Tag: publishing contracts

SFFMP 173: From Indie to Hybrid, Six Figure Audiobook Advances, and an $80,000 Kickstarter for a Novel

Author Interview, Podcast

On today’s show, we had the honor of chatting with Michael J. Sullivan and his wife and business partner Robin Sullivan. These folks were self-publishing right at the beginning of the movement (before the kindle even became a thing), and have seen and tried a lot over the years. After finding indie author success, they accepted a deal with Orbit, and Michael is now a hybrid author, taking the best from both worlds.

Here are some of the specifics that we discussed:

    • Finding success as a self-published author in the early days of the Kindle.
    • Whether it was a hard decision to switch to a traditional publisher and if giving up some money up front was worth it in terms of reaching a larger audience and growing the fan base.
    • What indie authors signing traditional contracts should watch out for, especially if they want to keep self-publishing on the side.
    • Understanding non-compete, indemnification, and limbo clauses.
    • Why it’s hard (but not impossible) to get a Big 5 publishing deal that doesn’t give up ebook, print, and audiobook rights right now.
    • Why they’ve done three Kickstarters and how they’ve had such tremendous success with them.
    • How Kickstarter can be a form of advertising and potentially bringing in new readers who weren’t already in the fan base.
    • Whether there are any drawbacks to having a super successful Kickstarter.
    • What Michael and Robin do for marketing and how that’s changed over the years.
    • Why Michael is a big fan of Goodreads.
    • Doing AMAs on Reddit.
    • Why they say you shouldn’t feel you’re going to relinquish all your marketing to your publisher if you take a trad deal.
    • How audiobooks have become a big source of income for them and what kinds of advances are potentially achievable out there right now.
    • Why they believe audiobooks are becoming what ebooks were in 2010 and that there’s lots of room for growth.

You can visit Michael on his website, and if you’re interested in his books, you can buy the latest, The Disappearance of Winter’s Daughter, (as well as the rest) directly from his site.

He’s also releasing books in his Legends of the First Empire series, with Age of War coming this summer.

 

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Talking Copyright, Publishing Contracts, & KDP Select with Lawyer Turned Author Laura Kirwan

Author Interview, Podcast

Do authors need to file for copyright? What should you look out for when it comes to contracts with publishers? Do you need an agent to handle foreign rights and contracts or is it better to hire an ip attorney? What should you establish upfront before co-authoring a book or series with another writer?

We talked about these questions and more tonight with our guest, urban fantasy author Laura Kirwan. Laura used to be an attorney but is now focusing on her fiction. We pumped her for lots of information on the legal issues authors (especially independent authors) often wonder about, and we also discussed her experiences with KDP Select and writing for (and marketing to) a specific age group with your fiction (hint: Laura’s protagonist is not an 18-year-old orphan destined to save the world).

 

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Some of the specific legal issues we covered:

  • Do you need to file for copyright for your novel, and if so, how do you do it?
  • For indie authors, should you create an LLC or other entity to “protect yourself” or are you OK writing and publishing as yourself?
  • If you decide to take a traditional publishing contract or pursue a hybrid model (some books traditionally published and some books self-published), what should you look out for on those contracts? (i.e. getting rights back in the future, non-compete clauses that could prevent you writing in the same genre, what happens if you don’t earn out your advance?)
  • If someone comes along and wants to buy your foreign rights in such-and-such-country, do you need to hire an agent or is an IP attorney a better choice?
  • Do you have any legal recourse if you sign with a publisher or business partner in a foreign country and they don’t follow through?
  • The things you want to establish before co-authoring a book/series with another author.

Also, on the marketing side of the house, we talked a bit about getting into those tricky Amazon categories that aren’t listed on the KDP dashboard. Here’s the link to a post with more instructions on that: How to Get Your Book into More Categories on Amazon with Keywords.

Make sure to check out Laura’s work on Amazon: Impervious (City of Eldrich Book 1).

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