Publishing Agreement

What is a publishing agreement?

A publishing agreement is a contract between a publisher and a writer, author, or musician to publish the works created by them. It sets out clear criteria as to the arrangement between the two parties. Perhaps most obviously, it will detail how much the writer or musician is to be paid in the publication of their work. 

However, it should also outline where the publisher has the rights to publish that work. It should also detail how the work will be published. In the instance of a writer, a publishing agreement may only give the publisher permission to recreate a writer’s work in print. It may not permit that work to be turned into an audio form - or vice versa. 

How does a publishing agreement work?

A publishing agreement works by outlining and stipulating what is required on the part of both entities involved. For the contract to be upheld on both sides, both parties must adhere to those stipulations. 

A vital area of a publishing agreement is with regards to payment. Publishing agreements will outline how a writer or musician’s payment will be structured. That will often be in the form of advances and royalties. Advances are a form of prepayment to the musician or author for works to be delivered at a set future date. Sometimes, an advance may be paid half on signing a publishing agreement and half on delivery. Royalty payments then transpire from how well the work sells. Writers and musicians get a percentage of the sales that the publisher makes. 

Advantages of a publishing agreement 

Perhaps the single most significant advantage to a publishing agreement is outlining what is expected from each side of the contract. In doing so, both parties can forge a more robust working relationship as both know what they have to deliver and when. On the part of the creative involved, they have to produce the work that the publisher wants to publish. On the part of the publisher, the agreement outlines critical factors regarding payment and how long they have publishing rights for a writer or musician’s work. 

The other advantage of a publishing agreement is the idea of empowerment for the writer. It means that they still have ownership of their work in the form of copyright and moral rights and that they still have an input in how it is disseminated across the world. 

Contractbook and publishing agreement

If you are looking to create a publishing agreement, Contractbook is a fantastic place to do so. Our template library and software allow you to create contracts that can be collaborated on between team members and parties, ensuring a swift and streamlined process that results in a highly satisfactory agreement for both sides. Our templates can be leveraged to ensure that all the criteria and stipulations, which need to be included in a contract for it to be as powerful as it can be, are present. 

Importantly, it also allows both parties to quickly refer back to the contract if one believes the other is not upholding their side of the deal. Therefore, future legal disputes are minimized as all parties are more likely to stick to their end of the agreement as it was outlined correctly from the start.