Author Sample Contract - Liquid Silver Books

This contract is entered into on the__________ of ________, _______, between Liquid Silver Books, an imprint of Atlantic Bridge (hereinafter known as "Publisher") located at 10509 Sedgegrass Dr, Indianapolis, Indiana 46235 and____________________(hereinafter known as "Author")of _______________________________ concerning a work presently known as ___________________________ (hereinafter known as "Work").

The Contract is considered legal and binding in all countries. If there should be any legal dispute, the laws of the state of Indiana shall apply.

I. The Author hereby represents and warrants to the Publisher that:

A. The Work is free and clear of any counts of libel, plagiarism, breach of privacy or misrepresentation of facts.

B. The Work does not infringe upon any copyright or proprietary right, common law or statutory law, and does not contain any material of libelous nature.

C. The Work is not in the public domain and the Author is the sole owner and copyright holder of the work with full power to enter into this contract.

D. If the Work has been previously published in whole or part, the Author currently holds all copyrights to the Work and is legally permitted to enter this agreement.

E. The Author releases Publisher from any responsibilities relating to any legal actions incurred by the contents of the Work or the Author.

This representations contained herein are true on the date of the signing of this contract.

F. The Publisher will obtain appropriate ISBNs for the Work..

II. Grantor of Rights:

A. The Author, on behalf of himself/herself and his/her heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assignees, agrees to grant the Publisher exclusive rights to produce, publish and sell in electronic format (including email, download, disk, CD, or any other digital format known or to be invented),the Work. This contract does not infringe on print rights.

III Term of Contract:

A. Electronic rights will be exclusive for one year commencing on the date the Work becomes available for sale on the Publisher's site. After such time, the contract can continue if both parties agree.  

Contract may be terminated after one year by either the author or the publisher with a 90-day written, certified mail notice or other receipted delivery service, and all rights granted the publisher will revert to author at the time of such termination.

Upon breach of contract, the Contract may be terminated by either party with a 30-day written notice. Notification of breach and intention to terminate the contract is to be delivered by certified mail or other receipted delivery service. If breaching party corrects breach within 30 days, the Contract shall continue to remain in place until its natural expiration. Upon expiration of the Contract term, if Contract is not continued, all rights granted the Publisher will revert back to author.

B. During the term of the contract, the Work will not be said to be out of print.

IV. Manuscript Preparation:

A. Author shall provide an acceptable, final revision of the manuscript in either Microsoft Word or RTF within the time agreed upon or this contract will be void. Publisher will not be held liable for lost manuscripts or defective disks. Author should always keep a back up copy.

V. Royalties and Statements

A. Publisher and Author will mutually set the retail price of the Work based on length and comparable works. Publisher agrees to pay to the Author, a royalty of 40% of the retail download price in United States dollars (USD) on all sales of the Work sold through the Publisher's website. If the Work is purchase on disk or CD, the royalty will also be 40%.

B. The Publisher has the right to contract with distributors, bookstores, vendors, organizations and or outlets of electronic books to sell the Work in association with the Publisher's name. For all sales through these outlets, the Author will be compensated 40% of the download price less any handling costs or discounts charged by the outlet.  The Author has the right to strike this if he/she does not wish to permit titles to be available through these outlets.

C. In order to stimulate sales, the Publisher reserves the right to lower the price of the Work after a reasonable amount of time if the price appears to be too high (no sooner than three months).

D. Royalties shall be calculated and paid no later than forty-five (45) days following the end of each calendar quarter for sales during that quarter. Royalties shall be paid by check or PayPal, unless previous arrangements are made with the author. Payment arrangements, mutually agreed upon by the Publisher and the Author, shall be made for payment of royalties to Author if he/she resides outside the USA. Royalties equaling less than $20 will be held until such time as they accrue to $20 or above. Any withheld royalties shall be paid immediately upon Contract termination.

E. If Author has elected to grant Publisher the right to contract with various distributors and outlets, royalties will be paid to Author contingent on payment received from distributor. In most cases, distributors pay Publishers every sixty to ninety days for sales through their channels during those timeframes.

F. No royalty shall be paid on paper or digital copies distributed for review, advertising, publicity, promotional purposes, samples, or other similar purposes, or on copies sold below or at cost.

F. The Author is responsible for paying his/her own taxes on all royalty payments received from Publisher and is advised to keep accurate records for tax purposes. A 1099misc form will be sent to the author if royalty payments are in excess of $600 in a calendar year.

VI. Marketing and Promotion

A. The Author shall provide the Publisher with biographical information, a photo (if author desires), and a suggested blurb for use on Publisher's website.  Author agrees to give Publisher the right to use the Author's name, likeness, title of work and biographical material for publishing, advertising and promoting the Work. Publisher reserves the right to edit or rewrite the blurb submitted by Author.

B. Cover art will be provided by Publisher. If the Author has his/her own cover art, the Author must warrant that the provided art is either owned by the Author or that it does not infringe on any copyright.

C. Publisher reserves final approval of art in consultation with Author.

D. Author agrees to self-promote the Work to the best of his/her ability. If Author has his/her own website, the Work must be linked to the Publisher's website. With any promotional material the Author generates, the Author will consult with Publisher to insure proper use of Publisher's name and/or other information.

E. Author may use up to 3 chapters to post on his/her website or to give away as "teasers" to promote the work provided it includes a link to Liquid Silver Books.

F. Publisher will send out the work for review to no less than three review sites. Author may request a review copy on CD for his/her promotional efforts.  Author is encouraged to solicit reviews along with the Publisher. For added promotional purposes, Publisher and Author agree to notify each other as to what review sites submissions have been made.

G. With enough advance notice, Publisher will provide Author any needed book copies for Author appearances or signings. These copies would be in the format of CD and can be purchased by the author at a discount set by the Publisher.

VII Assignment

A."Liquid Silver Books" and imprint of "Atlantic Bridge" may at any time sell itself, or the majority of itself, its holdings, or licenses. Current contracts would transfer to the new owner.

B. Bankruptcy: If "Atlantic Bridge Publishing" is legally judged bankrupt or liquidates its business, this Contract shall be terminated effectively and all rights granted to "Atlantic Bridge Publishing" and "Liquid Silver Books" shall be terminated.

C. Audit: The Author may, with reasonable notice, assign and designate a representative to examine the Publisher's records as they relate to the Work. Such examination shall be at the Author's expense unless errors are found in excess of 5% of royalties in the Author's favor; in which case, the Publisher shall then defray all usual, customary, and reasonable charges for such audit. The Publisher shall pay the Author any sums due within thirty (30) days.

VIII Entire Agreement:

This Contract hereby constitutes the entire agreement between Author and Publisher and supercedes all previous agreements regarding the Work, whether oral or in writing. Modification of this contract may only occur in writing, signed by both parties.

Author's Real Name: _______________________________________

Pseudonym (if any): _______________________________________

Street Address: __________________________________________

City, State, Zip: _________________________________________

Phone Number: _____________________________________________

Email Address: ____________________________________________

Website URL: ______________________________________________

Title of Work: ____________________________________________

Social Security Number:____________________________________

Author's Signature: _______________________________________

Date: _____________________________________________________

Liquid Silver Signature: ________________________

Date: ________________________

This is a sample contract.