Archives for publishing rights

Trade Publisher’s Unethical Contract Practices

Publishing-Contract

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You might have read several articles we published in the past about the unethical contract practices of trade and Vanity publishers, and how they deceive their authors. Headlines were for example:

“Less than Minimum Wage for Authors?”

“The Traps in Publishing Contracts”

“What Publishers Won’t Tell You”

In these articles and many others we were pointing to the worst parts of publishing contracts, found under these paragraphs:

Duration of the contract
Rights granted by the author to the publisher
Territory for these rights
Out-of-Print Termination
Reversion of rights
Advances and Royalties
Statements and Payments
Competing Works

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What about Arbitration, Marketing or Editing?
Do you contract with a publisher who made you a book contract offer demanding arbitration, an unfavourable marketing or editing clause in its contract?

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Arbitration Instead of Civil Court.
Arbitration clauses, hidden in fine print of many contracts, often buried under other headings, like “Reversion”, “Termination”, “Dispute” or “Miscellaneous”.

Arbitration clauses have deprived authors of one of their most fundamental constitutional rights: to sue in court.  Judges and juries have been replaced by arbitrators who commonly consider the companies their clients.”  But arbitration clauses are increasingly common in publishing contracts, and even in the “Terms of Use” of some major self-publishing platforms.  Are you aware of their implications?  Kobo Writing Life, Smashwords, Draft2Digital, BookBaby, and IngramSpark for example don’t have arbitration clauses. Lulu includes an arbitration clause with a class action ban.
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Law in Plain English for Writers.
This valuable 300-pages guide book for authors explains: …”be aware that the resulting arbitration decision cannot be appeal and the process will not contain many of the procedural safeguards that are a part of the judicial process.”
And: “Arbitration does not provide for any pre-trial discovery, unless the contract allows the American Arbitration Association’s Commercial Rules to be used.” Just two examples of the valuable tips in this inexpensive law guide book for every writer – whether first-time author, seasoned freelancer or professional journalist.
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Next Problem: Marketing
When I red a fantastic book recently I was curious if this author has a digital version of the title available. Her Amazon page – set up by her publisher – shocked me, it’s the worst author page I have ever seen! I looked up the “publisher”, a tiny, home-run company in Kelowna, BC, Canada.

Until two decades ago, publishing houses did some marketing for books. Now, in the best case, publishers might send out some galleys to reviewers and wait to see if anyone is interested. Then they focus all their publicity on the books they expect to be a bestseller.  Rachelle Gartner a publishing agent set up a whole page, listing marketing efforts of publishers – in the best case, and for the VIP authors.

If you want your book to be a success, YOU will have to do ALL the publicity yourself!  That’s how it works most of the time.

Marketing activities vary widely from publisher to publisher.  The “bigger” the author, and the more money they expect to make on the author, the more they’ll spend on marketing.

On the other end of the spectrum is a publishing contract that states: “publicity is at our discretion” – even if it is just a lousy press release, sent to a list of people the author provided. With this move some publishers want to emphasize that marketing is under their control – even though they have no knowledge of professional publishing.
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Editing Clauses.
Writers need assurance that they will be a partner in the editing process, and that their work won’t be changed in major ways without their permission.  And publishers need the right of final approval–they don’t want to be forced to publish a manuscript that the author can’t or won’t revise to their satisfaction.
Usually the editor at the publishing house will provide revision suggestions and the author will carry them out. For copy editing, the publisher usually has discretion. But the author should have the opportunity to see and approve the copy edited manuscript before it goes to press.

Clauses like this: “publisher shall have the right to edit and revise the manuscript for any and all uses contemplated under this agreement” disregards the authors copyright, and allows the publisher to edit the author’s work without consulting or even informing him or her.“ “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.” It means the same as above, but in more nebulous terms.

