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Contract vetting

About us

Contract vetting service

Do you feel that you need help with understanding your book contract and clear advice on how to deal with it? Writers who are not represented by an agent may feel that they need professional advice on their publisher’s contracts. Many authors find them mystifying and are nervous about signing them.

You can get your contract checked out by a lawyer, but their services are expensive and they are often ill-informed about contractual provisions which relate to the specifics of the publishing business. We can offer an expert who knows what it all means.

  • The WritersServices Contract Vetting service offers a clear and comprehensible commentary on any problems with your contract, so that you can understand exactly what you are being asked to sign.
  • The Contract Vetting will be carried out by a professional with many years of experience in publishing and wide knowledge of book contracts and publishing rights.
  • Our contracts expert will assume that the advance and royalties are already agreed (unless you tell us they’re not) and will comment on all other aspects of the contract.
  • This will give you a professional view on what is, and is not, acceptable, taking into account the kind of book you have written. You can then decide what to discuss further with your publisher.

Our fee does not cover further correspondence, so we may need to quote a further charge, which we’re happy to do, if you need more help. We would prefer you to scan the contract and send it to us as an email attachment, but if this is not possible please send a copy (not the original) to us in the post.  See sending original documents.

What it costs

The fee for the Contract Vetting service is £110, payable in advance.

This covers most book contracts. We may occasionally need to quote a higher fee if the contract is particularly complex. If, after our contracts expert has looked at the contract, we conclude that this is the case, we will email you with the revised fee and you can agree to go ahead or to have the fee already paid refunded.

If you don't have a contract, but just want some advice on publishing contracts or subsidiary rights, email us explaining the problem and we'll see if we can quote a fee for our rights and contracts expert's advice.

Why your book contract needs vetting

 

A fictionalised account

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