ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the contractual provisions and some other legal considerations that generally apply to the author-publisher relationship at each stage in that sequence. An author's first approach to a publisher, often made through a literary agent, may be a call or a letter to say that the author's next book is available. The author's compensation for sales of the publisher's editions is a royalty, generally expressed as a percentage of the publisher's suggested selling price or as a percentage of the amounts received by the publisher from such sales. Editor’s concern is whether they publisher can reasonably expect to sell enough copies and receive enough money from subrights licenses to recoup an advance of $10,000 or, better, exceed it. Many publishing contracts provide that the manuscript has to be satisfactory in content and form to the publisher. Publishing agreements usually provide that the grant of rights is made for the full term of the copyright.