“Publisher shall have the right to correct errors, and/or edit and revise the Work for any and all uses contemplated under this agreement, provided that the meaning of the Work is not materially altered.” Which means, the publisher is not required to consult you or get your permission before making those changes. These type of clauses regarding the editing give all the power over the manuscript to the publisher.
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Bestselling Author Kristine Rusch: “Anyone who reads my blog regularly understands that I believe these “standard” book contracts are horrible.  No writer should sign some of the clauses in these contracts, and no writer should ever consider licensing rights under many of these terms.”

I wrote an entire book three years ago about contract terms writers should avoid.  Unfortunately, the book needs updating—not because the terms I mentioned are gone now, but because even WORSE ones have joined them.”

“I believe writers should understand what they sign, and walk away from bad contracts.  Simply knowing that publishers will negotiate many of these points will help writers in standing up for themselves—without agents, who often make the problem worse, generally speaking.”

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Get Legal Tips from Professionals.
Bestselling author and self-publishing advocate J.A. Konrath wrote: “The trade publishing system is designed to take advantage of Authors’ naivete and lack of bargaining power, and it uses the promise of publication as a carrot to get them to accept onerous, deeply biased terms.”

Best advice for any author is to know what they get into, to understand the publishing contract and to consult a contract lawyer before signing the papers. As Copylaw.com advices: “While it is difficult to see how your publishing agreement will play out in the long term, the decisions you make today could have profound, long term consequences.”
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The author “Law in Plain English for Writers
Lawyer Leonard DuBoff, was teaching intellectual property law for twenty-five years, and writes really simple and easy to understand.

The Fine Print of Self-Publishing
by Mark Levine does not only provide sound advice, but also lists publishers and Vanity Publishers that authors must avoid under all circumstances.

Helen Sedwick, a Californian attorney and novelist, shows in the chapter “Understanding Key Contract Provisions” of her Legal Handbook the clauses of publishers and explains on the other side of the page what these provisions mean for the author.
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If you are still eager to sign a contract, you should at least know what you get into, and what the contract clauses really mean.  Try to negotiate.  Ask the publisher to add a clause, to ensure that your consent is required for changes – less the editing.

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If it Looks too Good to be True, it Probably is!

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WorldImage

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As an author, don’t let yourself trap by Vanity publishers and a plethora of scam artists that want to cash in on writers.  The list of these unethical offers is endless and unfortunately some writers are not vigilant and tweet / re-tweet or post without carefully reading and researching these scammers on the Internet. It is easy:  just google “complaint” and the name… You might be surprised what comes up!
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For Example on Monday:
I was on our Twitter book account when I saw by chance this tweet:

Worth a bookmark: To purchase Single ISBN numbers http://www.aardvarkglobalpublishing.com/isbn_numbers.php?adid=askjeeves 
#authors #writing #books  pic.twitter.com/hL5fNi5RfW

(I omit her name here, not to give her more appearance than necessary. Not sure why she promotes this Vanity printer and defends them fiercly…)
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I immediately ran into protection- and investigative mode, and made a quick Google search, as I saw that several people had retweeted it already and posted it.  I replied to her:

NOT a good idea – don’t be tempted by the price! Aardvark Global Publishing is listed as the publisher!  … and I added
ANOTHER TRAP FOR AUTHORS – Don’t waste your money! Read also this and compare:    BTW they pay only $1  – and sell it to authors for $69 …….. Don’t fall for this!  

Her answer:

Exactly my point. So again I ask, why smear a business. CreateSpace has it’s own problems, so do your research

I tweeted back:

Here is the research: http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/ECKO-HOUSE-PUBLISHING/   aka Aardvark. $69 ISBN price works only when you publish with them http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Aardvark-Global-Publishing/Sandy-Utah  

Her answer:

You are blocked from following … my Tweets.

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Fine with me. Will not miss her vitriolic answers.  But I hope some smart authors have looked up this Vanity publisher as well (see all the complaint links from the Internet search about this company – who recently changed their name – at the end of this blog post).
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And then she shot one more:

Answer to the pissing duel on ISBN. Aardvark Global is affiliated w/ Bowker.

