Since self-publishing in 2011, most of my books have taken a few months to find a readership, but Abducted, my first thriller, took off immediately. I believe word of mouth helped to propel Abducted onto the Top 100 Paid list on Amazon. The second time Abducted hit the Top 100 list I began to hear from editors. I heard from Alan Turkus of Thomas & Mercer in February. We began to talk about Amazon publishing acquiring my Lizzy Gardner series. Alan had been paying attention to reviews and rankings. He told me he read Abducted and liked it.
He talked about how Amazon could grow readership for the series, bringing the series to a new level of sales with the release of Book #3. To start things off, he sent me a Non Binding Term sheet that outlined the parameters of the initial offer. At that time, we discussed (over the phone and via email) any and all questions I had. I was apprehensive at first. For 19 years I couldn’t sell any of my finished books, but suddenly I was doing well on my own and an editor was offering to pay me to write a book I had yet to write.
Not long after, I was approached by two more publishing houses, but by that time I already felt comfortable with the idea of going with Amazon and the royalties could not be beat. Many people have asked me why I would bother selling to a publisher now that I was making good money on my own. The reason is simple. I want to try everything. I want to see if Thomas & Mercer can bring me more readers. Amazon can promote my books in ways no one else can. My Lizzy Gardner series will be offered on audio and will have a chance to be translated into other languages. Foreign sales and trade paperback sales could skyrocket! Or not. But one thing is certain, I won’t know until I try it. If Amazon can do what I think they can do for my books, I will be one happy author. If they can’t…no regrets.
When I was first approached, I wondered if I should find an agent to help me negotiate my contract. I finally decided to hire a contract lawyer and pay a flat fee. I bought a book on publishing contracts and read everything I could find online. After the lawyer reviewed the contract, we talked on the phone for an hour. I then emailed additional questions, comments, and/or requested changes to my editor. Negotiations lasted about a month. During that time my editor and I talked on the phone at least a few times a week.
Although I would consider working with an agent in the future, I find it very refreshing to talk directly to editors. Doing the negotiations with Thomas & Mercer was a thrill in itself. It was difficult, too, and there were moments where I sort of wished I wasn’t the one telling my editor what I did and didn’t like about the contract. There were times I wondered if negotiating directly with him might ruin our future working relationship. I also thought the whole deal might fall through…but it didn’t and I learned so much. I don’t believe there is an agent in the world who would have believed in my books the way I did while we were in discussion. And I do realize its business, which is why anyone doing their own negotiating should know beforehand what the deal breakers are. Overall, the clauses I have the most problems with are the option and reversion of rights clauses. I’ve seen too many authors fighting/struggling to get their rights back. I don’t want that to be me in ten years. I also don’t want to give away too many future unwritten books when the publishing industry is changing SO fast.
My advice to anyone who is planning on negotiating a contract on their own would be to read as many standard publishing contracts as you can get your hands on. Do your research. Figure out what contract details are worth fighting for. What’s important to YOU? What would be a deal breaker? Once you know what you can or cannot live with, you’re ready to negotiate. While negotiating, I wasn’t worried about the deal falling through because the worst scenario would have been that I self-publish my series on my own. In my opinion, I didn’t have anything to lose. I had options.
On another note, last week I signed a 7 book audio deal directly with Audible and once again I did the negotiations on my own. Audible usually works with publishers and agents and the woman I worked with told me that I was the first independent author she had ever worked with directly. Yay for firsts! My thrillers will be on audio with Brilliance through Thomas & Mercer and my romance novels will be done through Audible. They are hiring narrators and taking care of everything. My romance novels will be available on audio on July 9th of 2012. I am super excited!
The Best of Negotiating Your Own Contract Wishes — Theresa Ragan
Congratulations, Thereas, and thanks for sharing those tips. It must be so validating having editors contacting you after all those years of knocking on doors! I’d really be interested in reading more posts about how self-publishing authors can sell their rights themselves – for example foreign rights – without having to give too much percentage away.
Good luck with the new deals, and I look forward to hearing how it’s all going.
Jo
Jo, thanks. And great question about wanting to know more about how authors can make foreign sale deals on their own. I subscribe to publishers marketplace and months ago I did try to sell my foreign rights for this same series on PM. I had one man from Turkey email me, but now T&M is taking care of all of that. I have a feeling that it won’t be long before authors will be able to do it all with a click of a button. Foreign sales, audio, translations. It’s going to get easier and easier.
