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Book Publishing Contract

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Prepared for:
[Author Name]

Prepared by:
[Publisher Name]

Book Publishing Contract

This Book Publishing Contract (hereinafter referred to as the "Contract"), is entered and shall stand effective on [Effective Date] (hereinafter referred to as the "Effective Date"), by and between [Publisher Company] (hereinafter referred to as the "Publisher") and [Author Name] (hereinafter referred to as the "Author") in preparation of coming to terms on the publication of [Work Title] (hereinafter referred to as the "Book"). 

Hereinafter, the Publisher and the Author shall be collectively referred to as the "Parties" and individually as "Party".

THEREFORE, in consideration of the covenants, other mutual promises, and agreements contained herein, the receipt and sufficiency of which are to be acknowledged hereby, the Parties comply with the terms and conditions as proposed below.

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Terms and Conditions

1. Sanctioning Rights

By signing this Contract, the Author grants the Publisher the following rights to the book as set forth below:
[Description of rights to be given to Publisher]

The rights mentioned in this section are sanctioned by the Author on behalf of themselves and their successors, heirs, executors, and any other third party who may claim rights from this point forward. The rights granted to the Publisher are not demographically bound and shall be considered universal.

2. Manuscript Draft

The Author agrees on delivering a complete manuscript in [Language] (hereinafter referred to as the "Manuscript") to the Publisher till [Due Date] through a certified mailing address or email, in any format. All forms of artwork, prefaces, references, acknowledgments are to be drafted to the Publisher till [Due Date].

In case the Publisher deems any delivered material to be unacceptable due to any condition, the Author shall be given a specific time period of [Period] by the Publisher for the Author to correct the said errors. Negligency upon which the Publisher holds their right to cancel the Contract providing a reasonable cause. Should the Author fail to draft the manuscript to the Publisher, or correct distortions in the given aforementioned period, they shall be required to repay all advance payments accepted from the Publisher.

3. Royalties and Advance Payment

As an advance against future royalties, the Publisher shall provide the Author a sum of [Amount] through cash, or bank transfer, or direct deposit, or net banking, or mobile payment, or any other form of repaying.

Furthermore, the Publisher agrees to pay royalties on [Net Sales/Gross Sales] according to the following:

Edition	Royalty Payment
Paperback	0.00%
Hardcover	0.00%
Translation	0.00%
Excerpts	0.00%
E-book	0.00%
Braille	0.00%
Merchandising	0.00%

4. Copyrights

The Publisher shall obtain a copyright for the Book in the Author's name by [Date] in accordance with [Publisher State] copyright protocols. Hereinafter, any and all material in the form of text, or graphics, or artistic material that the Publisher might append, the copyright shall be withheld by the Publisher at such specifics.

5. Publication

The Publisher shall publish the Book by [Publishing Date]. In the case of occurrence of unforeseeable events, through no miscue of the Publisher, might delay the date of publication. Furthermore, the Publisher shall have their rights at discretion to modify or edit the materials drafted prior to publication. However, it can only be done after the Author has reviewed and sanctioned approval to the aforementioned modifications. 

In conjunction with that, although the Author withholds the right to review and approve of the refinements made by the Publisher, the Publisher shall forbear comprehensive rights for manufacture, distribution, marketing, and selling the completed work as they might feel necessary.

6. Account Statement and Competing Works

With signing this Contract, the Publisher accepts to provide the Author with statements of their account on a [Payment Plan] basis.

The Author agrees that they shall not publish other work that may include likeliness with the characters, plot, or any other references associated with this work, during the term of this Contract unless agreed upon by the Publisher. If the author considers publishing a sequel of the Book with another party, they may do so after the written consent of the Publisher.

7. Right to Cancel

The Author can cancel publication right any time whenever they deem that the Publisher has failed or is failing in withholding the terms of this Contract, and vice-versa. 