I am afraid she thought “affiliated” means belonging to Bowker.  Nothing could be further, they are just buyers there.  Dictionary: AFFILIATED means closely associated with another, typically in a dependent or subordinate position, or a re-seller.

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Why I Write About These Tweets?
As an author-publisher one needs to know about the publishing business and certainly about the predators who are hunting for victims.  Familiarize yourself with practices regarding ISBN “sales”, to learn what’s behind a seemingly cheap offer, and how these “businesses” work. 

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What Authors Need to Know About ISBN

  • ISBN numbers are sold to the publisher by the official agency for the USA, R.R. Bowker. If you are not buying it from Bowker, and instead getting it cheaper, or for free, from Vanity printers (everyone who poses as a “publisher”, taking money from writers for “services” that she or he could get much cheaper elsewhere), or POD printers (CreateSpace or SmashWords), trades his publisher-status in exchange for saving a couple of dollars to these “affiliates” of the official ISBN seller Bowker.  Like many others Aakvard / EckoHouse Publishing is a Vanity publisher, a printer or at least affiliated with a printing company.  Researching hundreds of Vanity publishers over the years, one always sees the same patterns…
  • How ISBN sales work: Bowker sells ISBN’s to publishers (and self-publishers) from 1 – 10,000 numbers.  See the prices below.
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This is an original screen shot from Bowker, the official seller of ISBN’s in the USA:
Buying ISBN’s in Bulk at Bowker:  

https://www.myidentifiers.com/get-your-isbn-now

1  $125.00

 

10  $295.00

 

100  $575.00 (= $ 5.75 / per ISBN

“If you are a USA based publisher and buying more than 100 ISBNs, we have programs designed to fit your needs,”  writes Bowker.

So, I gave them a call, to make sure my own files are correct, and 1,000 ISBN’s cost still $1,000 – which means Vanity Publishers and POD’s buy them for $1 / piece – and sell them for any amount, say for example $69 to an author – but ONLY if this authors buys also their other Vanity Services…  
If authors don’t sign up – they have to pay $139, exactly $14 more than they would pay at Bowker – or $138 more than Aarkvard-EckoHousePublishing can get it in bulk from Bowker…
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I am talking here about prices for US-authors / publishers.  The Canadian government supports the writing / publishing community generously, ISBN’s are free in Canada!

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isbn

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VERY IMPORTANT:
An ISBN gives a publisher (YOU)  free inclusion into Books in Print, the world’s largest catalog of books, which is licensed to all major search engines and to ten-thousands of bookstores and libraries.  Your ISBN record will also receive a free online listing at the online Books in Print bibliographic database that’s available on the open Web at http://seo.bowker.com.  Please read also how to sign up for this free listing on Bowker – but it works only if your imprint is listed as the publisher!
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The Book Designer, Joel Friedlander wrote:

  • The ISBN contains within it a “publisher identifier.” This enables anyone to locate the publisher of any particular book or edition. If you use a “free” ISBN from an author services company or a subsidy publisher, that company will be identified in bibliographic databases as the publisher.
  • Owning your own ISBNs gives you the ability to control the bibligraphic record for your book. This is an important part of your book’s metadata, and is a key component in your book being discoverable by online searchers. This has a powerful influence on your efforts to attract search engine traffic to your title.
  • And further cautions: “But keep in mind that it’s rarely a good idea to buy just one ISBN. If you intend to issue your book as both a printed book and an ebook, you will need two ISBNs right from the start, and the cost of buying two individual numbers is the same as purchasing ten numbers (currently $295). In addition, Bowker is actually registering your publishing company when they issue you your numbers, not your individual books. This is a key step for many self-publishers and that’s a pretty good reason to get an ISBN as well.”
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Bowker explains on their Help Page at Bowker:

Question: I got my ISBN from my printer and now I want to make sure it’s in my name, how do I transfer the ISBN?

