Long Tale Press | Long Tale Press Publishing Agreement

Long Tale Press Publishing Agreement

(This is the official contract. Switch to the "plain English" version. )

PUBLISHING AGREEMENT

This AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”) made the day of , 20 by and between Long Tale Press (the “Publisher”), 16625 Redmond Way, Suite M#342, Redmond, WA 98052, email: publisher@longtalepress.com, and (the “Author”), whose address, telephone, fax, and e-mail are .

WHEREAS, the Author has placed in the hands of the Publisher, a manuscript tentatively entitled (the “Work”) which does or shall include, if appropriate, all photos and artwork which shall be part of the manuscript, which work the Publisher proposes to publish on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth;

AND WHEREAS, the Author hereby certifies and warrants his sole ownership of the Work; that the language and contents of this Work are not plagiarized from any other source, and do not libel or slander any other party; nor does the Work contain characters or settings that might in any way be deemed the intellectual property of another person. The Author assumes full responsibility for any damages resulting from claims to the contrary (see Paragraph 14);

THEREFORE,

The Author hereby grants to the Publisher exclusive rights to reproduce and/or publish or adapt and sell, and/or license third parties to publish or adapt and sell said Work in the English language and all other translations into any other languages, in the United States of America and the world without exception. This grant of subsidiary rights to the Publisher to license other parties to publish and/or adapt said Work is exclusive and without exception and includes the rights to license:
1. The Work in book or electronic book (eBook) form (in any format), and distinct editions of the Work in newspaper or magazine serial, periodical, anthology, collected works, book clubs, digest, abridgement or in condensation or partial extract form, serialization, syndication, and translation;
2. The Work, or parts of the Work in all other forms and media, including but not limited to adaptation to sound recording, radio, recorded readings, film, film strip, cinema, state, drama, animation, video tape, audio book, Braille and large type, as well as photographic reprints, visual projections, or supplemental products of the book such as charts, forms, and reprints, visual projections, or supplemental products of the book such as charts, forms, and art that are reproduced for sale, software, electronic media, eBooks, Internet, interactive or multimedia versions, other screen display technologies, as well as verbatim text-only electronic editions, all other mechanical reproduction and transcription (including print-on-demand versions), all versions in any and all media and all technologies now existing or which may in the future come into existence, as well as to use the title and characters of the Work as the basis for trademarks or trade names for other products or in connection with merchandise in all forms, (collectively, the “Medium”).
The Publisher, in consideration of the rights herein granted, agrees to publish said work, in the Author’s name at Publisher’s expense as an eBook. The Publisher may, at publisher’s discretion, additionally elect to publish the Work in audio or print formats. All other details as to format, title, time, and manner of production, of price, publication and advertisement, and the number of, and distribution of editorial review and free copies shall be left to the discretion of the Publisher.
1. In furtherance of this Agreement, the Publisher agrees to pay to the Author a royalty of 50% of the net revenue received (sales price less material cost per copy) from the sale of the Work (e.g. $2.50 per eBook copy sold at $5 each, or 50% of net sales), except as hereinafter provided.
2. If a work is sold through a third party, royalties are paid on the net receipts from said party, not on the retail price received by the third party.
3. It is understood that no royalty whatever shall be paid on any copies destroyed by fire or water, or sold at or below cost, or given away as review copies, salesman’s samples, or for the purpose of aiding the sale of the Work.
4. The Author shall receive 50% of all moneys received from the sale of first serial rights, second serial rights, motion picture rights, or any other rights, and the remainder shall accrue to the Publisher. The Author shall receive 50% of the net revenue received from the sale of derivative products based on the Work (e.g. character likenesses, toys, board games or computer games, et cetera), and the remainder shall accrue to the Publisher.
5. It is understood that statements of sales shall be rendered as of June 30 and December 31 of each year and that settlement will be made within ninety (90) days of those dates.
6. The Publisher agrees to furnish to the Author, without cost to the Author, six copies of the first printed edition of said book. The Publisher further agrees that the Author may purchase from the Publisher any printed edition, at any time, so long as said book is in print, as many copies of said book as the Author may desire at a discount of 40% from list price.
