Okay, so I'm seriously thinking about making my standalone novel have a sequel or possibly be the first book in a trilogy. If I was to do that, and I got this book traditionally published but they for whatever reason dropped the second book's production, could I go ahead and get the second and possibly third book self published? Is there anything where a traditional publisher would say you can't do that?
The original contract you signed would have to have legal verbiage claiming ownership to sequels, I would think.
Just a question, stemming from your response, Laurin. If the publisher does get legal ownership of any sequels you write, does this mean they must publish them? Can they refuse to publish them, while still not allowing the author to publish elsewhere? Or is this an issue you must address while negotiating any contract for your first book (in the series?)
Yeah, I was thinking that. It doesn't seem fair to the author for a publisher to claim ownership of sequels, and then decide not to publish them.
This will all depend on the wording of the contract, but in general if the publisher pays an advance for the second (or third) books, the publisher is really, really unlikely to not publish it. But most contracts I've signed for multiple books have included language for reversion of rights if not published in a timely manner and/or if a certain number of copies aren't sold per year, so if the publisher decided not to publish the rest of the books despite having paid advances on them (again, unlikely), then the rights would eventually revert. There would likely be a delay in publishing the later books, but that's all. And if the publisher isn't paying an advance, the contract likely gives them right of first refusal or something similar, which only means they have the chance to form a contract to publish it, not that they control the rights forever. So, in summary: 1. This will depend on individual contracts, but... 2. If the contract is for multiple books, it's very likely multiple books will be published and there should be a reversion of rights clause, and 3. If the contract is for a single book, there will probably be a clause about first refusal on sequels, and if the publisher doesn't want to publish the later books they'll just refuse and the author can do what she wants.
