Key Clauses To Watch Out For In Publishing Contracts

Gary Smailes | 19 December 2025

Rights Grab Clauses That Overreach

Rights are the engine room of your income. Guard them with care. When a contract reaches past what a publisher can exploit, slow down, mark the clause, and push back.

All‑media rights

Red flag: language which sweeps in film, TV, podcast, games, and merchandise. Most trade publishers do not develop screen projects or toys. They will try to sublicense, which often never happens or happens on weak terms.

Ask for:

• Print and ebook only, in named territories and languages.
• Audio reserved to you, unless the house has a proven audio program and a firm plan.
• Dramatic, film, TV, podcast, and merchandise reserved to you or handled by your agent.

Sample fix: “Grant covers print and ebook in English in North America.” Clean. Everything else stays with you unless negotiated later.

Perpetual option clauses

A fair option gives a publisher first look at your next book in the same lane. An unfair option reaches across your whole career with no end date.

Limit scope and time:

• Only the next work in the same genre or series.
• Word count range defined.
• Delivery of a proposal or full manuscript, not both.
• Decision window, 30 days for proposals, 60 days for fulls.
• If no timely offer, you are free to submit elsewhere.

Watch for auto‑matching language which locks you to prior terms. Replace with “good faith negotiation,” or remove.

Mini check: circle any use of “all future works.” Replace with “one next work, same genre, within 18 months.”

Work‑for‑hire language

Work‑for‑hire shifts copyright to the publisher. For trade books, this guts your ownership and all long‑tail value. Rare, but I still see it slipped into templates or addenda.

Insist on:

• You own the copyright, registered in your name at publisher expense.
• Publisher receives an exclusive license only for listed rights.
• No work‑for‑hire, no assignment of copyright.

If the project is a true hire, like a corporate custom book, ask for a higher fee, credit language, and a limited noncompete which lets you write on the subject elsewhere.

Overly broad non‑compete

Reasonable protection prevents you from undercutting the same book at the same time. Overbroad language blocks entire genres, topics, or formats.

Narrow it:

• Limit to works which would cause direct market confusion with the contracted book.
• Time window tied to on‑sale, for example three months before through six months after initial publication.
• Territory limited to the licensed region.
• Carve‑outs for newsletters, blogs, essays, short stories, academic work, teaching, and live events.
• If you write series or multiple genres, name those lanes and exclude unrelated work.

Sample fix: “Author will not publish a work materially similar to and likely to confuse consumers with the Work within the U.S. during the 6‑month window around initial publication.”

Electronic rights bundling

Look for “in all electronic media now known or later developed.” That phrase tries to scoop future formats with no extra pay. Today’s ebook clause should not swallow tomorrow’s subscription, AI voice, or interactive editions.

Adjust the grant:

• List current formats, ebook and standard audio if included.
• New formats require mutual agreement on terms.
• If the house insists on future formats, peg rates to the highest royalty paid for a comparable format, or require MFN treatment across the list.
• No perpetual license for experimental bundles without a floor rate and clear reporting.

Ask for separate approval before inclusion in subscriptions, bundles, or promotional pools which pay below standard rates.

Territory expansion

A publisher with a North American team does not suddenly sell hard into India, South Africa, or Germany. World rights only make sense where the house has reach or proven subrights muscle.

Protect yourself:

• Grant the smallest territory which matches real distribution, for example North America or UK and Commonwealth.
• Retain translation rights unless the publisher has a strong foreign rights team. If they keep translation, require minimum deal thresholds within a set time, often 12 to 24 months, or rights revert for unsold languages.
• For world English, require meaningful sales targets outside the home market, with reversion of those regions which fail to move.

Add a performance clause: if no license or no publication in a territory within the window, rights for that region return to you on notice.

Quick triage for rights grabs

• Circle “all media” and “now known or later developed.” These phrases need surgery.
• Find “all future works” and “perpetual.” Replace with one work, firm deadlines.
• Hunt for “work made for hire.” Strike or convert to exclusive license.
• Read noncompete against your actual plans for the next two years. If it blocks normal output, narrow it.
• Match territory to real sales networks. Bigger is not always better for you.

A short script for negotiation

• “My agent handles film and TV. Please limit the grant to print and ebook.”
• “Let’s focus the option on one next work in this genre, with a 30‑day decision window.”
• “I retain copyright. Work‑for‑hire does not fit trade publishing.”
• “Noncompete should target direct market confusion, for a limited time and territory.”
• “Electronic formats should list current formats. New formats need mutual agreement on rates.”
• “World rights require a plan. Otherwise, let’s keep North America, with translation and other regions reserved.”