ISBNs cannot be transferred on an individual basis. If a self-publisher wants to be identified as the publisher, the self-publisher must get their own ISBN.  A printing company or publisher services company cannot sell, give away or transfer one of their own ISBNs they bought in their publisher role, to a customer.

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The only way to be recognized as the publisher and have your book worldwide listed, is to order your ISBN’s directly from and pay to Bowker – and at the end it’s the least expensive!  Don’t give any of your rights away!  Not even to POD service companies. 

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Here is a Short List of Complaints on the Internet:

Aarkvad and Eckohouse Publishing are the same company!

ECKO House Publishing – The Revolutionary Way To Publish Your Book

What is “revolutionary” in taking advantage of authors? Or in printing books?  How else they make money from authors:  http://www.onestopcopyrighting.com

Judy SlackOrdered 10 ISBN numbers and bar codes. As of this date, I have not received or heard from Ecko after numerous calls and e-mails. What is going on with this company? PayPal has delivered the money so that should be no problem in delivery what I ordered in a timely manner according to their website promise.”  http://www.manta.com/c/mtrgs57/ecko-house-publishing

Better Business Bureau complaints
http://www.bbb.org/utah/business-reviews/publishers-book/ecko-house-publishing-in-sandy-ut-22311892/

http://www.mullinchinowsky.com/no_aardvark_global_publishing.htm

https://openlibrary.org/publishers/Aardvark_Global_Publishing  (Aardvark is claiming on their website to have 1000’s of authors helped… checking their website, there are only a few books)

http://www.scambook.com/company/view/122460/Aardvark-Global-Publishing

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/directory/aardvark-global-publishing

Well, and that’s their business site on Google+  –  no comment necessary …

https://plus.google.com/114875685637156881519/about

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ISBN Numbers and How to Get One

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ISBN

ISBN

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Selling your e-book on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Apple or Kobo doesn’t necessarily require an ISBN, but it will be necessary, as soon as you start your books print version. Any book on your book shelf, library or in book stores has an ISBN.

ISBN is the International Standard Book Number, a 13-digit number that uniquely identifies books published anywhere in the world. Parts of an ISBN are:

  • group or country identified
  • publisher identifier
  • title identifier
  • and the check digit

ISBN numbers are assigned by a group of agencies worldwide coordinated by the International ISBN Agency in London, England. In the United States, ISBN’s are assigned by the U.S. ISBN Agency: R.R. Bowker is the independent agent in the US for this system.  You can order an ISBN online – or even better, a block of ten. On average it takes about two weeks for ISBN’s to be assigned.  In addition to their ISBN prefixes, every  publisher can also register their titles for free with Bowker to be included in the “Books In Print” worldwide databases. See also a former blog post here on this site:
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/important-expose-your-book-to-the-world/

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Author Beware:
You may encounter offers from other sources to purchase single ISBN’s at special offer prices. Companies that provide limited services such as distributing, retailing, bar code services, printing, such as aggregators or print-on-demand companies, should NOT assign ISBN’s from their company to your publications – unless you allow them to also hold the publishing rights. If you use one of these reassigned ISBN’s, you will NOT be correctly identified as the publisher. The result may be extensive costs to apply for a new ISBN and the application of stickers to books already printed and in circulation.  Remember: The one who ordered the ISBN from the official agency is listed as the publisher!

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ISBN’s are assigned to publishers as follows: 1, 10, 100, or 1,000 numbers.  The publisher registration fee is US $24.95 plus a service fee that starts at $250.00 for 10 ISBN’s.  There’s also a $25 annual fee for each publisher, so whether you have one ISBN or a thousand, you’ll have to pay that additional amount too.  For a new publisher to get an ISBN – or better ten – will cost (in 2013) US $250 (or US $25 per ISBN). Since you can get 10 ISBN’s for the same price as one, it is worth applying for books you have in mind too, rather than just the one you are right now going to publish. You can also get the bar code for your book from Bowker.