I will report back on how this all goes. My third book won’t be out until the beginning of 2013. At the end of 2013, I’ll know if it was all worth it.
Wow, that’s amazing! Thanks for sharing Theresa. I’d love to be contacted by an Amazon imprint, but I’d be scared as hell to sign a contract. I mean, I know nothing at all about that side of things! The media is replete with cases of artists struggling for control of their rights, though Amazon don’t seem like the kind of company to try underhand tactics with their authors…
Do you mind sharing, what was the problem with the reversion of rights clauses, and did you get it changed to your satisfaction? I’d love to know what to look out for – WHEN Amazon come knocking… :0)
Tony
Hi Tony, I’m not allowed to talk “specifics” but I will say that the lawyer had a few clauses she thought should be added in case a certain company defaulted at any time. It seems silly being that Amazon is a billion dollar company, but it’s happened before (large companies have defaulted). I just wanted to be sure that in the event anything happened to Amazon, I would get my rights back automatically. They are willing to work with you, but I knew/sensed that I had to pick my battles and that’s why I think it’s super important to know what is the most important thing to you…advance? royalties? reversion of rights? I have worked with editors before and what a difference working with Amazon! They have an author team just waiting to work with you and make everything easy and fun. I’ve talked to at least six people at Amazon about promotion and marketing and everyone listens to ideas. It’s pretty amazing. I had a question for my editor once and within seconds of hitting SEND he called me with the answer. They truly do treat their authors like customers and I like it.
And Tony…I hope Amazon comes knocking on your door soon!
Absolutely fantastic news! Soooo pleased for you. You can never have enough advice when trying to negotiate a contract, so thanks for sharing you experiences. Here’s a post I did for WG2E about why I turned down a New York Agent: http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/why-i-turned-down-a-new-yorkhollywood-agent
The more we share about the process, the more we can help each other
Sibel, what GREAT information you have given everyone. If anyone is going to be negotiating a contract, read Sibel’s post. She talks about the nitty gritty of contracts. Great stuff!
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. Sounds like you’ve got a lot of great things going on in your career! Happy Friday!
Happy Friday, Tamara! Yes, crazy wonderful things keep happening to me. I really have no idea what’s going on, but I’m enjoying the ride. I thought my ten minutes would have been up a while ago, but until that time comes I want to share all the info I can…like D.D. says “Pay it Forward!” One of my favorite things about independent authors is how sharing everyone is. No more transparency!
This is so encouraging! Thanks for sharing your journey with us, and best of luck with the series!
Thanks, PJ!
First, congrats on this huge accomplishment! U Go, Girl!
And then thanks beyond bunches for sharing your experiences with us!
You approached all this in such a super savvy smart way! I totally agree with using a contract lawyer for a flat fee. In fact, I’ve got several entertainment and contract attorneys waiting in the wings for when I need them.
It is important that the attorney you use knows literary contracts and the entertainment biz as well as contract law in general, especially when it comes to subsidiary rights like foreign language translations, film, TV, audio, gaming, etc. For example, those “net profit” definitions and calculations can be HUGE issues.
I also luuuvvv that Amazon WILL negotiate their terms. That’s a plus in and of itself!
Congrats on your Audio Book Deals too! U are totally rockin’ it my friend!!!
Thanks again for having me here, D.D.
One of the great things about writing for 19 years is that I am a part of many online writer groups and many of those individuals are lawyers. So, not only did I hire a contract lawyer, I had so many writer friends/lawyers who were all willing to share. I felt well taken care of. Groups like WG2E are so important. If anyone has a question they can come here and ask and receive lots of great advice. I love it!
Wow! What a great experience – thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Susan!
Congratulations on your first ‘real’ contract. If I might ask, what books did you read before you went into negotiations and how helpful did you find them for preparing you for what actually occurred? I think the rest of us might like to bone up as well.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Rights-grabs are the #1 dirty trick I’m hearing other authors warn us newbies about! I -do- hope you’ll come back and tell us more as your interesting journey unfolds.
Anna, thanks for the congratulations. My REAL contract was signed by Jeff Bezos on March 27, 2012 and I framed the signature page and I look at it every day!
