Authors Guild Warns of "Simon & Schuster Rights Grab"

I've had a number of writers pass on news of an Authors Guild warning about book publisher Simon & Schuster. You can see the original message, but here's the heart of it:

Until now, Simon & Schuster, like all other major trade publishers, has followed the traditional practice in which rights to a work revert to the author if the book falls out of print or if its sales are low.

The publisher is signaling that it will no longer include minimum sales requirements for a work to be considered in print. Simon & Schuster is apparently seeking nothing less than an exclusive grant of rights in perpetuity. Effectively, the publisher would co-own your copyright.

The new contract would allow Simon & Schuster to consider a book in print, and under its exclusive control, so long as it’s available in any form, including through its own in-house database -- even if no copies are available to be ordered by traditional bookstores.

This may be new for S&S, but this is hardly news. Book publishers have for some years have been redefining "out of print." If you have a recent book contract, look and see if there is wording to the effect that a book is in print so long as at least one version is available. Now see if you granted rights to create e-books or print-on-demand delivery or even more general "electronic" rights that a publisher can use to make a title capable of being searched through an online book seller (think Amazon) or search engine (like Google). If so, and if they've produced such a version, then you, my friend, are stuck - at least until 35 years go by and, under US copyright law, you rescind any previous license.

Reading and understanding contracts is a vital part of having a viable writing business. You can't just look for a checklist that someone provides you. No guidelines that have ever been produced yet can envision every single possible twist and turn that business models and, as a result, contracts will take. Don't rely on what other writers tell you or what agents suggest. Learn enough about publishing contracts to smell when something is fishy, and whenever possible, get a good publishing lawyer to review the document. If you won't go to any trouble to take care of your own affairs, you'll find that no one else will, either.