7. The Author shall be entitled to an accurate accounting of receipts from sales and licensing of the Work by the Publisher at any time more than 90 days after the previous such accounting.
8. In the event that additional works by the same Author are currently being marketed by the Publisher, royalty accounts from all such titles shall be combined with that for this title, for the purpose of calculating recovery of royalty advances, reserves against returns, amounts due the Author, etc.
9. The Publisher shall grant the Author the right to audit the Publisher’s books for the sole purpose of reviewing the royalties. This audit shall be at the Author’s expense and cannot be performed more than one time in any 2 years period after the publication of the Work.
Royalties shall be paid to the Author by electronic transfer of funds to the Account of Record in the Author’s electronic profile. In the event of the death of the Author, before or after publication of this work, the Publisher shall transfer the terms of this Agreement to the Author’s beneficiaries as stated below:
1. Name Share %
  Address City State Zip
2. Name Share %
  Address City State Zip
The following additional fees shall be charged against the Author’s royalties:
1. The cost or portion of the cost for creating the Art Package (Paragraph 6).
2. For fees, royalties, and other charges for use of copyrighted material.
3. The cost for any changes or additions made by the Author to the typeset proofs other than to correct factual errors and typos.
4. No royalties will be paid for books purchased at a discount by the Author. If the Author sells these discounted books without the consent of the Publisher, future royalties will be deducted.
5. If the Author fails to provide the Publisher with a requested revision of the Work, the Author will forego a certain percent of royalties from the revised edition.
The Publisher shall register the copyright of the Work in the author's name, licensing all rights from the author. Author or Publisher may at its discretion effect any renewal, continuation, or extension of the copyright provided by the controlling law at such time. The foregoing shall apply to the text, Art Package or any form subject to its copyright. This Agreement shall be binding on the Author and Publisher, and upon their respective heirs, administrators, successors, and assigns, for as long as a registered copyright to the Work remains in force, unless terminated by written agreement of all parties, or by specific provision elsewhere in this Agreement.
The Author shall deliver the Work in electronic format to Publisher using a compatible word processing program, or otherwise in a format as agreed upon by the parties, no later than 30 days from the effective date of this Agreement. The Work shall cover the subject matter previously agreed upon by the parties, and be approximately words in length and shall include all illustrations, tables, photographs, drawings, maps, chart, (collectively, the “Art Package”), as well as such other material as the Publisher may reasonably specify for the Work, including Author’s bio, photo, and promotional kit. The Author shall provide said Art Package and supplemental materials necessary to the completion of the Work as completed electronic files. The cost or a portion of the cost for creating the Art Package shall be charged against the Author’s royalties as agreed upon by the parties of this Agreement.
If, after the expiration of 90 days after the final Work has been delivered (per paragraph 10) to the Publisher, the Publisher has neither completed the publication of said manuscript in eBook form nor is in the process of publishing said manuscript or in the process of licensing for publication and/or adaptation by another party, this contract shall terminate and all rights to said manuscript, illustrations and artwork shall revert to the Author, including copyright and all rights assigned in Paragraph 1.
In the event the Author does not provide the Work or the Work is not acceptable to the Publisher, as described in Paragraph 6, the Publisher may exercise the option of terminating this Agreement, with the provision that if the Agreement is thus terminated the Author shall refund within 30 days any money paid by the Publisher as a cash advance against royalties.
The Publisher shall distribute copies of the Work to a select panel of reviewers (the Review Panel), who shall be empowered to make suggestions as to substantive aspects of the Work, such as but not limited to flaws in the writing, characterization, or plot of the work, as well as to mark technical errors such as misspellings, grammatical errors, and the like. The Review Panel shall have 45 days to conduct its review, at which time the Review Panel's comments shall be submitted to the Author.
