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Eternal Press
A division of Damnation Books LLC
P.O. Box 3931
Santa Rosa, CA 95402-9998
(707) 543-6227
[email protected]
Author Publication Agreement
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
THIS AGREEMENT made the____ day of _____ by and between ______________ hereafter called the Author and Eternal Press, a division of Damnation Books, LLC, hereinafter called the Publisher. This contract is considered legal and binding in all countries. Should a legal dispute arise, the laws of the State of California, USA shall apply.
WITNESSETH that the Author and the Publisher for the considerations named agree as follows:
Work
This contract is for the fiction work titled, ______________, written by the Author. The Author guarantees this work is free and clear of any counts of libel, plagiarism, breach of privacy, misrepresentation of facts and there is no legal action pending regarding this work. The Author further guarantees the work is not in the public domain; that they are the sole owner and copyright holder with full power to enter into this contract. _____(Author initials)
Rights
This contract grants the Publisher worldwide electronic, worldwide digital, 1st North American and 1st UK print rights, and English language audio rights for a five year period from the date of release. At the end of that five year period, the Publisher has the option to renew this contract with the Author at a payment rate of 40% net sales on electronic and digital books sold; 25% of net sales for audio and printed editions of the work. Upon termination of this contract, all rights return to the Author. Some distributors require book availability for a five year period and both parties acknowledge this must be honored even upon termination of this contract. ________(Author initials) ________ (Publisher initials)
Publisher
The Publisher will provide editorial services, the cover art, book ISBNs (International Standard Book Number) and an electronic Author copy of the finished book. ISBN’s will be obtained under the name of Damnation Books, LLC/Eternal Press. The Publisher will set the retail price of the work, based upon length, comparable works, and format. The publisher retains the right to raise or lower the price as needed to stimulate sales. The Publisher guarantees the work will be put on the publishing schedule within one year of the date of this contract and guarantees publication within a two year period beyond the publishing schedule assignment. Upon failure to meet these guarantees, all rights revert to the author, with no penalty fees charged to the author.
The Publisher reserves the right to contact distributors, bookstores, vendors, organizations and ebook outlets to sell the work in association with Eternal Press.
Author
The Author will provide the completed story, their contact information, and biography. The Author is authorized to use the cover image for promotional purposes and may not alter it in any way other than dimensions (size) for the duration of this contract. Upon termination of this contract, all art rights revert back to the Artist.
Reasonable deadlines for completion will be determined by the ongoing publishing schedule. Failing to meet deadlines can result in the book publication being delayed until a later time or as grounds for termination of this contract in the case of multiple missed deadlines.
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The Author has the right to burn exact text copies of electronic versions of the Work onto CD to sell copies at book fairs, signings and other author events, provided they pay Eternal Press 60% of the net sales, due quarterly. Eternal Press does not accept returns of any Author created digital copies or Author discounted print copies of the work. The Author may sell print copies of the work they have purchased at an author discount. The Author is responsible for reporting any royalties from resale to taxation authorities and the Publisher shall be held harmless for any underreported royalties caused by the Author’s failure to report royalties earned through resale.
It is the Author’s responsibility to inform the Publisher of any change in tax information or contact information including Paypal email address. Any royalties paid which are not received as a result of the Author’s failure to keep up-to-date contact information with the Publisher will be held until update has been received or this contract expires. The Publisher agrees to attempt contact through existing contact information (telephone number, email address or mailing address) before unilaterally withholding payment. If this contract expires, the Publisher will attempt another contact via telephone, email and postal mail. If ninety days pass from final contact attempt and still there is no response from the Author, the Publisher is no longer liable for those payments. Additionally, no interest will be paid on royalties held pending correct author contact information.
Authors are never required to purchase copies of this work. If they choose to purchase author print copies, they may at a 55% discount; the author is required to pay for shipping costs for author copies ordered. An author may give away ten (10) free pdf copies of their work. Additional ebook copies in audio, pdf and other electronic formats may be purchased at a discount of 40%. No royalties will be paid on author purchased copies.