One last note. Rights you keep today fund your future. Split rights with intention, tie them to performance, and insist on language which matches reality, not wishful thinking.

Financial Terms That Favor Publishers

Money should read like math, not fog. Contracts often treat it like smoke. Clear the air before you sign.

Net receipts sleight of hand

“Net receipts” drives many royalty lines. If the definition sprawls, your income shrinks.

Watch for vague deductions, freight, warehousing, marketing fees, distribution charges, even “overheads.”

Quick math:

• List price 20 dollars.
• Retailer buys at 50 percent discount, so publisher receives 10 dollars.
• If the clause lets them subtract print, freight, and a 10 percent “fee,” the base drops to 6.20.
• On 25 percent of net, your royalty is 1.55. If net were clean at 10 dollars, you would see 2.50.

Ask for a narrow definition. Net means cash received from the customer of record, less only trade discounts, taxes, and true returns. No in‑house fees. No marketing offsets. No freight unless billed to the customer.

Deep discount thresholds

Many deals cut royalties once the publisher sells at high discounts. Online sales often trigger this tier.

Example on a hardcover at 28 dollars:

• Standard hardback royalty 10 percent of list, 2.80 per copy.
• Under a deep discount clause, rate drops to 5 percent of net.
• If the sale went out at 50 percent off, net is 14 dollars. Five percent of 14 is 0.70.

You felt that. Four dollars of value disappeared.

Push for:

• No deep discount drop until discounts exceed 55 or 60 percent.
• Floor rates for all deep discount sales, for example 10 percent of list for print, 25 percent of net for ebooks.
• Exclusions for normal online retail fulfillment so regular sales do not fall into the basement.

Reserve against returns

Print books return. Publishers hold a slice of royalties to cover those returns. Reasonable. Until the “reserve” never releases.

Common numbers, 15 to 25 percent held each period. Missing piece, a schedule for release.

Lock it down:

• A cap on reserve percentage.
• Release timetable, for example release half in the next statement, release the balance in the one after.
• Line‑item reporting of reserves held and released.

If returns stabilize, ask for a lower reserve going forward.

Cross‑collateralization

You write two books. Book A earns. Book B stumbles. Cross‑collateralization lets the house use Book A’s earnings to pay Book B’s debt. Your royalty check for A goes to zero.

Insist on separate accounting per ISBN. Each book earns out on its own. If the clause says “all sums due under this or any other agreement,” strike that phrase or add “only with respect to the Work.”

Bundles and subscription pools

Box sets, course packs, digital bundles, subscription services. Many contracts set a tiny royalty for these channels.

Without guardrails, you get pennies. With guardrails, you get paid fairly.

Ask for:

• No inclusion in bundles or pools without your consent.
• A floor rate, for example no less than standard ebook rate applied to a pro‑rated share of list price.
• For page‑read pools, a per‑read or per‑page rate no lower than the house average for solo sales, plus transparent reporting of pool size and your share.
• Audit rights that reach third‑party statements tied to bundles.

Advance recoupment from all income

Advances recoup from primary sales. Some contracts sweep in everything, audio, translation, book club, serial, even film.

That slows checks from rights you helped place.

Try this structure:

• Retail sales recoup the advance.
• Your share of translation, audio, book club, and first serial pays to you on receipt, subject to agent split. No recoupment from those streams.
• If the house refuses, set a split. For example, only 50 percent of your share of subrights goes to recoupment, the rest pays through.

A quick money audit

• Circle “net receipts.” If the definition runs longer than three lines, trim it.
• Find deep discount language. Raise thresholds, set floors, exclude normal online sales.
• Cap reserves and schedule releases.
• Strike cross‑collateralization. Tie accounting to the single work.
• Require consent and floor rates for bundles and subscriptions.
• Keep subrights income flowing to you, or limit recoupment from those streams.

Mini exercise

Grab a calculator and your contract.

• Pick a format, say trade paperback, list 18 dollars.
• Run three scenarios: standard sale at 50 percent discount, deep discount sale at 58 percent, and a bundle sale with 5 percent of net.
• Compute royalties under the contract as written.
• Now swap in the fixes above. See the difference. Numbers sharpen your resolve at the negotiating table.

