Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/246964
Publishing Section 4 In a little more detail… Warranties If you give a warranty, you are making a binding promise that what you are saying is correct. So, if you warrant that your work does not infringe third party rights, that must be the case. If you give a warranty, and it is not correct, the publisher could sue you for damages for breach of contract. This could be very costly for you. For example, if it turned out that your work infringed someone else's copyright, the publisher might seek the costs of dealing with that action from you. You may sometimes find that you are asked to "indemnify" the publisher against any loss or damage that it might suffer as a result of you being in breach of the agreement with the publisher. Try and resist this provision as far as possible as it effectively means that the publisher could recover, pound for pound, any loss that it suffers as a result of your breach. In practice, you may find yourself unable to exclude this provision if the publisher will not sign the agreement without it in place. If this is the case, try to water down any promises that you do make, for example by saying that "as far as you are aware", your work does not infringe anyone else's rights. You could also seek to put a financial limit to your liability. Assignment Publishers usually ask you to assign the copyright in your work to them so that they are free to use, adapt, circulate, re-publish etc, your work without having to seek permission from you every single time they do this. Again, it is unlikely that you will be able to resist this provision as, in practice, publishers often will not sign up to agreements unless it is included. What will you get? n An advance (this will usually be deducted from your royalties) n Royalties – the rate is likely to be somewhere between 7.5% to 10% of the price that the publisher is paid for the book by a retail outlet i.e. a percentage of the net price n Free copies of your publication n Discounts on purchases of your books (possibly including purchases by your institution). 24