To keep your rights or grant your rights, that is the question

Many prospective author's dream of signing their first contract without learning about the ramifications. Did you realize by granting the right to publish to a publisher you have entered into what is likely to be a lifelong agreement? Especially these days in light of the advent of electronic (virtual) technology that allows a publisher to keep a book in print well after all physical inventory of conventionally printed books has vanished.

Way back when, at the turn of the 21st century (ten years ago), pretty much every book published was an actual printed book. Publishers had to pay to store excess inventory on pallets in a warehouse. It made sense to take books out of print and sell the remaining inventory to so-called "remainder" companies who specialize in disposing of excess inventory through half-off discounters. Once a book was out of print the rights reverted back to the author who could repurpose the content to other venues or self-publish on their own.

But today we live in a world where books can be "repurposed" as electronic e-books at very little cost to the publisher. It is hard for a publisher to justify ever granting rights back to the author. Heads you lose, tails they win.

In addition, one should ask why they would ever want to grant rights to a publisher in the first place. For that grant of rights an author only receives a miserly portion of the proceeds, generally 8-10 percent of the retail price minus any returns (in the book business between 30 and 60 percent of books sold to retailers are returned for credit). As author you receive the smallest cut from your book sales with the retailer getting 40 percent, the distributor 15 percent and the publisher receiving the rest (somewhere around 35 percent). Not actually that fair given the fact that without the author there is no book to sell.

The justification for the publisher, distributor and retailer receiving a larger share than the author is that the retailer provides space in their bricks n' mortar store, the distributor has to ship to and bill the retailer and the publisher bore the costs of developing your book (editing, design, printing) and promoting it.

But in today's world most books are sold through alternative channels (the Internet, the author, through organizations, etc.) making the retailer and distributor less important. And publishers only promote "select bestsellers" by combining what they should have spent promoting your book with the promotional funds from other books into a single promotional budget that supports the sale of bestselling authors. The most a publisher is going to do for your book promotionally is to list it in their catalog and website. Or, as commonly said in publishing circles, "promote one book and take the others and throw them against the wall to see if they stick." Sounds cruel but it is true.

So... what to do?

• Do not sign your rights to publication to a publisher unless they are willing to agree to returning your rights once your book is no longer stocked in printed form.
• Have the publisher provide you with an actual marketing plan and budget for promoting your book.
• If you already have access to the marketplace (website, speaking platform, access to an audience via conventional media, appearances or the Internet) consider self-publishing. If you can justify the costs of development and see a way reach an audience and make a profit, why would anyone settle for a small percentage of the proceeds through a conventional book contract.