The Author shall have a period of 45 days to revise the Work, in consideration of the Review Panel's suggestions, into a Final Draft of the Work, which shall be delivered to the Publisher in the same manner as described in paragraph 6. The publisher will submit the Final Draft of the Work to the Review Panel, who shall collectively be empowered to make a final decision as to whether the Work's overall quality merits publication.
The Author and Publisher shall make reasonable efforts to agree upon a Final Draft which is both artistically satisfactory to the Author and of sufficient quality to be satisfactory to the Publisher. In the event that no such agreement can be reached (e.g. the Review Panel finds substantive errors of fact in a work of Historical Fiction which the Author is unwilling to correct), the Publisher may exercise the option of terminating this agreement, with the provision that if the Agreement is thus terminated the Author shall refund within 30 days any money paid by the Publisher as a cash advance against royalties.
The Publisher shall be entitled to develop, alter, edit, and proof the content, usage, format, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling of the Work to conform to the Publisher’s style, the subject matter, and intended audience previously agreed upon by the parties of this Agreement.
The Publisher shall provide the Author with an electronic proof of the Work in final format prior to publication to read and correct. The Author shall submit and return the PDF proof to the Publisher within 30 days. Any changes or additions made by the Author to the typeset proofs other than to correct factual errors and typos shall be deducted from the Author’s royalties at the rate of $45 per hour for corrections.
The Author shall be responsible for infringing upon the rights of authors, organizations, institutions, copyright holders, or others, as a result of plagiarism, libel, slander, or any other misuse of any material included in the original Work. The Author shall indemnify the Publisher for all damages, costs, and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, incurred by Publisher as a result of said infringement.
While this Agreement is in effect, the Publisher shall apply its best efforts to promote the sale of the Work and the Author shall make a reasonable effort to engage in public expression to promote the sale of the Work whenever appropriate and in coordination with the Publisher’s promotional efforts.
As electronic works are stored and maintained in the catalog in perpetuity, eBooks and audio books are not considered to have an “out-of-print” status. However, Author may present a case for reversion of other rights if Publisher has not pursued other avenues of presentation after three years from the first publication.
In the event the Publisher shall go bankrupt, and in accordance to prevailing bankruptcy law, all rights transferred to the Publisher by this Agreement shall immediately revert to the Author.
This Agreement contains the entire agreement between the Author and Publisher with respect to the subject matter hereof and shall supersede all prior understandings, agreements or arrangements, oral or written, between the parties in this Agreement.
This Agreement shall not be modified amended, extended, renewed, or canceled except by written instrument signed by both parties which makes specific reference to this Agreement.
In the event one or more of the provisions of this Agreement is deemed to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable in any respect under applicable law, the validity, legality, and enforceability of the remaining provisions hereof shall not in any way be impaired thereby.
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws (other than the conflict of law rules) of the State of Washington.
The parties hereto shall make a reasonable attempt to settle any dispute, controversy, or difference, (collectively, the “Dispute”), which may arise concerning this Agreement or the breach thereof, by friendly discussions. If and when a Dispute is not settled by such means, then the Dispute shall be settled by (a) an alternative dispute resolution mechanism agreed upon by the parties, or failing this, by (b) arbitration pursuant to the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. The parties agree to be bound by any decision issued as a result of arbitration and that any award issued pursuant to such decision may be enforced by any court of competent jurisdiction. The place of arbitration shall be Redmond, Washington.
Any notice or other communication in connection with this Agreement shall be in writing and thereunder deemed effective when delivered by mail, messenger, facsimile transmission, or email to the Publisher’s address contained in this Agreement and to Author’s address contained in this Agreement, or such other address as either party shall specify by notice given to the other party pursuant hereto.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Publisher and Author have each caused this Agreement to be duly executed by themselves or by its duly authorized officer, as of the date first above written.

LONG TALE PRESS

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