Standard publishing
agreement — guidance copy

1. Definitions and interpretation

‘Work’ means the manuscript and materials identified in the Special Conditions. ‘Original edition’ means exploitation in the original language. ‘Translation’ means an English or Spanish version commissioned by the Publisher. ‘Net receipts collected’ has the meaning given in clause 10.

Headings assist reading and do not affect interpretation. A reference to writing includes email unless a signature is legally required.

2. Purpose and hybrid nature

The Author grants the licences defined below. The Publisher undertakes selection, editorial preparation, cover design, layout, publication and distribution, subject to the initial purchase in clause 9.

The parties acknowledge the hybrid nature of the agreement. No editorial-service payment or additional purchase may be imposed without a written amendment.

3. Delivery, review and acceptance

The Author delivers a complete, usable manuscript meeting the agreed specifications. The Publisher has forty-five days to accept it, reject it or request reasonable changes.

Final acceptance is notified in writing. If requested changes are not delivered on time, the Publisher may terminate after fourteen days’ written notice remains unremedied.

4. Exclusive licence — original edition

For the whole world and ten years from signature, the Author grants a limited written exclusive licence to reproduce, publish, distribute, sell, make available and communicate the Work to the public in print and digital form.

The Author may not authorise the same exploitation in the same formats, languages and territory during the term. Copyright ownership is not transferred; all ungranted rights remain with the Author.

5. Excluded rights and moral rights

Unless added in writing, excluded rights include audio, film, television, stage and radio adaptations, games, merchandising, paid derivative courses, substantial extracts outside promotion, and use of the Work to train or supply an artificial-intelligence system. AI-training permission requires separate, express and paid consent.

The Author asserts the right to be identified and does not generally waive moral rights, while permitting necessary corrections and technical conversions that do not prejudice honour or reputation.

6. Editorial preparation and approval

The Publisher may make or propose corrections, layout and a market-appropriate cover. No substantial change of meaning may be made without the Author’s written consent.

The Author has ten working days to check proofs. After a reminder allowing five further working days, silence constitutes approval, except for a manifest error attributable to the Publisher.

7. Publication, distribution and availability

The Publisher publishes within six months of final acceptance, except for force majeure or written amendment. After formal notice, failure to publish within thirty days permits the Author to terminate and recover the rights.

The Publisher maintains reasonable commercial availability through Amazon and/or other chosen channels, without guaranteeing sales volume, ranking or physical-bookshop presence.

8. Prices and promotions

The retail price is set after editorial completion, once format, final layout, pagination, production and distribution conditions are known.

The Publisher informs the Author before publication and invoicing contractual copies. The price must remain reasonable and consistent with the Work, applicable costs and comparable books, and may later reflect commissions, taxes and market conditions.

9. Contractual copies, invoicing, payment and delivery

Once final specifications and prices are notified, the Author purchases fifteen paperback copies at the selected retail price and twenty individual digital licences at the announced rate. This initial lot generates no royalty.

The order form states copy and licence prices, delivery, taxes and payment costs. Cleared payment in full precedes any binding order, dispatch or delivery; no promise or provisional proof counts as payment.

No additional purchase is compulsory. Further orders require a prior quotation, generate no royalty and state cost, timing, recipient and transfer of risk.

10. Royalties and net receipts collected

Except for clause 9, the Author receives from the first public sale 25% of net print receipts and 40% of net digital receipts for the original edition. Copies bought at retail on a platform, including by the Author, count for royalties.

Publisher-funded translations pay 20% print and 30% digital. Third-party licences pay 50% of net sums collected.

Net receipts are sums actually received excluding tax, less only unit manufacturing cost, distributor commissions and fees, refunds, returns, transaction taxes and directly attributable currency charges. Overheads, ISBN, editing, cover, layout, promotion and translation are not deductible.

11. Statements, audit and payment

The accounting year runs from 1 January to 31 December. By 31 March, the Publisher supplies a sufficiently detailed statement and pays all royalties due without a minimum threshold.

A precise documented objection must be made in writing within twelve months. If a serious dispute remains, the Author may, at most once in twenty-four months and at their own expense, appoint an independent confidential accountant to inspect only the necessary records.

The audit is remote unless otherwise agreed. It gives no direct access to premises, bank or platform accounts, credentials, systems, master files or third-party contracts.

12. English and Spanish translations

For the contract term, the Author grants the Publisher the exclusive right to commission and exploit English and Spanish translations in the covered formats. The decision to translate belongs to the Publisher unless the Special Conditions say otherwise.

The Publisher fully finances translation, selects the translator and obtains the necessary rights. Costs are neither charged to the Author nor deducted from receipts. The Author has twenty-one days to report mistranslations and terminology errors.

13. Author’s representations and warranties

The Author warrants authority to contract; originality or required permissions; no knowing infringement of third-party rights; no unlawful or defamatory content; and no incompatible prior licence.

The Author discloses long quotations, images, personal data, AI-generated or substantially AI-assisted content, permissions and previous publications. Each party is responsible for reasonably foreseeable direct loss caused by its proven breach.

14. Promotion and participation

The Publisher may use the title, cover, approved biography and extracts up to 10% of the Work for promotion, and gives the Author two free evidence copies in addition to the contractual lot.

During the first twelve months, the Author performs at least two agreed activities: related article, interview, meeting, discussion, reader response, dossier contribution or reasonable sharing of publication news. From year two, at least one activity is performed annually upon written invitation.

The Publisher retains editorial freedom and may give regularly participating authors greater visibility. Persistent non-cooperation may suspend optional benefits but does not affect royalties or alone justify termination.

15. Term, low exploitation and reversion

The agreement ends automatically ten years after signature, with no automatic renewal. After the first twenty-four months following publication, fewer than ten paid third-party sales during twelve consecutive months permit the Author to request termination.

The Publisher has ninety days to agree reversion or begin a reasonable commercial plan; otherwise the licence ends. Mere catalogue presence without actual sales does not prevent this clause applying.

16. Termination for breach or insolvency

A party may terminate for a material breach not remedied within thirty days of detailed notice. The Author may terminate for persistent failure to publish, account or pay; the Publisher may terminate for serious warranty breach or failure to deliver.

Either party may terminate immediately if the other ceases business, becomes insolvent or enters an analogous process, to the extent permitted by law.

17. Confidentiality, data, subcontractors and assignment

Each party processes personal data under applicable law. The Publisher may use necessary publishing, distribution, sales and promotion providers while limiting shared data to what is necessary.

Non-public commercial, technical and personal information obtained through the agreement is confidential for five years after it ends, and trade secrets for as long as they remain secret.

The Publisher may assign the whole agreement only to an affiliate or capable successor to its publishing business, with written notice. The Author needs consent to assign, except for succession to copyright.

18. Force majeure

Neither party is liable for delay caused by an event reasonably outside its control. It informs the other and mitigates the effects. If the impediment lasts over ninety days and materially affects publication or payment, the other party may terminate in writing.

19. Notices and amicable resolution

Notices go to the Special Conditions addresses by acknowledged email or tracked post. The parties try for thirty days to resolve disputes and may agree mediation in England or remotely before proceedings.

20. General provisions, governing law and language

The agreement and amendments form the entire agreement. Changes must be written and signed. Invalidity of one term does not affect the others; non-exercise is not waiver; electronic signature is permitted.

The law of England and Wales governs, and its courts have exclusive jurisdiction, subject to agreed mediation.

The signed agreement is in French with an English translation. If the texts diverge, the French version prevails, subject to mandatory law.