Negotiation lines you can use

• “Let’s define net as monies received from the customer, less only discounts, taxes, and returns. No internal fees.”
• “Deep discount should not hit standard online retail. Raise the threshold to 60 percent and add a floor.”
• “Reserve capped at 15 percent, with release over two statements. Please show holds and releases on each statement.”
• “Accounting per ISBN only. No cross‑collateralization.”
• “No bundles or subscription pools without my consent. Add a floor rate tied to list.”
• “Subrights income pays through on receipt, not to recoup the advance.”

One more piece of tough love. Every fuzzy dollar tends to drift away from the author. Tight language brings it back. Write the money parts like you would a final scene, clean, precise, no surprises.

Problematic Editorial and Creative Control

Your words. Their rules. This tension sits at the heart of most publishing disputes. Clear boundaries prevent ugly surprises later.

Satisfactory completion standards

"Subject to the Publisher's satisfaction" appears in most contracts. Sounds reasonable. Feels like quicksand when you hit it.

You deliver a manuscript. The editor says "not quite there yet" without specifics. You revise. Still not satisfied. Another round. Then another. No clear finish line in sight.

The worst version gives publishers complete discretion to reject any manuscript "in their sole judgment." Translation: they hold all the cards.

Push for objective criteria:

• "Substantially similar in form, content, and quality to the proposal and sample chapters."
• "Professional publishing standards for works in this genre and category."
• "Comparable to Author's previous published works" if you have a track record.

Add procedural protections:

• Written editorial notes with specific requested changes.
• Reasonable deadline for revisions, typically 60 to 90 days.
• Limit on revision rounds, usually two major passes.
• If publisher still rejects after good faith revisions meeting their notes, you keep a portion of the advance and rights revert.

One author I know got trapped in revision hell for eighteen months. The editor kept asking for "more emotional depth" without explaining what that meant. The contract had no limits. The book never published. The author kept none of the advance.

Unlimited revision requirements

Some contracts demand unlimited rewrites until the publisher feels happy. Others set no revision deadline. Both spell trouble.

Without limits, you become an unpaid employee with no job security.

Negotiate guardrails:

• Two rounds of substantial revisions maximum.
• Each revision request in writing with specific, actionable notes.
• 60-day turnaround for major revisions, 30 days for minor ones.
• If disagreement persists after two rounds, either party triggers the termination clause.

For memoir and narrative nonfiction, add fact-checking protection. Publishers sometimes ask for extensive changes based on legal review. Make sure revision requirements don't force you to alter true events or remove accurate information without compelling legal cause.

Title and cover approval

Your book's face and name matter more than most contract clauses. Bad covers kill sales. Wrong titles confuse readers.

Standard language gives publishers complete control. You find out what your book looks like when everyone else does.

Ask for consultation rights:

• "Publisher will consult with Author on title, subtitle, and cover design."
• "Author approval required for title changes exceeding [X] words or substantially altering meaning."
• "Author has right to review cover design and provide input prior to finalization."

For fiction, push harder on cover approval. Genre expectations drive reader purchases. A literary cover on a thriller confuses the audience.

For nonfiction, title changes affect your professional brand. If you're known for expertise in a specific area, a publisher who retitles your book about leadership as a book about management could damage your reputation.

One novelist discovered her romantic suspense got a horror cover complete with blood splatter. Romance readers stayed away. Horror readers felt misled. Sales tanked. The cover change cost her career momentum she never recovered.

Marketing copy control

Jacket copy, catalog descriptions, and promotional materials shape how readers understand your book. Publishers write this copy without author input in most contracts.

Problems multiply when marketing departments get facts wrong, oversell the premise, or completely misrepresent your content.

Negotiate review rights:

• "Author has right to review and comment on jacket copy, catalog copy, and promotional materials prior to publication."
• "Publisher will make reasonable efforts to incorporate Author's corrections of factual errors."
• For academic or professional books: "Author approval required for promotional claims about credentials, research, or conclusions."

Marketing departments love superlatives. They'll call your regional history "the definitive account" or your parenting guide "the complete solution." These overclaims create reader disappointment and potential legal exposure.

Series commitment overreach

Multi-book deals save publishers money and lock up authors. The worst clauses trap you in predetermined storylines.

Watch for language requiring "continuation of the same characters, setting, and storyline" across multiple books. This prevents natural creative evolution.

