Hi. Two years ago I signed a traditional publishing contract for 2 novels and as an unpublished author I was delighted. No financial contribution required of me but I signed over the intellectual property rights. No commitment to a timescale from the publisher. I have had poor comms from them for 2 years, sometimes contradicting themselves, sometimes seeming to have forgotten about the books, and never giving any assessment of progress or estimate of completion date other than "the editing continues". They have declined to send me what they've done so far. I am beginning to think work has not started. I would be very grateful if anyone can tell me whether it is normal for authors to get this kind of treatment, or does it ring alarm bells for anyone? I must pay £500 to terminate the contract if any work has started, to cover their costs, so it feels like my intellectual property has been taken hostage and I must pay £500 to get it back so I can start approaching other publishers. Please help! I would really appreciate any advice. Thank you.
We don't do legal advice here Happy for folk to discuss whether your experience is normal (it doesn't sound like a great deal to me, sorry. It might take a while for these guys to get their arses into gear, but they do seem to be holding the best cards); if you want legal advice you will need to seek it in the appropriate place, which in this case sounds like a solicitor's office.
Check out the forums at absolutewrite.com There's a lot of detailed information, particularly in their 'Beware' section about publishing issues, advice and what not. Hopefully the mods don't mind me recommending another site but I'm assuming it won't be an issue for helping out a member.
I’d tend to suggest you see a lawyer. Unfair contracts can be challenged in court. You may find that just the threat of it from an attorney is enough
What a concept, a fee for pulling out of a contract. I hadn't considered such a thing. Can't imagine they are illegal, but two whole years with no updates whatsoever, no timeline for release? That does not seem reasonable, although we don't know the terms of the entire contract that you signed. Looks like these termination fees can be easily used as a scam for smaller pubs to steal from authors. But I can also see why they exist. If it were easy to get out of a deal, unscrupulous persons might submit to smaller pubs, get their expensive line editing done for free, and then say see you later, and start submitting to larger publishers or agents. This is a tricky situation. If you threaten legal action, and they call your bluff, they've still got your copyright and will resent you, and probably never publish. And if you actually sue them, the cost of the legal fees might be much higher than the termination fee. A real pickle. Maybe it would be best to show the contract to a copyright law specialist and explain the situation to them.
Absolute "my first contract" stuff. I worked as an IT contractor for [too bloody long] and my ex-wife was a corporate lawyer. The devil is always in the detail. The trouble with creatives is that it's all about the art, but ultimately if you sign up with a publisher, it's a business deal. We should have some commercial awareness if we're going to get into bed with wolves...
Personally I never make a threat I’m not willing to back up so if I threatened them with legal action and they “ called my bluff” I’d sue but definitely talk to a lawyer first and don’t threaten suit if you don’t have a good probability of winning
Wow, thanks very much to everyone for taking the time to write those responses. They sound like great advice and give me plenty of food for thought. Thanks.
In the US, if you contact the state or county bar association. They will typically charge a minimal fee. Los Angeles County for example charged $35 for a consult, payable to the bar association. This is likely the least expensive way to get the legal advice you need.
the other option is authors representative bodies, like the society of authors etc... they generally have legal advice for members either free or cheap as part of the membership benefits
