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Guide to Textbook Publishing Contracts

Price: $7.95 (eBook) | $14.95 + $5 S&H (Print Book)

By Stephen E. Gillen, Partner, Wood Herron & Evans  

eBook - Pages: 40 | Edition: 1st
Publisher: Textbook & Academic Authors Association, 2016

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"Steve Gillen’s Guide to Textbook Publishing Contracts is not just reading material, it is an indispensable reference, whether you are a first-time or experienced author."
- Michael Sullivan, award-winning author with 14 mathematics textbooks currently in print

“I’ve never recommended a law book to my friends (or anyone, for that matter). However, I strongly advise anyone interested in textbook authorship, whether looking forward to a first contract or having recently signed your umpteenth contract, to read Guide to Textbook Publishing Contracts. Then remember where you put it when you are finished because you’ll want to go back and use it each time you are offered a new contract or amendment.” - Kevin Patton, award-winning author of Anatomy & Physiology (9e) Read the full review

"In Guide to Textbook Publishing Contracts, Stephen Gillen provides a complete and comprehensive course of instruction that is as 'user friendly' as it is do-it-yourself practical." - James A Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review. Read full review

If you've ever been published, then you've seen it before -- a WHEREAS and a THEREFORE followed by eight or more pages of pre-printed, pedantic prose offered up by the editor as his/her "standard publishing contract." Other than a few tiny spaces for your name, the title of the work, and the manuscript delivery date, the bulk of it looks as though it were long ago locked down in Century Schoolbook type.

But the truth is that there is more to review than the spelling of your name, choice of title, and projected completion date, and more to negotiate than you might realize or believe.

You have more leverage than you think.

In this step-by-step guide by Stephen Gillen, a Partner at Wood Herron & Evans, you will learn the key provisions of a typical textbook contract and how to determine what's important to you so that you can enter into the contract negotiation process better informed. Get the "typical", "better" and "better still" options you can consider when making decisions about what to negotiate.

BONUS! 20 Questions to Ask Your Editor

Get a list of 20 questions that you can employ to learn more about your publisher’s plans for, and expectations of, your work — information that will help you evaluate your leverage and your editor’s weaknesses, such as:

• How long have you been with the publisher?
• Where were you before?
• Did you come up through the sales side or through editorial?
• Tell me about your current list.
• How many new books do you sign in a typical year?

And many more, including why you should ask them and what answers to listen for.

View the Table of Contents
View the Media Kit

Watch Gillen's webinar, "20 Tips & 20 Questions for Your Next Textbook Deal"

Buy Guide to Textbook Publishing Contracts today to learn more about how to leverage a better publishing contract. Buy eBook | Buy Print Book

About the Author

Stephen E. Gillen teaches Electronic Media Law at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He worked for nearly 20 years in publishing prior to entering private practice in the middle 1990’s. He is presently a partner at Wood Herron & Evans (a 145-year-old Cincinnati law firm focused on intellectual property) where he concentrates his practice on publishing, media, and copyright matters. He is a long-time member of the TAA Council and a regular speaker at TAA conferences.