Business Post: Contract Resources (Patreon)

This is being made available for all patrons, and (as always) will be posted on the blog for free for everyone later. This is a list of things to learn about contracts:

Model Contracts or Public Contracts

The Author Guild's Model Trade Book Contract - mostly meant for trad pub.

The Writers' Union of Canada - another model contract, mostly trad pub again

SFWA Model Contracts - There are a lot here, from Agent to Anthology to Voice Actors.

Model Publishing Contract for Digital Scholarship - haven't read this one myself, but worth looking over since it seems focused on university press works

Mango Media Contract - Digital First contract. Pretty decent.

Legion Publishing Contract - again, digital first publisher in the LitRPG space.

Scam & Terrible Publisher Check

Writer's Beware - an amazing resource. The first place you should check. And Victoria should be the first person you e-mail if you get a terrible contract. The resource only thrives if contracts are sent to them, so they can publish such details.

Groups that Will Review Contracts

SFWA Contract Committee - Free of charge. You don't have to be a member to use their services.

Author's Guild Legal Services - Requires membership, but these are legal professionals.

Writer's Union of Canada - Requires membership, but again, free review of contracts.

ALLI - Requires membership at the 'Author' level, but will provide contract vetting

Message me for any other free resources or groups that do this on membership, I'll add them. This is by far not exhaustive!

Entertainment & IP Lawyers (semi-vetted)

Maggie Marr Legal - personally used.

Pryor Cashman - worked with Robert Stein there, he does not seem to be there any longer.

Lyons and Salky Law - used by my agent

Books to Read

Closing the Deal on Your Terms (Book) – This has more to do with dealbreakers in contracts that crop up. A very good primer on things to watch out for.

On Copyright

Quick Primer on Copyright – Basics on Copyright in the US. Please note, covers ONLY US copyright law and is very basic.

The Copyright Handbook – What Every Writer Needs to Know – read it. Understand it. Use it.

The Writer was Screwed but Didn’t Have to Be – Very screenwriting / Hollywood focused. Also, I found it very basic. But if you’re just starting out, this can be quite useful as it is an easier read than above, covers some copyright stuff and contract things. Dated so read with care.