Red flags
The clauses that should stop the pen
Some sentences are a negotiation. Some are a test of whether anyone is reading. A few mean the document in your hand is not a publishing contract at all. Mark the first draft as if the person who will enforce it has never met you — because one day that will be true.
Walk away
These terms usually mean the deal is not a publishing deal.
You pay them
Looks like
A set-up fee, a requirement to buy 200 copies, a ‘contribution to printing’, or royalties that start after you have purchased a marketing package.
Why
In traditional publishing the money travels towards the author. If it travels the other way, you are buying a service. That can be legitimate — but not on exclusive life-of-copyright terms.
Instead
If you want a paid service, hire one on a licence you can leave. Do not pay and also assign the rights.
Assignment of copyright
Looks like
‘The Author hereby assigns all right, title and interest in the Work’ or ‘work made for hire’ in a royalty novel deal.
Why
You would no longer own the book. Licensing is the trade-publishing mechanism; assignment is for a different kind of job, at a different kind of fee.
Instead
Exclusive licence to named rights, named territory, named term.
Strike it
Common in first drafts. They expect a mark-up.
Joint accounting across books
Looks like
Unearned balances on this Work may be recouped from any other work under any other agreement.
Why
Your successful book subsidises their unsuccessful bet on another. It also complicates leaving.
Instead
Each contract accounts on its own, unless a genuine combined advance on a stated two-book deal.
No way back
Looks like
Out of print only if unavailable in any edition, including POD and ebook; or no reversion clause at all.
Why
Digital availability is not publication. Without a sales or income threshold, the grant is in practice perpetual even if nobody is selling the book.
Instead
Reversion if sales or earnings fall below a number for a royalty year, plus failure-to-publish.
All media, hereafter devised
Looks like
All rights in all media now known or hereafter invented, throughout the universe, for the term of copyright.
Why
It mops up film, games, audio, merchandising, and whatever is invented in 2040, at today’s price.
Instead
List the rights. New technologies not reasonably within a named right require a new agreement.
Free AI training rights
Looks like
Machine learning, text-and-data mining, and generative systems included in the grant without further payment.
Why
A new economic right is being taken as if it were a spelling correction. Training value is not production convenience.
Instead
Internal editorial/production tools only. Third-party training and generative substitute editions need consent and money.
Matching right on the next book
Looks like
Publisher may match any third-party offer on the next work, and has 90 days from a complete manuscript.
Why
Auctions die. Other publishers will not bid seriously against a house that can take the deal at the last minute.
Instead
Exclusive first look for 30 days on a proposal. No match. Terms to be agreed.
Narrow it
The idea is legitimate. The drafting is too wide.
Career-wide non-compete
Looks like
Author shall not publish any work that might compete with the Work, for the term of this Agreement.
Why
Your job is writing books. A clause that makes your job a breach is drafted for the publisher’s catalogue, not your livelihood.
Instead
No directly competing work on the same subject for a short period after publication. Carve out short work and teaching.
Indemnity on alleged claims
Looks like
Author indemnifies against all claims, alleged or actual, and royalties may be withheld against anticipated liabilities.
Why
Anyone can allege. Unlimited defence costs on a complaint that never wins is how a midlist account is emptied.
Instead
Breach of warranty, finally determined. No settlement without consent. Withholding only against a filed claim, with a cap.
High-discount that swallows the royalty
Looks like
Any sale at more than 40% discount pays 10% of net, with no floor and no cap on the proportion of the print run.
Why
Most trade sales are discounted more than 40%. The ‘headline’ 10% of RRP would rarely apply.
Instead
Threshold at 52.5–55%+, a royalty floor, and ordinary Amazon/bookshop discount inside the main schedule.
Sublicence to themselves
Looks like
Audio or ebook licensed to a sister company at 50/50 of proceeds.
Why
A related-party deal is not an arm’s-length sublicence. It is a way to move money out of the royalty base.
Instead
Affiliates treated as the publisher. The in-house royalty applies.
Blanket moral-rights waiver (UK)
Looks like
The Author irrevocably waives all moral rights in the Work.
Why
Heavier than a trade novel needs. You still want your name on the spine and some protection against distortion.
Instead
Assert paternity. Limit any waiver to named production uses.
Test your eye
Clause 1 of 5
Score 0
From a 2025 UK independent, agented novel deal.
If the Work is available as a print-on-demand edition or as an ebook, it shall not be considered out of print.
How would you mark it?
This is a practical guide, not legal advice. The sample contracts are composites drawn from typical UK and US trade terms in the mid-2020s, not copies of any one publisher’s agreement. Always have an agent or a publishing solicitor read a deal before you sign it.