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Bar codes
ISBN’s are emailed to publishers.  Once a publisher has been assigned ISBN’s, they should be placed on the copyright page, encoded on the bar code, and the bar code placed on the back cover of the book. When a title is ready to be sold, it can be registered at “Books in Print” a worldwide book registry. “Books in Print” is the main directory that bookstores, online retailers, and libraries use when looking for books for their customers.
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Where to order ISBN’s in major English-speaking countries:

USA
http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/us/secureapp.asp
see prices above

United Kingdom & Ireland
http://www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk/controller.php?page=121
10 ISBN = £118.68

Australia
http://www.thorpe.com.au/isbn/
Single ISBN=Australian $40.00 and a block of 10 ISBNs=$80.00

Canada
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ciss-ssci/041002-2000-e.html

 

Good news for Canadian authors and publishers: the ISBN application process is simple and free  of charge – but only if you are living in Canada and your publishing company is registered in Canada.  For all other countries check out the worldwide listing at “National ISBN Agencies“.

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Hyper Smash

Pingate

Author Beware: Unauthorized Resellers of ISBNs

An Important Message Bowker which is the exclusive U.S. ISBN Agency source of publisher prefixes and ISBN numbers for eligible publishers:

“Please be aware that there are unauthorized re-sellers of ISBNs, and that this activity is a violation of the ISBN standard and of industry practice. Only companies you designate as your publisher should assign ISBN’s to your publications from their block of ISBN’s.”

“Bowker provides information and advice on the uses of the ISBN System to publishers and the book trade, and promotes the use of the Bookland EAN bar code format. In addition to their ISBN prefixes, publishers also register their titles with Bowker for inclusion in the “Books In Print” databases (worldwide). See also:

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/important-expose-your-book-to-the-world/

You may encounter offers from other sources to purchase single ISBNs at special offer prices. Companies that provide limited services such as distributing, retailing, bar code services, printing, and/or marketing should NOT assign ISBN’s from their company to your publications – unless you allow them to also hold publishing rights. If you use one of these reassigned ISBN’s, you will not be correctly identified as the publisher of record in “Books in Print” or many of the book industry databases. The result may be extensive costs to apply for a new ISBN and the application of stickers to books already printed and in circulation.”

For the correct address to obtain your ISBN number in the USA and Great Britain & Ireland, Australia or Canada (where ISBN numbers are free!) go to:

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/isbn-numbers-and-how-to-get-one/

“If you are a new publisher, you should apply for your own ISBN publisher prefix from the US ISBN Agency. Assigning ISBNs from your own ISBN publisher prefix will identify you as the publisher of your titles, and link your contact information to the specific publisher identifier. This will ultimately aid in circulating your books properly in the industry supply chain.
If you have any questions about re-sellers of ISBNs, do not hesitate to contact the US ISBN Agency for further advice. If you are a self-publisher who has already purchased an ISBN from a re-seller, and you are experiencing problems or need advice, please contact the US ISBN Agency at isbn-san@bowker.com.”

My comment:
There are “aggregators”  or “POD publishers”, how they call themselves, that are purchasing ISBN numbers in bulk for $1 a piece! and sell them to authors for a “special” of $25! for one ISBN – a mark-op of 2,000 percent!  I wrote about this unethical practice already month’s ago, just search under “Writer Beware” on this blog.
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Hyper Smash

2012 Digital Perspectives

  • The book world is global and as the ebook market explodes, publishers have to rethink territory rights.
  • Publishing is a rights business without a Rights registry, where much of the information about rights remains locked away behind closed doors.
  • Digital publishing now demands greater clarity and transparency on rights and the current ambiguity and lack of information remains digital publishing’s biggest threat and opportunity. Copyright contracts should move to fixed term contracts and ….

    Great thoughts about the future book here:
    http://www.futurebook.net/content/2012-digital-perspectives-publisher