# Contract Offer - your thoughts please!



## murr1234 (Jun 12, 2020)

I have been offered a contract with a fairly large publisher for my first non-fiction book. I don’t want to be greedy by negotiating better conditions - but I do want a fair deal. Any thoughts on the below conditions (particularly the 10% of *net* sales ) would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Royalties: 10% of *net* sales on all copies, 50% of net for exercise on all other subsidiary rights, 25% of net on eBook.
Publisher retains international rights, all languages too
Translation: 50/50 Audio: 50/50 Serial: 80 (writer)/20


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## luckyscars (Jun 12, 2020)

murr1234 said:


> I have been offered a contract with a fairly large publisher for my first non-fiction book. I don’t want to be greedy by negotiating better conditions - but I do want a fair deal. Any thoughts on the below conditions (particularly the 10% of *net* sales ) would be greatly appreciated, thank you!
> 
> Royalties: 10% of *net* sales on all copies, 50% of net for exercise on all other subsidiary rights, 25% of net on eBook.
> Publisher retains international rights, all languages too
> Translation: 50/50 Audio: 50/50 Serial: 80 (writer)/20



The net thing is a bit of a red flag given you say it's a 'fairly large publisher' as genuinely large and profitable publishers typically pay royalties based on listed price. No advance either, sounds like? 

The reason you need to be careful of 'net' is because it _can _be abused. In this case, the language reads net *sales*, which is better than if it were to mean net *profit*. If it was net profit the publisher is potentially free to deduct whatever they want -- editing, marketing, lunch, salaries, whatever just so long as it's 'part of the costs' -- and give you whatever is left over, which especially at a 10% rate could be really be small. Net profit is usually bullshit.

Net sales is more palatable because it means the number is based on the retail price minus however much the publisher sold it to the retailer for.  Net sales is less preferable to listed price because it means if the book is being sold at a huge discount for whatever reason, it will directly impact your royalties (because it's 'net', see?) and you wont be able to do anything about it. 

However, smaller publishers (like mine) often don't have the ability to not discount the book and then risk incurring a huge loss of income by paying what could end up being a really high rate based on a list-price-royalty contract, so 'net sales' could make sense.

This isn't really a good place to ask these questions, to be honest. The best thing you could do is have a lawyer who specializes in book publishing look it over. Might cost a few bucks, but it will save you a lot of trouble in the long run, bear in mind this isn't a mistake you can easily fix. https://www.authorsguild.org/member-services/legal-services/ is a good place to start as they offer a lot of assistance with exactly this (plus a lot extra) and a lot of it is free once you join.


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## murr1234 (Jun 12, 2020)

Many thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed answer. That's very helpful indeed. 

I am wondering what other first-time authors were offered, ito royalties on sales?


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## luckyscars (Jun 12, 2020)

murr1234 said:


> Many thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed answer. That's very helpful indeed.
> 
> I am wondering what other first-time authors were offered, ito royalties on sales?



The thing is, it's not so much about being a first time author. It's also the market and what the anticipated profitability of your book is & negotiating that in light of the financial situation of the publisher. 

This is where the Authors Guild can help because they have the data. I have no idea what the average royalties are in non-fiction -- and what kind of non fiction is it? I mean, cookbooks are non-fiction and those tend to be less profitable than, say, college textbooks. 

So whether 10% n/s is a 'good' number or not probably really depends. It doesn't look to me like a really terrible number, but I'm really hesitant to comment on that and would advise you not to base your feelings on anecdotal advice.


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## murr1234 (Jun 12, 2020)

Good point, thanks. I do realise it's a case-by-case scenario, and one can't generalise. It's a self-help book, BTW.


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