Also avoid hard plot commitments like "Book 2 must resolve the cliffhanger from Book 1 by revealing the murderer's identity." What if you develop a better creative direction?

Negotiate flexibility:

• "Books will feature the same main character(s) but Author retains creative control over plot, setting, and story direction."
• "Each book will be substantially complete as a standalone work."
• "Publisher and Author will consult on series direction, with Author having final creative authority."

Include escape hatches. If the first book fails commercially, you both want out. If creative differences emerge, someone needs the power to end the series cleanly.

Editorial philosophy conflicts

What happens when you and your editor fundamentally disagree? Most contracts ignore this scenario.

Picture this: You write literary fiction with sparse prose. Your editor wants "more description and emotional interiority." You comply, but the result feels forced. The editor pushes for even more changes that violate your artistic vision.

Without clear conflict resolution, you're stuck.

Build in mediation steps:

• "If Author and Editor reach an impasse on creative direction, Publisher will assign a senior editor or editorial director to review the dispute."
• "Both parties will make good faith efforts to reach creative compromise that serves the work."
• "If resolution proves impossible, either party may terminate the agreement with Author retaining [percentage] of advance and all rights."

Some contracts include arbitration clauses for editorial disputes. This works better for factual disagreements than creative ones. Arbitrators don't make good creative collaborators.

A quick control audit

Circle every instance of "sole discretion," "Publisher's satisfaction," or "Publisher's approval" in your contract. Each one hands power to the other side.

Ask yourself:

• Do I have input on my book's title and cover?
• What happens if revision requests never end?
• Who writes my marketing copy?
• Am I locked into predetermined series elements?
• What protections exist if my editor and I see the work differently?

Negotiation language you can use

• "Let's add consultation rights on title and cover. My professional reputation connects to how the book presents."
• "We need revision limits. Two substantial rounds with written notes and reasonable deadlines protects both of us."
• "I'd like to review marketing copy for factual accuracy. You handle the sales pitch, I'll catch any errors."
• "For the series, let's preserve creative flexibility while meeting genre expectations."
• "If we hit creative differences, let's build in a senior review process before anyone gets stuck."

Remember: publishers want books that succeed. Most editorial disputes come from miscommunication, not malice. Clear procedures prevent small disagreements from becoming relationship-ending battles.

Your voice matters. Your vision drives the work. The contract should protect both while giving your publisher the tools they need to bring your book to readers.

Reversion and Termination Pitfalls

Reversion is your parachute. Pull it in time, and you walk away intact. Leave it vague, and you float in circles while everyone else moves on.

Out-of-print definitions

Old contracts tied “in print” to warehouse stock. Modern contracts slip in ebook or print-on-demand and call the book “available” forever. A ghost listing on one retailer should not block your rights for a decade.

Push for objective triggers:

• “Out of print” means fewer than X copies sold in all English-language formats in a 12-month period. Pick a real number. Two hundred to five hundred, depending on category and reach.
• Or use revenue: less than $500 to $1,500 in net receipts in a 12-month period.
• Availability must include standard retail channels, not a lone listing with one vendor.

Add teeth:

• If out-of-print status is met and the publisher does not restore availability within 60 days, rights revert on day 61.

A novelist I worked with had a book listed as print-on-demand, no marketing, no stock, no orders. Contract said “ebook availability means in print.” Rights sat frozen for six years. Do not let that happen.

Sales thresholds for reversion

Some contracts set reversion at fewer than 50 copies a year. That number keeps rights locked, especially in long-tail categories. You need a floor that reflects a living book.

Better terms:

• “If total sales in all formats in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom fall below 300 units during any 12-month period, Author may request reversion.”
• Clarify exclusions. Bulk buys for internal use do not count. Free giveaways do not count.
• Audio and large print live under this same math, unless licensed to third parties.

Quick exercise: pull your last two royalty statements. Add all units sold in the trailing 12 months. If the number sits under your negotiated floor, you trigger reversion. Keep that habit.

Reversion notification requirements

Publishers love ornate procedures. Certified letters to multiple departments. Short windows. Exact phrasing. Miss one hoop and the clock resets.

Simplify the process:

• Notice by email and certified mail to one designated address.
• Publisher must confirm receipt within 10 business days.
• Publisher has 30 to 60 days to cure, either by restocking or restoring real availability.
• If no cure, rights revert automatically on a specified date. No further action required.

Include a recital of what reverts: print, ebook, audio, all derivative rights previously granted. List them. Ambiguity invites delay.

