain

The second sentence is the sentence in the agreement that I have a problem with.

"The Photographer will retain the copyright to all photographs in the Work taken by the Photographer that are listed in Exhibit A. The Photographer may use the photographs on his website or in other promotional venues but the Photographer will not produce a competing work using these photographs."

I am requesting the publisher to clarify that I have full rights to my work after the publication of this book, not just website and promotional. The second half of the sentence is so vague as to be open to just about any interpretation defining a "competing work". So I want to define what a competing work is so I know my options going forward.

Later in the agreement:

"The Photographer agrees that, during the continuance of this agreement, he will not, without the written consent of the Publisher, publish or furnish to another publisher any work on the same subject that will directly interfere with or injure the sale of the Work."

Again, vague enough as to be open to just about any interpretation as to what will injure the sale of the work. This book covers many subjects, includes about 7 of my photo essays. I want an option going forward to seperately publish individual works about each of these subjects.

So I am looking for some perspective from others that have had books published.

I appreciate the advice about retaining a lawyer, good advice I am sure, IF you can find the right lawyer who knows about book publishing, and also would fit within the shoe string budget that this project allows. I could easily spend the entire procedes of this book project on lawyers fees.
I live about 3 hours from a decent sized city, finding a competent book publishing lawyer locally is not possible. If anyone knows of a competent publishing lawyer they have worked with, who would work via e-mail, please let me know.

[alainbriot]

In the first sentence the unclear statement is "Competing works".  Ask your publisher to define in writing what these are.  That should do it.

In the second sentence the unclear statement is "works on the same subject..." again, ask them to define in writing what those are.


Once you have that in hand ask yourself if any of the things they wrote are things you want to do.  If they are not, there's no problem in my mind. If they are, this is then something to consider.

The other thing to consider is where you are now.  Are you a widely published photographer or are you just starting. If you are just starting you may have to give something in order to gain exposure.  In other words, your level of leverage may not be very high.  

There's no hard and fast rule.  Plus, some publishers are easier to work with than others.  

Finally, sometimes reading the fine print too carefully can result in paralysis!

Alain

[soboyle]

Alain
Thanks for putting some perspective on this, I appreciate the advice. It is along the lines of what I was going to do, request the publisher to change the wording to better define their meaning.
I will also probably retain a local lawyer to review the agreement, most lawyers are quite capable in regards to contracts, so it will likely be a valuable exercise, even if they are not publishing experts.