A written notification to the other party regarding the issue must be sent while granting the other party a minimum of [Deadline to fix shortcomings] to overcome related shortcomings. If the other party fails to adequately maintain the expectations of the complaining party, the other party has their right to cancel this Contract and establish a publication relationship with another party.

With the cancellations of this Contract, all rights granted to the parties shall revert back.

8. Termination

Other than the provisions set forth in the above sections, this Contract may only be terminated for violation of the following conditions:
[Conditions that can terminate the Contract]

The Book shall be considered "out of print" if [conditions to be set by Publisher]. During such circumstances, all the copyrights owned by the Publisher, including all provisions mentioned herein, shall revert back to the Author and the Contract shall be considered terminated.

9. Arbitration

In the event of any dispute arising in and out of this Agreement between the Parties, it shall be resolved by Arbitration. There shall be [Number of Arbitrators], namely [Arbitrator Name] (hereinafter referred to as the "Arbitrator"), which shall be appointed by the Parties. The place of Arbitration shall be [Place of Arbitration] and Seat shall be [State of 'State']. The Arbitrators’ decision shall be final and will be binding upon both Parties.

10. Miscellaneous

Warranty: The Author accepts that they are the sole creator of the Book and they have not published the book in any other form previously, neither have agreed to any other similar agreements governing the Book, and the Book is not in public domain previously.
Indemnification: The Author indemnifies the Publisher harmless from any and all claims, demands, actions, etc. issuing forth from the publication of the Book; this includes and is unbounded of actions involving plagiarism, fraud, and theft.
Governing Law: This Agreement shall be governed by and construed with respect to all aspects of the jurisdiction laws of the state of [State].
Notices: All notices relating to the Contract shall be delivered to the Author and the Publisher through their certified mailing address or e-mail.
Amendment: The Agreement hereby is not liable to be reformed, amended, or modified without the written consent of both the Parties. Violation of these may result in extreme legal charges. 
Counterparts: The Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, by facsimile or electronic signature or otherwise, each of which shall be authentic but all of which together shall aggregate to this Agreement.
Entirety: This Agreement constitutes the final, complete, and exclusive statement of the agreement of the Parties apropos the subject matter hereof, and supersedes any and all other prior and contemporaneous agreements and understandings, both written and phonated, between the Parties.

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Acceptance and Signature

Signature

Assign signer 1

Name

Assign signer 1

Date

Assign signer 1

Signature

Assign signer 2

Name

Assign signer 2

Date

Assign signer 2

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DISCLAIMER: Revvsales, Inc is not a law firm. The content provided herein is for general information purposes only, and does not constitute legal advice. Revvsales, Inc and its partners make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information mentioned hereunder. The use or reliance of any information contained herein is for your personal use and solely at your own risk. You agree to fully release and indemnify Revvsales, Inc from any liability associated with the use of this content. You are advised to obtain independent legal advice before taking or refraining from any action on the basis of the content provided here.

DISCLAIMER: Revvsales, Inc is not a law firm. The content provided herein is for general information purposes only, and does not constitute legal advice. Revvsales, Inc and its partners make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of any information mentioned hereunder. The use or reliance of any information contained herein is for your personal use and solely at your own risk. You agree to fully release and indemnify Revvsales, Inc from any liability associated with the use of this content. You are advised to obtain independent legal advice before taking or refraining from any action on the basis of the content provided here.

Free Book Publishing Contract Template

Protect your book publishing business against disputes, non-payments, and legal claims. Here is a professionally vetted agreement template to get started.

Get started with this template

Publishing

What is a Book Publishing Contract?

A book publishing contract is a contract between a book publisher and an author. Here, a publisher agrees to publish the book of the author and sets out the terms and conditions for accepting the deal in the form of a written agreement.

What are the important elements of a Book Publishing Contract?

Book contracts are drafted as per the requirements of both parties. However, there are certain essential elements of a book publishing contract:

Cover page

This section specifies the parties for whom this contract is drawn - the book publisher's name, author’s name, and genre of the book published.

