CherokeeParks:
The contract is a "sample" contract, so SBP doesn't give away any of the reasons why the currently signed authors like this company to the competition.
A sample contract should be the company's standard terms and conditions subject to negotiation of individual clauses and change of key commercial terms. Speaking as a lawyer, I can tell you categorically that there should be no problem at all with SBP notifying people of its most basic contract terms. They're not state secrets, they're just a way of letting people make an informed decision. I could understand if some terms (e.g. royalty rates) were redacted or left blank until negotiated but the rest of it should not be a problem at all.
If SBP doesn't want people to see its standard terms and conditions, then it shouldn't put the contract up. It doesn't get to claim that there's a "sample contract" and then an "official contract". That's just stupid and it makes me automatically think that the company is being duplicitous.
And speaking as a lawyer, Victoria nailed every concern that I had when I read it. It's an appalling contract and very anti-author.
Cherokee, as a consultant to SBP I'd advise you to show that contract to your agent friends and see if they'd let one of their clients sign up to it.
CherokeeParks:
I negotiated my contract with them, and found them highly flexible, not to mention the "official" contract contains some real perks.
I hope that you substantially negotiated those terms because I wouldn't want anyone to be caught in something like that.
Further, given that you're both an author and consultant, I'm surprised that you'd be willing for other authors who may lack your sophistication to sign up to terms that are onerous and author unfriendly.
CherokeeParks:
The contract is for the publishing rights, not control of the copyrighted material which remains always in the hands of the author.
It doesn't matter if an author retains the copyright if they're also stuck with a duff publishing contract that's tied up their rights for the shorter of perpetuity and 7 years.
CherokeeParks:
And there are protections for both parties to prevent any misunderstandings along the way. But here's the real deal, if you submit and are accepted, you can review the contract, or have your attorney review it, to your heart's content and negotiate to mutual satisfaction. No one will hold a gun to your head to make you sign it. Along with the contract comes an author packet with tons more info every author wants and needs to create a true partnership with the publisher geared toward success.
Unless that author packet has contractual status, I don't care what's in it. It's not a legally binding document so there's nothing in it that I can use to enforce the "true partnership" that you're promoting.
You are right however in that anyone who has read this thread, still decides to submit to SBP and then gets accepted, should definitely review the contract and if they're still determined to sign up, have a lawyer experienced in publishing law review and negotiate the worst terms out of it.
CherokeeParks:
I've met my initial and 3 options, and will be entering into a codicil to extend my contract beyond those 4 - without hesitation.
Given your experience in publishing, I am very surprised that you signed up to that option clause without hesitation as it's not industry standard.
I'd be interested if you could come back in a year and let us know how the experience has been for you.
CherokeeParks:
Criticizing the good doctor must be fun, but failing to understand that he suffered through several vanity publisher's who promised editing that never came about while taking his money is exactly why his books came out reading as they do. They were not done by SBP, but since he owns the business can you blame him for selling his own books on the site? After all, it was HIS money that provided the seed to get it started.
I appreciate that he's suffered through being scammed and it's never nice. There's a Forum here dedicated to people who've been taken by outfits like PA so you can see that we do offer people support and try to steer people away from them before they suffer as your friend has.
However.
Being scammed does not qualify him to run a publishing company for other people. He doesn't have any publishing experience beyond bad publishing experience and having seen the staff list, I don't see anything there to suggest that those people have experience in their roles either.
Good intentions are fine but if you check out the index to this Forum you will find dozens and dozens of small publishers that have been started out by people with great intentions but which have gone under and taken people's books with it.
Think about how those authors felt when they lost their books because someone simply couldn't do what they promised to do.
CherokeeParks:
Criticizing the business model is also a questionable act.
Why is it a questionable act? The purpose of this board is to enable people to make informed decisions before submitting to publishers/agents. That means raising questions about a publisher's business model. You might not like the points being raised here, but that doesn't make them bad or unreasonable points. There's a lot here that would make me warn people away from SBP or at the very least give them another 2 years to see how they're doing.
CherokeeParks:
The same model has been used effectively in his medical practice, his real estate ventures, and every other area of interest he has. So why would someone who can make money at so many other things invest so much in a publishing company, especially when the track record for new publishing companies is so dismal?
Publishing isn't real estate or medicine. The margins are different, the markets are different and the problems are different. Were you aware of the low margins that publishers operate to, the difficult contract terms that retailers require before they'll take books, the onerous returns policy which in turn increase warehousing costs?
Again, there are dozens of publishers highlighted in this Forum started by people with experience in other businesses who thought they could start a publisher. Many of them have now shut down. Even the successful businesses will tell you how touch and go it was and still is. That's the nature of the industry.
CherokeeParks:
Passion. Pure and simple. He loves promoting all the arts, and as a fellow author who has been beaten to shreds by the unseemly in the industry, he decided to invest his money in a place where the author can get a fair shake and be treated with respect. The growing family of authors and literary agents is testimony to the fact that it's working. End of story.
Passion's great but what are the sales like? Respect and fairness are great but if you're an author looking for a publisher then you're presumably also looking to make some money out of it.
It's interesting that you say agents are willing to work with SBP. Are you able to share names?
CherokeeParks:
I'm seeing the same questions and criticisms over and over, just worded differently. I've given you enough to investigate and decide for yourselves, and nothing more I can say will ever make a bit more difference in whether or not you take a chance on SBP and yourselves. No further progress can be accomplished by doing the same things over and over and expecting different results, so I'll back out of this conversation now. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.
I'm sorry that you feel that way because I thought that your contributions were very helpful.
I'm also sorry that what I've seen so far would not convince me that SBP is currently a good option for an author, but as I said above I would genuinely appreciate it if you come back in a year and let us know how it's going.
Best wishes for the holiday season.
MM