Book Publishing Contracts For Artists and Paleontologists

Copyrights, Contracts, & Guidelines for Dinosaur Artists & Paleontologists

Part 2 Contracts

Book Publishing
Contracts For Artists
and Paleontologists There are no professional situations I can imagine where an artist or paleontologist would be asked to write his or her own book contract. All professional publishers have contracts which they offer, so I will not print a publishing contract blank form, but I will go over the points which should be negotiated with a publisher by an artist and/or paleontologist.
Artists and/or paleontologists may be offered one of three types of book contract, depending on whether they are going to be the author of the book, the illustrator of the book, or the author and illustrator of the book. These three contracts have some similarities and also different points to be negotiated.

Whether you are the author, illustrator, or author/illustrator of a book, your contract will need to be negotiated with regard to compensation. Authors are generally given an advance against royalties, as are author/illustrators, and illustrators working with children’s picture books, where the artwork is the primary focus of the book. Illustrators working on books for older children or adults might be, but are not customarily offered a royalty in the project. In these cases the illustrator negotiates a flat fee, but may want to negotiate a re-use fee after a certain number of copies, so they can expect something like a royalty for an extremely popular book. Advances to authors and illustrators should be non-refundable and should be paid 1/2 upon signing the contract, and 1/2 upon acceptance of the completed work. In all three contracts, the artist and/or author negotiates time limits to supply a completed manuscript and allows limited copyright uses to the publisher in return for this compensation.

Publishers have regular printers with whom they deal and promise to provide with book material by a certain date, for completion to fit a targeted book release date. The author and illustrator should be prepared to meet the deadline and indemnify the publisher against non-performance, but should negotiate some margin of lateness in delivery before the publisher can terminate the agreement, and require the publisher to suggest in writing, details about any revisions they might need, (and give the artist/author enough time to do the revisions!) It is also a good idea, if the work is being sent to the publisher in stages, to negotiate terms by which the publisher signs editorial approval of each stage.

In most cases, author/illustrators have the most secure bargaining position from which to negotiate with a publisher, and are most often given reasonable contracts, (but are also expected to put in the most up-front work,) with authors next, illustrators of picture books next, and illustrators of books for older children and adults least likely to be given an acceptable contract. This isn’t really an insurmountable problem for those illustrators, it’s just a perceptual phenomenon in the industry which has somehow developed over the last decade, and can un-develop with a little effort. All publishers will re-negotiate their initial contracts in order to get the book that is right for their list, and the author and artist they want for a project . Here are points you should negotiate.

<< Previous | Top of Page | Contents | W&K Publications | Next >>

		Part 2 Contracts

Book Publishing Contracts For Artists and Paleontologists		There are no professional situations I can imagine where an artist or paleontologist would be asked to write his or her own book contract. All professional publishers have contracts which they offer, so I will not print a publishing contract blank form, but I will go over the points which should be negotiated with a publisher by an artist and/or paleontologist. Artists and/or paleontologists may be offered one of three types of book contract, depending on whether they are going to be the author of the book, the illustrator of the book, or the author and illustrator of the book. These three contracts have some similarities and also different points to be negotiated. Whether you are the author, illustrator, or author/illustrator of a book, your contract will need to be negotiated with regard to compensation. Authors are generally given an advance against royalties, as are author/illustrators, and illustrators working with children’s picture books, where the artwork is the primary focus of the book. Illustrators working on books for older children or adults might be, but are not customarily offered a royalty in the project. In these cases the illustrator negotiates a flat fee, but may want to negotiate a re-use fee after a certain number of copies, so they can expect something like a royalty for an extremely popular book. Advances to authors and illustrators should be non-refundable and should be paid 1/2 upon signing the contract, and 1/2 upon acceptance of the completed work. In all three contracts, the artist and/or author negotiates time limits to supply a completed manuscript and allows limited copyright uses to the publisher in return for this compensation. Publishers have regular printers with whom they deal and promise to provide with book material by a certain date, for completion to fit a targeted book release date. The author and illustrator should be prepared to meet the deadline and indemnify the publisher against non-performance, but should negotiate some margin of lateness in delivery before the publisher can terminate the agreement, and require the publisher to suggest in writing, details about any revisions they might need, (and give the artist/author enough time to do the revisions!) It is also a good idea, if the work is being sent to the publisher in stages, to negotiate terms by which the publisher signs editorial approval of each stage. In most cases, author/illustrators have the most secure bargaining position from which to negotiate with a publisher, and are most often given reasonable contracts, (but are also expected to put in the most up-front work,) with authors next, illustrators of picture books next, and illustrators of books for older children and adults least likely to be given an acceptable contract. This isn’t really an insurmountable problem for those illustrators, it’s just a perceptual phenomenon in the industry which has somehow developed over the last decade, and can un-develop with a little effort. All publishers will re-negotiate their initial contracts in order to get the book that is right for their list, and the author and artist they want for a project . Here are points you should negotiate.

		<< Previous \| Top of Page \| Contents \| W&K Publications \| Next >>