Description of the work

Specify the nature of the work and the kind of book to be published by the author. It is essential to include this clause in the publishing agreement to avoid any future misunderstandings between the parties.

Manuscript draft

In this section, mention the details regarding the original manuscript draft shared by the author. If there are any changes to be made in the manuscript, the author should clearly specify to the publisher. Also, mention the exact delivery date on which the author delivers the completed manuscript to the publisher.

Grant of rights

Grant of rights refers to the rights specifically granted to the publisher by the author:

The rights granted to media platforms so that the publisher can publish the book
The rights granted on the term period for which the publisher continues to publish the author’s book
The rights granted for the geographical area in which the publisher distributes the author’s book

Copyright ownership

The ownership of the book is legally in the hands of the author. This section mentions the ownership being transferred partially or completely to the publisher for publishing purposes after obtaining the author's consent and signing the agreement.

Indemnity

This section specifies the responsibilities of both parties in case any conflicts arise during the publication process. For example - if there is any loss incurred or if the publisher fails to abide by the obligations during the publishing agreement, mention the compensation as well as the protection of financial burden between the parties.

Pricing

In the publishing contract, the payments are divided into two sections - royalties and the advance amount. Royalty payments refer to the amount paid to the author for the number of copies being sold. Advances refer to the amount paid to the author on the value of the book.

The publisher must clearly state the future royalties and the advance amount that will be received by the author in the publishing agreement. You can create a pricing table for a clearer understanding of payments.

Terms and Conditions

This section mentions the necessary contract terms - subsidiary rights, cancellation policy, termination, arbitration, etc., that are required in a book publishing contract to avoid any future conflicts between the parties.

Signatures

Finally, add signature blocks for the publisher and the author. This is where both parties agree to the terms of the contract and close the deal with signatures.

What is the process of Book Publishing Contracts?

The procedure involved in book publishing contracts is as follows:

The first step is the author’s approach to the publisher for publishing his/her book. Here, the publisher and the author decide on major deal points such as royalty and advances, manuscript draft, etc.
The next step is to draft the contract between both parties. Here both the publisher and the author include necessary clauses and negotiate the deal.
After both parties have agreed upon the terms, they sign the contract. This binds both the author and the publishing company legally and turns it into an official contract.

Revv - Your partner for drafting the right Book Publishing Contract

Revv is an intelligent document automation and eSignature platform to streamline business operations. Its incredible features help you speed up the drafting process and seamlessly create a customized contract as per your business needs.

Ready to use template

Revv’s ready to use book publishing contract template is vetted by legal professionals and drafted carefully. It can be customized as per the author’s and the publisher’s requirements, without any code. Now, no more worries about drafting the contract from scratch.

Drag-and-drop editor

With Revv’s drag-and-drop editor, editing documents is a cakewalk. All you need to do is just add/remove the text blocks, images, page breaks, etc., as per your book publishing contract. This helps in drafting the contract in a more effective manner.

Collaboration

Now you can easily collaborate with your team members within the document and avoid the hassle of email exchanges. With Revv’s collaboration feature, both parties can communicate within the documents by tagging, comments, and attachments.

Real-time monitoring

Revv’s activity tracker helps in tracking the whole document in real time. Through this feature, the user gets insights into who has viewed, rejected, and accepted the contract.

eSignature

Revv’s eSignature feature helps in accelerating the signing process. Both parties have to just eSign the document with a click to turn the document into a legal book publishing contract.

Frequently asked questions

What is a standard book publishing deal?

A standard book contract deal is an agreement between the author and the publishing company. It includes certain rights and obligations between the parties and also the money to be paid to the author.

How much can you make from publishing a book?

Depending on how good the book is and based on the book sales, the author earns money from it. The payment is typically given in the form of future royalties and advances.

What is a trade paperback?

A trade paperback is a soft-bound book that is mainly more expensive than a mass-market paperback and is sold in bookstores. It also has a thicker cover than the mass-market paperback.