Publisher bankruptcy clauses

When a publisher collapses, authors get stuck in the wreckage. Contracts often stay silent, which leaves rights in limbo during lengthy proceedings.

Ask for clear triggers:

• Automatic reversion upon insolvency, bankruptcy filing, assignment for the benefit of creditors, or cessation of business for 60 days.
• If the list feels too legal, add a plain sentence: “If Publisher fails to pay royalties or issue royalty statements for two consecutive periods, Author may terminate.”

Develop a backup: file a short form of the agreement wherever needed, so you can show chain of title when rights return. Future buyers and foreign publishers will ask for proof.

Termination for breach

Plenty of contracts let the publisher cancel if you sneeze. Miss a deadline, and termination hits fast. When the publisher breaches, the remedy shrinks to “we will try to fix it.”

Equalize the playing field:

• Mutual notice and cure. Thirty days to cure money issues. Sixty to ninety days for editorial or production obligations.
• “Material breach” defined for both parties. Missed delivery or plagiarism for the author. Failure to publish within X months of acceptance, failure to pay statements on time, failure to maintain availability for the publisher.
• If the breach remains uncured, either side may terminate. Author keeps a stated portion of the advance upon publisher breach. Rights revert without fee.

A fair cure process keeps everyone honest. You get time to fix. They get time to fix. No one weaponizes minor missteps.

Rights reversion delays

Even when triggers are met, some contracts insert long waiting periods. Six months. Twelve months. Plenty of time to run one more print-on-demand copy and reset the clock.

Tighten the window:

• Thirty days to cure. Another thirty only with written notice describing concrete steps taken.
• No new licenses granted during the cure period without your written consent.
• Any reprint to cure must involve a minimum print run with real distribution, not a single unit order.

Include a reversion certificate requirement. Publisher signs a one-page letter acknowledging reversion on a specific date. You will need this later.

A quick rights audit

Grab a pen. Circle words like “sole discretion,” “in Publisher’s judgment,” and “available in any format.” Those phrases extend control long after interest fades.

Ask yourself:

• Is “in print” tied to sales or revenue, not mere availability?
• Is reversion automatic once triggers and cure periods pass?
• Do I have a single, simple notice address and timeline?
• Do bankruptcy or shutdown events return rights without a fight?
• Is breach mutual, with clear cure deadlines?

Negotiation language you can use

• “Let’s define out of print by sales, not listing. Three hundred units across all formats in 12 months feels fair.”
• “If availability drops below the floor, I send notice. Thirty days to cure, then automatic reversion.”
• “Please add mutual notice and cure. Thirty days for money items, sixty for everything else.”
• “If operations stop or royalties stop, rights return. I need clean chain of title.”
• “No reversion waiting period longer than sixty days. No token print-on-demand orders to toll the clock.”

Think of reversion as future-proofing. Your book deserves a second life when the first home stops serving it. Clear terms make that future possible.

Liability and Legal Protection Issues

Liability clauses look boring, then they empty a bank account. Read them with a highlighter and a stiff coffee. Your future self will thank you.

Unlimited indemnification

This one shifts every risk to you. Any claim, any cost, no cap, your problem. Even when the publisher edits, designs, and markets the book.

Push for balance:

• Mutual indemnity. You cover infringement tied to your text. Publisher covers claims tied to design, production, marketing, and changes they introduce.
• Cap your exposure. Limit to the advance paid, or to insurance coverage in place.
• Third‑party claims only. No indemnity for disputes between you and the publisher.
• No duty to pay unless a court finds liability, or a settlement happens with your written consent.

Sample language:

• “Author indemnifies Publisher for third‑party claims arising from alleged infringement in Author’s contributed text, excluding material added by Publisher. Publisher indemnifies Author for claims arising from Publisher’s editing, design, marketing, or production. Each party’s liability capped at amounts paid under this Agreement.”

Add insurance if possible:

• Publishers often carry media liability insurance. Ask to be named as an additional insured, with a certificate on file.

Broad warranty clauses

Some contracts ask you to guarantee no one will ever sue. No one honest signs that. Promise what you control, nothing more.

Acceptable warranties:

• You wrote the work. No infringement to your knowledge after reasonable inquiry.
• Necessary permissions secured for quoted material outside fair use, with a list provided.
• The work does not knowingly defame, invade privacy, or violate secrecy laws.

