I ran across a market the other day that reminded me that writers need to watch out for royalty minimums when they sign a contact. This particular market pays nothing up front and no royalties until they reach the $50 mark. They have five years to reach that point, then all royalties revert to the publisher. This was an ebook publisher, the market an anthology, so the odds of a writer ever seeing a penny are pretty slim.
The reason this struck me was I signed a similar contract several years ago. The anthology was print, and believe it or not, it's still listed for sale at Amazon.com and several other book seller sites. The writers weren't paid for the stories up front, but once the royalties hit $25 per author they would be paid. I received my one and only quarterly statement two months late and the royalties were just over $24. A few cents shy of my getting paid for my work. Shortly after that statement arrived the press folded and the publisher re-opened under a new name. So, who got the royalties that were supposed to go to the writers?
Now, I was thrilled to be included in the anthology, I received the copies I was promised, but I still feel like I was bent over. But I did learn a valuable lesson, which I'm passing on to you. Pay attention to how the payment of royalties is worded, if there's a minimum payment, try to negotiate. If they don't want to negotiate the ball's in your court. You have to decide if the publication credit is worth more to you than the possibility of payment.
And a market note: Shock Totem has opened for submissions http://www.shocktotem.com/index.html
5 comments:
There's probably a lot of this happening. I wonder if the reconstitution of the press was planned for just such a reason.
I don't know if it was planned. They were supposedly bringing in more people, going so far as to introduce them to the writers, to work then all of a sudden everything fell apart and she went off on her own and the original press just disappeared.
I expect these things happen but it still left a bad taste and I don't approach the small presses as eagerly as I used to. When I saw the $50 minimum listed all the buzzers went off in my mind.
Useful, useful post, Sandra. We all need to pay attention.
I think at my point I am so flattered to be asked, I never even think about any promises made.
I know exactly how you feel, Patti! Just being asked is such a thrill. I just hate when they dangle the carrot of payment, all the while figuring out a way not to pay. Not being paid doesn't bother me at this stage, just don't tease me!
I spend hours reading the contracts when they come (few and far between), Conda. It's always the fine print that trips you up so I read that over and over. :)
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