As an Author you are focused on developing and writing your next book. Everything else gets short drift. Unfortunately, executing an effective contract cannot be ignored. A well-executed contract can go far in protecting you and your rights. A well-executed contract can provide you the means to continue writing. A poorly constructed contract can cost you money.
When executing your contracts, you have clauses that clearly spell out –
Delivery and publication issues
What rights you will keep and what rights you will assign to the publisher
What permissions you or the publisher will need to clear
How much of an advance you will receive and under what terms
What kind of royalty you will receive for the various types of book sales
How the contract would be terminated
How and when the rights you assigned the publisher will revert back to you
And finally, the housekeeping clauses which cover all the truly mundane things – from agency representation to taxes.
Not to be forgotten when discussing contracts is the royalty statement. The royalty statement is the explanation behind the royalty check you have received. A well-organized royalty statement will keep track of the sales and license revenue for your book by type of sale, units sold, dollar amount received, royalty rate and earnings due you.