I entered today with three issues, and all three were on the contract/business side of things. Some progress has been made, and I have some advice for you.
The first issue concerning the bulleted item in the contract. The item was an expedited release date. An expedited release, according to my own belief, is an approximate date of when your book is going to be released. If publishing a manuscript takes between 6 and 8 months, an expedited release date would be them reaching out to you five months into the process and saying, “at this point, judging by the way things are going, it looks like your book will be released on such and such date. ” It’s an approximate release date or their best guess of when your book is going to be released based on their experience and expert knowledge in the business.
This way, you can take that date and use for marketing purposes, build suspense around the release of your book, or have a book release party, or whatever.
They didn’t see it that way. According to Fulton Books, the expedited release date was six to eight months from when they begin the process of publishing your book. I don’t get that. I mean, if you’re already telling me the publishing process takes six to eight months then why would you need to bullet that as a special item within the contract?
Lesson learned. The next time you receive a contract, sit down with whoever you’re entering into an agreement with, and make them explain every detail and every bulleted item. Don’t leave and don’t sign the contract until you’re clear and understand everything and you’re both in agreement.
The second issue was resolved. They raised the contract renewal fee by $6. I was refunded the $6 and charged the amount we agreed on in the initial contract.
The third issue is ongoing, but some progress has been made.
Nooz Buffet 