I read Mark Levine’s Negotiating a Publishing Contract. I am out of town and I don’t have the book in front of me so I can’t give you tips from the book at the moment, but I did get some great ideas about the wording of certain clauses. If you read Sibel’s post http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/why-i-turned-down-a-new-yorkhollywood-agent she mentions a few more great sites that I also used–Kris Rusch and The Passive Guy’s websites. Sibel also gives details of clauses to look out for. Other things to think about for the future…do you want an advance? Some independent authors don’t really care about the advance because you are no longer forced to wait 18 months for your book to be released. If you’re giving up 70% royalties, what do you expect in return? This is a tough question because I expect to make up for lost royalties in foreign, audio and paperback sales, but talk to me in a year and I’ll let you know how it went. One thing that was important to me and might not be to others was to keep my movie rights. I knew that Amazon wasn’t in the movie making business (they might be in the future) and I have high hopes for my series and I thought it would be cool to be able to make a movie deal down the road. Anything’s possible! I don’t plan to research film/movie contracts until the third book is done. I am super excited about that.
Put yourself out there and try everything! Why not?
Congratulations Theresa and thanks for the info. I just signed a contract with AudioLark for my RS, and for a split of the royalties, they find/hire the narrator, ect. I thought Audible was the one D.D. went with where she found her own narrator, but above you said they’ll hire the narrator and take care of everything. Am I mistaken that it’s the same company?
Stacey, congratulations on contracting with AudioLark. I’m still learning about the audio business. Do authors submit to AudioLark? If so, how long does it take to hear back from them? Did you do any negotiations or was it a standard contract as far as you know?
If you click to buy an audio book on Amazon you are buying it from Audible.com, which is also an Amazon company.
Yes, I submitted to AL in April I think, and heard back beginning of June. As far as I knew it was a standard contract and I did not negotiate.
Did you submit to Audible, too? Or was the 7 book deal all a part/extension/result (??) of your Thomas and Mercer contract?
I have a few others I’d like to do in audio and was considering looking into Audible, but I don’t have the time to search for/audition narrators.
Stacey, I did not submit to Audible. They emailed me and then made me an offer. I don’t know if they accept submissions. I felt the same way about not having enough time to search for narrators. The audio business is all new to me. Hopefully someone who knows more will share their knowlege.
Thanks for sharing this. It is so interesting to read other author’s experiences. Best of luck with your books. I do hope you will come back in a year an let us all know what is happening.
Hi Alison, I will definitely report back on how things go.
Oh, Theresa – you rock! I’m so happy to see you blazing a trail directly to the top. You deserve it. Can’t wait to watch your career soar!
Debra, thanks so much! I’m having fun, that’s for sure!
“I bought a book on publishing contracts and read everything I could find online.”
Would you share with us the name of that book and some of the online resources you used when researching contracts. Thank you.
Hi James, I read Mark Levine’s Negotiating a Publishing Contract and I found a lot of great info on Kris Rusch’s website. http://kriswrites.com/business-rusch-publishing-articles/ It’s a good place to start. Publishing Contracts 101 (2009)http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/get-published-sell-my-work/publishing-contracts-101 Joe Konrath talked about audio books on 6/21/12 http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
absolute congratulations and best wishes
loved hearing your story 
thank you!
Thanks, Adan!
Hi Theresa, from one Thomas & Mercer author to another, congratulations! Welcome aboard. You make a lot of valuable points here. One word of caution, though, to authors contemplating using literary agents as reps. Try to negotiate so that the agent-contract has a time limit. Otherwise, you will be paying the agent’s 15%commission for the life of your novel! Should the agent die, that 15% commission goes to their estate. Forever!!
This has happened to me. So now I am paying 15% commission of my royalties for one of my novels to a deceased agent’s children, and another 15% commission to another agent for yet another novel, even though I have left that agent! Again, this is for the life of my novels.
Its a Catch-22! If agents are good they negotiate for bigger advances and better royalty percentages, but then they own you for the remainder of your book’s life. I would say literary attorneys are a better deal. They usually take a flat payment, and are often more savvy than agents.
In any event, congrats again! Continued success, Theresa, and may all your dreams come true!
Kiana Davenport, THE SPY LOVER (Thomas & Mercer, pub date: August 28, 2012)
kianadavenportdialogues.blogspot.com
Hi Kiana, congratulations to YOU and thank you for the welcome. Thanks, too, for the information. 15% for a lifetime seems sort of steep. Wishing you mega sales when your book comes out in August!
Congratulations on your success, Theresa. And thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. I’ve enjoyed following your blog and watching your sales numbers grow.
Thanks, Rhonda!
Congratulations on your success Theresa. Your story is completely amazing and I hope one day I can be as successful as you have become.