Fill and Sign the Book Publishing Contract Form

Book Publishing Contract Agreement made on the ________________ (date) , between ____________________ (Name of Author ) of ________________________________ ______________________________________ (street address, city, state, zip code) , referred to herein as Author, and ____________________ (Name of Publisher ) , a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of _________________, with its principal office located at ___________________________________________ ____________________________ (street address, city, state, zip code) , referred to herein as Publisher . 1. Sale of Right to Publish Author grants, sells, and assigns to Publisher the exclusive right to publish in the English language in book form in the United States and Canada the material now entitled _____________________________ (Title of Book) , hereinafter called the Work, which Title may be changed only by mutual consent. 2. Copyright Publisher agrees simultaneously with the publication of the Work to copyright it in the name of Author in the United States and Canada . Publisher shall imprint in each copy on the title page or its reverse side, the notice Copyright _________________ (year of first publication) by _____________________ (Name of Author) . 3. Warranty Author represents that Author is the sole proprietor of the Work; the Work does not infringe any existing copyright; the Work has not previously been published in book form; and to the best of Author's knowledge, the Work contains no libelous or other unlawful matter. Author shall indemnify Publisher against any claim, demand, or recovery finally sustained in any proceedings brought against Publisher by reason of any violation of proprietary right or copyright, or any unlawful matter contained in the Work. Publisher shall notify Author of any such claim, demand, or action and give Author such reasonable time as the exigencies of the situation will permit, to meet such claim or to undertake its defense. 4. Delivery of Manuscript Author shall deliver to Publisher on or before ____________________ (date) a complete copy of the Work. If Author fails to deliver the manuscript on or before the above-prescribed date, the time for Publisher to publish the Work may be correspondingly extended. 5. Galley and Page Proofs Publisher shall submit galley and page proofs of the Work which Author shall read, correct, and return within ______ (number) days of receipt. The proofs shall conform to Author's final manuscript except as altered by mutual Agreement and shall have been proofread by Publisher. Any additional expense incurred by reason of changes from or additions to Author's final manuscript requested by Author, in excess of _____% of the original cost of composition, shall be charged against the first installments of royalties due under this Agreement; provided that Publisher shall promptly furnish an itemized statement of such additional expenses and make available at its office the corrected proofs for inspection. 6. Publication Publisher agrees to publish the Work without changes, additions, or eliminations in or from the text at its own expense in such format as Publisher deems best suited to its sale, at a catalogue retail price of not less than $__________ per copy, in cloth style, on or before __________________ (date) . Should Publisher fail to publish the Work by that date, all rights granted to Publisher under this Agreement shall terminate at the option of Author and revert to Author. Such option may be exercised by posting a notice to that effect addressed to Publisher, by registered mail, after the default. In the event of delay caused by strikes, fires, or other contingencies beyond Publisher's control, the publication may be postponed accordingly. 7. Advance; Royalties A. On the execution of this contract Publisher shall pay Author $__________ as an advance on account of royalties earned by any edition of the Work published by Publisher under its imprint. No part of such advance shall be repayable in any event. B. The royalties shall be based on the catalogue retail price of all copies sold, except as provided in Section 8. Publisher shall pay Author a royalty of ____% on the first _______ (number) copies; ______% on the next _______ (number) copies; and _____% on all copies of the Work over ________ (number) copies actually sold, not including copies given to Author, travelers' samples, damaged copies, and copies given away (but not for resale) for the purpose of aiding the sale of the Work and for review. 8. Variance in Royalties A. All countries other than the United States and Canada shall be considered an open market for the distribution and sale of the regular edition of the Work in the English language only; Publisher may sell the Work in such market and shall pay the Author a royalty of ______% of its actual charges for sales so made by it, without deduction for discounts and bad debts. B. Publisher, with the written consent of Author, may license to recognized book clubs the right to publish an edition of the Work for distribution to its members, and shall pay to Author _____% of the net proceeds of the sale. C. Where the discount to wholesale or retail distributors or booksellers in the United States is more than _____% on sales of ___________ (number) copies or more, Author shall receive a royalty of _____% less than the rate stated in this Agreement; and with each additional ______% discount, the royalties shall be further reduced by an additional _______%. In no case, however, shall the royalties be less than ______% those stipulated in Section 7 . D. On all copies sold as remainders at a discount of _____% or more from the retail price, but above the actual cost of manufacture, Author's royalties shall be based on the price actually received by Publisher; no remaindering, however, shall take place until _______ (number) months after publication of the Work. E. Neither Author nor Publisher shall grant permission to publish extracts from the Work without the consent of the other to the contract terms of such permission. If consent is given and an extract shall consist of less than ______ (number) words, Author and Publisher shall share equally the net amount received; if the selection shall be over _________ (number) words Author shall receive _______% of the net amount. F. On copies sold direct to customers through the media of mail order, coupon advertising, or by mail circularization, the royalty shall be ______% of the amount of Publisher's charges, with no discount for bad debts. 