Disallow overreach:

• No warranty covering “no claims will arise.” Anyone might sue over anything.
• No warranty covering publisher edits or marketing copy.
• No warranty beyond your knowledge and reasonable research.

Sample language:

• “Author represents original authorship and, to the best of Author’s knowledge after reasonable inquiry, no infringement or unlawful content exists. Publisher is responsible for content introduced through editing, headlines, jacket copy, and marketing.”

Publisher’s failure to defend

If a claim lands, you need a defense. Some contracts stay silent, or offer defense at the publisher’s discretion. Silence equals risk.

Require:

• Duty to defend. Publisher hires counsel experienced with media law.
• Costs on the publisher. From first notice through resolution.
• Your approval for any settlement that imposes liability, admissions, or future restrictions on you.
• Prompt notice of any claim, with your right to participate in strategy.

Sample language:

• “Publisher will defend and hold Author harmless against covered claims, at Publisher’s expense, using counsel acceptable to both parties. No settlement imposing liability on Author without Author’s written consent.”

Moral rights waivers

In many countries, moral rights protect attribution and integrity. Some contracts ask you to waive these in full. Full waiver opens the door to harmful edits under your name.

Better approach:

• Limited waiver for standard production edits only. Copyedits, design adjustments, house style.
• Preserve your right to be credited accurately.
• Preserve your right to object to derogatory treatment or mutilation.

If world rights sit in the deal, reference local law:

• “To the extent moral rights exist, Author consents to routine editorial changes, while retaining the right to object to derogatory treatment and to receive credit in customary form.”

Plagiarism and permissions

You own your research. You also need a process, budget, and help. Dumping all permissions work on the author, with no support, invites risk and delay.

Set the framework:

• Publisher provides a permissions budget and guide. Written approvals required for costs above an agreed amount.
• Publisher reviews a permissions log before production. No surprises.
• For high‑risk content, publisher arranges legal review before printing.
• If publisher adds epigraphs, images, sidebars, or excerpts, publisher obtains those permissions or accepts the risk.

Practical checklist:

• Keep a spreadsheet with quotes, word counts, sources, status, and proof of permission.
• Flag song lyrics, poetry, cartoons, and photos. These draw claims fast.
• Save screenshots and correspondence. Future you will need receipts.

Defamation liability

Memoir, investigative work, even a spicy cookbook intro, all risk defamation claims. Marketing copy and headlines often trigger suits as much as text. Do not eat that alone.

Negotiate risk sharing:

• Publisher handles pre‑publication legal review for sensitive works.
• Publisher indemnifies you for claims tied to their edits, titles, subtitles, jacket copy, and ads.
• No quotes pulled for promotion without your approval if they alter sense or context.

Add two more layers:

• Prompt takedown or correction process, with your input.
• Media liability insurance naming you as additional insured.

A quick risk audit

Open the contract. Circle these phrases.

• “Unlimited indemnity.”
• “At Publisher’s sole discretion.”
• “In Publisher’s judgment.”
• “All claims of any kind.”
• “Without limitation.”

Replace them with:

• Mutual indemnity with caps.
• Objective triggers for defense and notice.
• Clear lists of who covers what.
• Settlement only with your consent.

Negotiation lines you can use

• “Let’s make indemnity mutual and capped at the advance, with third‑party claims only.”
• “I warrant original authorship and permissions to the best of my knowledge. No guarantee against future claims.”
• “Please add a duty to defend, at Publisher’s expense, with my consent for any settlement.”
• “Limit moral rights consent to routine edits. Preserve credit and integrity.”
• “Publisher to handle legal review and accept risk for marketing copy and any content Publisher introduces.”

Risk never goes to zero. Your goal is fair allocation, clear process, and a safety net when trouble knocks. Set those terms now, while everyone feels friendly. You will sleep better when the book ships.

Option and Future Work Restrictions

Option clauses look harmless. They sit at the back of the contract and wait. Then they box you in. Read them slowly. Cross out anything vague.

Matching rights vs. first refusal

Two similar phrases, two very different outcomes.

• Right of first refusal means your publisher gets the first look. You send a proposal, they have a short window to offer. If they pass or the clock runs out, you are free.
• Matching rights let the publisher sit back while you shop the book. When another house offers, your publisher copies the offer and takes the book without doing any early work. That kills momentum and weakens your leverage.

Aim for a true first refusal, not matching rights.

