Red Room Where the Writers Are

This is what is happening today folks in publishing and its just the beginning. Publishing is changing and so are the contracts. Here is what is agents are doing right now, and this is the first of many I suspect creative inititatives by one of the worlds largest media companies.

"Agents are poring over a new contract boilerplate issued by Macmillan, parent company of St. Martin's, Farrar Straus and Giroux, Henry Holt, Picador, and Tor among others. The contract files were emailed to agents on Monday (October 26th) with a covering note from Macmillan CEO John Sargent (link at bottom of this post)."

Creative initiatives cover The e-book royalty, direct-to-consumer sales royalty and enhanced promotional and Internet marketing initiatives. Agents are going to have to explain to their writers the following statements now standard in Macmillan contracts,

"Sargent highlights key elements in the homogenization of the contract forms, namely: 1) a new across-the-board (all Macmillan divisions) e-book royalty; 2) a new across-the-board direct-to-consumer royalty; and 3) enhanced promotional and Internet marketing initiatives."

[Read more via Publishing in the 21st Century ]