9. Soft-Cover Edition No edition of the Work to retail at less than $_________ shall be issued without the consent of Author in writing. Should such an edition be issued by Publisher, Publisher shall pay Author a royalty of _____% of the retail price. Should the right to issue such an edition be granted to a second publisher, Publisher shall endeavor to arrange terms with the second publisher that will permit a royalty payment to Author of _____% of the retail price, and the royalty payment to Author shall in no case be less than ______% of the retail price. 10. Accounting; Payments A. Publisher shall, within ______ (number) months after publication, pay to Author all royalties that shall have accrued on sales made before publication (less advances) and shall accompany the payment with a statement as provided in this Section. B. Publisher agrees to render ______________ (semiannual) statements on the first day of _______________ (name of month) and of _________________ (name of month) in each year, showing an account of sales up to the first day of the second month preceding the accounting dates. Payments then due Author shall be simultaneously made on those dates. The statements shall show in detail the number of copies printed, the number bound, the number spoiled, the number given away, the number sold in each category, and the number on hand. C. If Publisher shall default in the delivery of statements or in making cash settlements as required in Paragraph B of this Section and shall neglect or refuse to deliver the statements or to make the settlements within ________ (number) days after notice and demand posted by registered mail to Publisher, this Agreement may be terminated at the option of Author on the expiration of _______ (number) days. D. In the event of any sales or licenses that Publisher may be entitled to make to another party under the terms of this Agreement, Publisher shall pay to Author his share of the monies resulting from such sales or licenses within _______ (number) days after receipt by Publisher; Author at his option may demand that such third party, or parties, make payment directly to him of Author's share, and this clause shall be sufficient Authority to the third party for making the payment. E. Author or his authorized representative shall have the right, on written request, to examine Publisher's books of account to the extent they relate to the Work; the examination shall be at the cost of Author unless errors of accounting amounting to ______% or more of the total sums paid to Author shall be found to his disadvantage, in which case the cost shall be borne by Publisher. F. In the event of overpayments other than unearned advances, Publisher may deduct the amount of the overpayments from any further earnings accruing to Author on account of the Work. 11. Free Copies Publisher agrees to present to Author _______ (number) free copies of the Work immediately on publication and to permit Author to purchase further copies for his personal use (but not for resale) at ______% of the retail price. 12. Rights Reserved to Author All rights in the Work now existing or that may come into existence, except those specifically granted to Publisher in this Agreement, are reserved to Author for Author's use at all times. If Author shall sell the motion picture or televised motion picture rights to the Work, he shall have the right to grant to the licensee or purchaser of picture rights the privilege to publish in any form excerpts and summaries of the Book, of the dramatization, and of the motion picture version of the Book, to be used for the advertising and exploitation of the motion picture or televised motion picture based on the Book or dramatization, but in no case shall such excerpts or summary exceed ______% of the length of the Work. 13. Termination A. If Publisher at any time during the existence of this Agreement shall fail to comply with or fulfill any of the terms or conditions of this Agreement, Author may at his option terminate this Agreement by posting to Publisher a notice of termination by registered mail, and then all rights granted by Author to Publisher shall revert to him; in that event all payments previously made to Author shall remain his property, all, however, without prejudice to any other remedies that Author may have against Publisher. These provisions shall not apply to instances in which automatic terminations of this Agreement are elsewhere provided in this Agreement. The provisions of this paragraph are subject, nevertheless, to other termination conditions provided in Section 10 . B. On the termination of this Agreement under any provision, Publisher shall return to Author all property originally furnished by Author, and Author shall have the right to purchase from Publisher the plates of the Work at their metal value and any remaining copies or sheets at a price not to exceed ______% of the manufacturing costs. If Author shall not have so acquired the plates, copies, or sheets within _______ (number) days after the effective date of such termination, Publisher shall have the right to melt the plates, and to sell the remaining copies at cost or less without payment to the Author of royalties on the sales. No such sale by Publisher, however, shall transfer the right of publication and sale of the Work to any purchaser of the remaining copies or sheets. In any event, however, Publisher's privilege to sell such remaining copies shall