I'm asking this question because in the following article under Option For Next Work, it appears I can terminate the contract if I am not satisfied with the advance.
http://www.absolutewrite.com/novels/negotiating_book_contract2.htm
I'm asking this question because in the following article under Option For Next Work, it appears I can terminate the contract if I am not satisfied with the advance.
http://www.absolutewrite.com/novels/negotiating_book_contract2.htm
I'm asking this question because in the following article under Option For Next Work, it appears I can terminate the contract if I am not satisfied with the advance.
http://www.absolutewrite.com/novels/negotiating_book_contract2.htm
(Emphasis mine)17.OPTION FOR NEXT WORK
The publisher may want an option now on your next work, even before the manuscript for the one presently being written is complete. Options work different ways. One type of option gives the publisher a "first look" at your next "similar work" for a certain period of time. If you turn down the publisher's offer based on this first look, you may sell the manuscript to a different publisher, but only if the terms are more favorable than those offered by the original publisher. Be sure you understand the definition of the work to which the option will apply, how the option works, and when the option period will start. Understanding exactly how the option works can be tricky, but is very important.
That's the way I may sure my contracts are written. In a sense, it's a bidding war. I can sell the next book to any publisher that offers more money than my primary publisher is willing to pay. But if the primary publisher is willing to match the highest offer I get from anyone else, then they get the book.
I can't speak to your problem, OP, as I can't read your contract. But.
Ugh. Just for the record... in my opinion, this is a TERRIBLE WAY for the option clause in your contract to be worded.
The best possible option: NO OPTION.
The next best possible option (and what most options are if you have an agent, and if they haven't struck the option entirely): An option that is STRICTLY LIMITED in scope, and with a concrete time period, and for which you only need submit a sample, and which, if you fail to come to terms, YOUR OBLIGATION TO THAT PUBLISHER IS ENDED.
OK option: As above, but for ANY book rather than just the next book in the series.
Lousy option: Any option that requires you to wait until PUBLICATION of the first book to submit material. Any option longer than 60 days. Any option that locks you in to submitting full ms -- or worse, full ms after full ms in a never-ending loop, and yes, I've seen that (in contracts from small presses that were done without an agent) and it's awful.
My LEAST favorite (and one that is very common, and easily avoidable if you have an agent) -- Any option that requires you to go back to the publisher you just said no to and submit to them the terms of your new offer before you are allowed to accept it. What if you DO NOT WANT the old publisher, and you DO WANT the new publisher, but they are not offering as much for whatever reason? Not everything is about the advance.
This is not a "bidding war", this is you being hamstrung. Your old publisher has all the power. No. No. No. If you end up saying NO to their offer, for whatever reason, all your obligations to them should be finished, and you should be free to take whatever other offers on that work you want to take without having to go begging back to them.
That sounds great, but I've never seen such a contract at a large publisher. Not even for some very large name and famous writers. I know the primary publisher I edit for doesn't offer a contract with no option for the next book.
That's the way I may sure my contracts are written. In a sense, it's a bidding war. I can sell the next book to any publisher that offers more money than my primary publisher is willing to pay. But if the primary publisher is willing to match the highest offer I get from anyone else, then they get the book.
What I can't do is sell the book elsewhere for less or equal money, or less favorable terms.
But it really depends on how your contract is worded.
That's actually NOT a favorable clause at all. I have it struck every time an publisher attempts to put that in there. It's not "YAY, it means a bidding war!" it means the publisher is tying your hands and forcing you to stay with them if they beat another offer.
As to the original question, I've seen options of every color. I've seen "options" which actually grant the publisher the RIGHT to publish your next book on the same terms, which, had this author signed it, creates a NIGHTMARE. You are stuck with that publisher FOREVER, if they want your work.
More favorable terms simply mean they get an exclusive first look for 30 or so days, you don't have to take what they offer, and if you walk, you're under no more obligation to them.
Btw your contract doesn't "terminate" as you said in your initial question, after the option. You're still contracted for that first book!
Have you heard of an option that basically demands the writer submit another book in the same genre, by a certain date, without any sort of advance?
All the options I'm reading about seem to suggest the publisher gets first dibs on the next book if and when the author writes one. But what if it says you have to write one and you don't have a choice?
Just wondering how common something like that is?