Editing and Proofreading:
The Publisher’s editors will identify problems and make suggestions to resolve the problems and improve the work. The Author is not required to use the suggestions, however the problems must be resolved before the manuscript is considered complete. The Publisher retains the right to release the Author from this contract if, in the Publisher’s judgment, failure to make such changes would make the work un-marketable or damage the Publisher’s reputation.
The Publisher will make no major changes to, additions to or eliminations from the work without the Author’s permission; with the exception of minor grammatical and typographical errors.
Early Termination Penalties
Once a work has gone into editing and forward and the Author wishes to terminate this contract prematurely, a penalty shall be charged to the Author to cover costs of staff and artists for work already performed. This fee shall be at a minimum of $50.00 to a maximum of $1000.00 to be determined by the time spent on preparing the work for publication and money recovered from sales of the work. This fee must be paid before any books will be removed from distribution. If the Publisher terminates the contract prematurely, the author is not charged any penalty fees. Upon removal from distribution, the ISBN number and art work are no longer available for the Author to use and must be removed from online and printed venues maintained by the author.
Should the work complete the editing process, is not yet available for sale and the author wants to terminate this contract prematurely, all penalties shall apply. Additionally, the author will guarantee the work will not be published anywhere, in any form for one year from the dates rights to the work are returned to the author.
The Publisher is not liable for physical copies purchased for resale by bookstores. Upon receipt of a written termination request letter and the fees from the Author, the Publisher has thirty (30) days in which to remove the title from distribution and disable the ISBN numbers associated with this title. Rights to the work return to the author at the end of that thirty (30) day period.
Copyright
The Author is responsible for registering the copyright if they so choose. The Author shall hold harmless and indemnify the Publisher from any recovery finally sustained by reason of any violations of copyright. The Publisher will place a copyright notice on all versions of the work.
Infringement
During the terms of this agreement and any renewal terms thereafter, should the copyright on the work be infringed upon, the
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Publisher may, at its own expense, take legal action in the Author’s name as may be required to restrain such infringement or seek damages. The Author hereby agrees to provide the Publisher with reasonable assistance in the prosecution of any such
action. The Publisher is not liable for any expense incurred by the Author. If the Publisher chooses not to take legal action, the Author may do so at their own expense. In the event of money damages recovered for an infringement, legal fees, and
court costs shall be deducted and any remaining monies be equally divided between the Author and the Publisher.
Contract Price
The Publisher shall pay the Author royalties of 40% net sales on electronic and digital books sold; 25% of net sales for audio and printed editions of the work, paid quarterly beginning from the date of release. All payments will be transacted through PayPal unless prior arrangements are made.
U.S. authors only: The publisher will issue a 1099 MISC statement of royalty earnings. Payment of taxes on royalties is the
sole responsibility of the Author. U.S. residents must fill out a form W-9. These forms must be returned with the signed copies of this contract. No royalties will be paid out until the forms are signed and on file with Eternal Press.
Promotion
The Author and Publisher mutually agree to promote and market this work to the best of their abilities. The Author is expected to take an active role in promotion of this work and agrees to provide a link from their website to the Publisher’s website. The author is responsible for their own promotional materials.
The Publisher agrees to submit the work for review at no less than five reviewers. The Author is encouraged to submit copies for review on their own. No royalties will be paid on review copies. The Publisher will provide the Author with coupon codes for obtaining electronic review copies or a pdf for review use only. Eternal Press will not provide print copies for review or for competition entries. The Author may use their own purchased author copies for reviews or contest entries if they so choose.
Bankruptcy or Insolvency
Should Damnation Books, LLC /Eternal Press be legally declared bankrupt or liquidate the business, this contract shall be automatically terminated and all rights returned to the Author.
This contract shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns of the Author and upon and to the successors and assigns of the Publisher.
Signed this ______ day of ________, 20____ Signed this ______ day of ________, 20____
__________________________________ ____________________________________
Kim Richards Gilchrist, CEO Author
[email protected] Pseudonym:___________________________
Damnation Books, LLC/Eternal Press Address: _____________________________
P.O. Box 3931 City, State, Zip Code__________________________
Santa Rosa, CA 95402-9998 Paypal address:_________________________ Telephone number:______________________
Social Security #: _______________________
(US only; for tax purposes)