expire _______ (number) months after the effective termination date and then all remaining copies shall be destroyed. C. If the Work is at any time out of print, except as a result of emergency conditions beyond Publisher's control, Author may give notice to Publisher that it is out of print and in that event, if Publisher shall not within ______ (number) months bring out a new printing of the Work, then all rights granted under this Agreement shall terminate and revert to Author automatically and without notice. If, however, the Work is on sale in an inexpensive edition pursuant to the provision of Section 9 , it shall not be considered to be out of print. D. If a petition in bankruptcy is filed by or against Publisher, or if Publisher is adjudged insolvent by any court, or if a trustee or a receiver of any property of Publisher is appointed in any suit or proceeding by or against Publisher, or if Publisher makes an assignment for the benefit of creditors or takes the benefit of any bankruptcy or insolvency act, or if Publisher liquidates its business for any cause whatever, Author may, at Author's option, terminate this Agreement, and the termination shall then be effective as of the date of the filing of the petition, adjudication, appointment, assignment or declaration, or commencement of liquidation, and all rights granted in this Agreement shall then revert to Author. As a condition of the making of this Agreement, Author acquires the right, on such termination, to purchase at his option the plates, remaining copies, and sheets, all as provided in Paragraph B of this Section. If Author's option to purchase the properties is not exercised within ______ (number) days of the occurrence referred to, Publisher, trustee, receiver, assignee, or other such official may melt the plates and sell the copies or sheets remaining on hand subject only to payment to Author of the royalties provided in this Agreement. If Author desires to purchase the books and sheets, and the trustee, receiver, or other named official deems the price fixed at ______% of the manufacturing costs to be below the fair market value, then such value shall be determined by arbitration. 14. Severability The invalidity of any portion of this Agreement will not and shall not be deemed to affect the validity of any other provision. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid, the parties agree that the remaining provisions shall be deemed to be in full force and effect as if they had been executed by both parties subsequent to the expungement of the invalid provision. 15. No Waiver The failure of either party to this Agreement to insist upon the performance of any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, or the waiver of any breach of any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, shall not be construed as subsequently waiving any such terms and conditions, but the same shall continue and remain in full force and effect as if no such forbearance or waiver had occurred. 16. Governing Law This Agreement shall be governed by, construed, and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of _____________. 17. Notices Any notice provided for or concerning this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed sufficiently given when sent by certified or registered mail if sent to the respective address of each party as set forth at the beginning of this Agreement. 18. Attorney’s Fees In the event that any lawsuit is filed in relation to this Agreement, the unsuccessful party in the action shall pay to the successful party, in addition to all the sums that either party may be called on to pay, a reasonable sum for the successful party's attorney fees. 19. Mandatory Arbitration Any dispute under this Agreement shall be required to be resolved by binding arbitration of the parties hereto. If the parties cannot agree on an arbitrator, each party shall select one arbitrator and both arbitrators shall then select a third. The third arbitrator so selected shall arbitrate said dispute. The arbitration shall be governed by the rules of the American Arbitration Association then in force and effect. 20. Entire Agreement This Agreement shall constitute the entire agreement between the parties and any prior understanding or representation of any kind preceding the date of this Agreement shall not be binding upon either party except to the extent incorporated in this Agreement. 21. Modification of Agreement Any modification of this Agreement or additional obligation assumed by either party in connection with this Agreement shall be binding only if placed in writing and signed by each party or an authorized representative of each party. 22. Assignment of Rights The rights of each party under this Agreement are personal to that party and may not be assigned or transferred to any other person, firm, corporation, or other entity without the prior, express, and written consent of the other party. 23. Counterparts For the convenience of the parties, this Agreement has been executed in several counterparts, which are in all respects similar and each of which shall be deemed to be complete in itself so that any one may be introduced in evidence or used for any other purpose without the production of the other counterparts. Immediately following endorsement of the consenting parties, counterparts will be furnished to the consenting parties so that each may be advised of the rights, privileges, and benefits that this Agreement confers. 24. In this Agreement, any reference to a party includes that party's heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, singular includes plural and masculine includes feminine. WITNESS our signatures as of the day and date first above stated. ________________________ (Name of Publisher) ________________________ By:_________________________ (P rinted name) _________________________ ________________________ (P rinted name & Office in Corporation) (Signature of Author) _________________________ (Signature of Officer)