Nonnegotiables:

• Limited to the next work in the same series or a closely related topic, not your whole career.
• Clear clock. Fifteen to thirty business days to respond after receiving a complete proposal.
• Silence equals decline. No open‑ended “we are considering.”
• If they pass, no matching later.

Sample language:

• “Publisher has a right of first refusal on Author’s next work in the same series. Publisher will respond within 20 business days of receipt of a complete proposal. Failure to respond in writing within that period constitutes a decline.”

Option book scope

“Similar works” sounds tidy, then swallows everything you write. Narrow the scope.

Tighten it:

• Limit to the next work featuring the same series world, or the next nonfiction book on the same subject area as the contracted book.
• Exclude short stories, novellas under 30,000 words, articles, essays, newsletters, podcasts, and teaching materials.
• Exclude unrelated genres. Your thriller deal should not rope in your poetry collection.
• Exclude work under existing obligations to other publishers.

Sample language:

• “The option applies only to the next novel featuring the Series A characters. It does not apply to short fiction, essays, or works outside crime fiction.”

Timeline manipulation

Some options stretch until you give up. Stop the clock games in writing.

Protect yourself:

• Define “complete proposal” with specifics. Outline, sample chapters, word count, market note, and your agent’s cover letter.
• Decision window starts on confirmed receipt of the complete proposal.
• Add a short negotiation window after an offer. If you do not reach agreement within a set period, you are free to proceed elsewhere.
• No tolling for vacations, staff turnover, or committee delays.

Sample language:

• “Publisher will notify Author of a decision within 25 business days of receipt of the complete proposal. If Publisher offers, the parties will negotiate in good faith for 20 business days. If no agreement is reached, Author may accept other offers.”

Series character ownership

Some contracts sneak in claims over your characters or series world. That is your house, not theirs.

Hold the line:

• You own the characters, settings, and series bible. The publisher receives a license to publish the contracted books, nothing beyond that.
• No derivative works by the publisher without a separate deal, including prequels, spin‑offs, or merchandise using character names.
• Trademarks for series titles should list you or your company as owner, with a license to the publisher for marketing during the term.

Sample language:

• “All characters, settings, and story elements remain the property of the Author. Publisher receives a limited license to publish the contracted works. No derivative works or merchandise without a separate written agreement.”

Non‑compete expansion

Non‑compete clauses should stop direct cannibalization, not your livelihood.

Make it narrow:

• Restrict to works that use the same material and would confuse the same buyers during a short window around publication.
• Limit by format, territory, and time. Example, no substantially similar nonfiction on the same subject for 6 months before and 6 months after initial publication in the primary market.
• Carve out short works, backlist, foreign editions, self‑published side projects in different genres, and tie‑in essays.
• Marketing appearances, blog posts, and newsletter content should be allowed.

Sample language:

• “Author will not publish a substantially similar work targeting the same primary audience within 6 months before or after first publication of the Work in North America. This clause does not restrict short works, academic articles, works in other genres, or backlist titles.”

Collaboration approval

Some publishers want veto power over any collaboration. That reaches too far.

Balance the interests:

• For the optioned category, agree to notify, not seek permission.
• For unrelated projects, no approval needed.
• Contributions to anthologies, forewords, essays, and interviews should be excluded.
• If approval remains, add a fast response window and a reasonableness standard.

Sample language:

• “Author will notify Publisher of any planned co‑authored work in the optioned category. No approval required for anthologies, contributions under 10,000 words, or works outside the option scope. Any required approval will not be unreasonably withheld and must be given within 10 business days.”

Quick checklist before you sign

Grab a pen. Circle these phrases, then rewrite them.

• “Matching rights” or “right to match.”
• “Similar works” without a definition.
• “At Publisher’s discretion” on timelines.
• “Ownership of characters,” “series universe,” or “publisher owns series title.”
• “Any work that might compete,” broad and undefined.
• “Prior written consent” for collaborations, with no exceptions.

Replace with:

• True first refusal, no matching.
• A tight scope tied to series or subject, with clear exclusions.
• Hard response and negotiation windows tied to a complete proposal.
• Author ownership of characters and series elements, with a limited publishing license.
• A narrow, time‑boxed non‑compete with carve‑outs.
• Notification for collaborations, plus fast, reasonable approvals only where needed.

A final tip. Treat options like a parking meter. Clear limits, clear times, clear rules. When the time runs out, you move on.

Frequently Asked Questions

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