[Writer Post] The Random House Kerfuffle
It always seems like when I have no real writing post to do, about 5 minutes after I post something, something major happens. This one took a couple of days, but late last week there was a huge out cry about Random House and their digital imprints.
John Scalzi and Victoria Stauss outlined all the issues that the initial digital imprint contracts had – for TWO of the four digital imprints – Alibi and Hydra. Since these two were nearly identical, it’s safe to assume the other two were just as awful.
There was only one aspect that I didn’t completely agree with Scalzi on – and that was the no advance. That’s not necessarily a deal breaker for me in the right circumstances – this, being Random House, was NOT the right circumstances. This being Random House should’ve known better than to try to pull any of this crap, but that part was the least objectionable. The life of contract, the charging for production services, the rest of the contract was eye bleedingly bad. And we spoke out.
Yes, it’s okay to speak out when your industry is getting screwed over. I know there’s a lot of people who say “don’t make waves†and “don’t draw attention†– well, that’s in the “Don’t Be A Jerk†category. Protecting yourself and your industry? That’s a whole other universe. And we did. We spoke out. And Random House … bent … a little. They did listen to the hue and cry and made… alterations.
We’re not out of the woods yet – this was/is a battle that’s been won, but the war rages. And the outcome to this battle has yet to be seen. If you choose to sign with a Random House digital imprint, tread carefully. Get a professional (lawyer or agent) to make sure they don’t pull shenanigans – because even though there are inroads, there are nebulous areas rife for shenanigans (otherwise known as “Hollywood Accountingâ€).
There is still a great cause for pause before signing on, they hold on to a whole lot of rights and have life of copyright language and… go read Scalzi on his take on this and Victoria Strauss. You don’t have to take bad contracts – no matter who’s offering. Just because it’s a major player doesn’t mean it’s a good deal. Always remember THE MONEY FLOWS TO THE WRITER.
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RWA is uncertain about the other two imprints (Loveswept and Flirt), BTW, and sent a cautionary e-mail out to members saying they should read their contracts carefully.