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- Writers Resources - |
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Business and Legal Forms for Authors and Self-Publishers |
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 Business and Legal Formsfor Authors and Self-Publishers by Tad Crawford Allworth Press 191 pages, 1999 ISBN 1581150393 Reviewed by PJ Nunn This book offers a no-frills approach and gets right to the point. The first section entitled The Success Kit, begins with basic information about contracts and negotiations, describing oral and written contracts and discussing special provisions. It then goes on to explore estimates and a form for confirmation of assignments, an essential tool for freelance writers working for companies that do not issue contracts. The segment on invoicing is brief, but the negotiation checklist is thorough. Some may feel that it goes into excessive detail, but experienced freelancers know it's better to cover all the bases than to wish later that you had. The segments covering author/agent contracts and book publishing contracts are lengthy and detailed, followed by information about collaboration contracts, contracts to license audio rights and an interesting section about author's lecture contracts. The privacy release and permission forms are followed by a nondisclosure agreement for submitting ideas that contains pertinent information. Next come suggestions for completing contracts with book designers, printers, distributors and sales representatives. The Success Kit closes with examples of copyright transfer forms, contracts with independent contractors and a license of electronic rights. The second half of the book consists of a tear out section of the previously mentioned forms, which are also included on the CD inside the back cover. Business And Legal Forms is anything but stimulating reading material, however, for those in pursuit of a full-time writing career, the information presented in the book may help avoid common pitfalls. With many start-up publishing endeavors, especially on the Internet, offering high dollars for the written word, the temptation to venture into a promising new market is great. However, nondisclosure/noncompetion clauses abound, as do assignments issued with no contract. A successful author is one who is prepared for unfortunate eventualities such as those addressed within these covers. |
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