The Authors Guild, Inc. 31 EAST 32nd STREET, 7th FLOOR • NEW YORK, NY 10016 (212) 563-5904 • Fax: (212) 564-5363 staff@authorsguild.org • www.authorsguild.org January 5, 2016 AN OPEN LETTER TO MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN PUBLISHERS FROM THE AUTHORS GUILD, MEMBERS OF THE AUTHORS COALITION, AND MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL AUTHORS FORUM Unfair terms in publishing agreements negatively affect authors’ incomes and even their ability to write at all. That’s the conclusion the Authors Guild’s Fair Contract Initiative has repeatedly demonstrated since it was launched in May 2015. Now it’s time to act on that conclusion. The Initiative’s fresh look at standard book contracts has proven without doubt that provisions that would never be acceptable in other contexts have long been taken for granted in publishing agreements. Authors are now standing together to say “no.” It is time for publishers to give authors the respect, compensation and fair play they deserve. What we demand is simple: Publishers need to revise many of their standard contract terms to make them more equitable. Authors should get at least 50% of net e-book income, not a mere 25%. They should not have their hands tied with non-compete and option clauses that can make it impossible for them to write new books without delay. They should not be forced to accept royalties that can decline by 50% when the publisher cuts its wholesale price by a single cent. They should be able to get the rights back when the publisher stops supporting a book. And authors should be able to get a fair shake even if they don’t have powerful agents or lawyers. When negotiating with known agents, publishers often start from previously negotiated contracts that remove many of the most draconian provisions handed to unagented authors. Why not do the right thing by all authors and eliminate those provisions for everyone? Authors’ income is down across all categories. According to a 2015 Authors Guild survey—our first since 2009—the writing-related income of full-time book authors dropped 30% over that time period, from $25,000 to $17,500. Part-time authors saw an even steeper slide: their writing income dropped 38%. President: ROXANA ROBINSON Vice Presidents: JUDY BLUME, RICHARD RUSSO, JAMES SHAPIRO • Treasurer: PETER PETRE • Secretary: PAT CUMMINGS SHERMAN ALEXIE AMY BLOOM ALEXANDER CHEE MATT DE LA PEÑA JENNIFER EGAN LOUISE ERDRICH PETER GETHERS JAMES GLEICK ANNETTE GORDON-REED NICHOLAS LEMANN Council CJ LYONS JOHN R. MacARTHUR STEPHEN MANES DANIEL OKRENT DOUGLAS PRESTON MICHELLE RICHMOND CATHLEEN SCHINE HAMPTON SIDES T.J. STILES MONIQUE TRUONG PEG TYRE RACHEL VAIL NICHOLAS WEINSTOCK MEG WOLITZER Ex Officio & Honorary Members of the Council ROGER ANGELL • ROY BLOUNT JR.• BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD • ROBERT A. CARO • SUSAN CHEEVER • ANNE EDWARDS ERICA JONG • FREDERIC MARTINI • ROBERT K. MASSIE • VICTOR S. NAVASKY • SIDNEY OFFIT • MARY POPE OSBORNE LETTY COTTIN POGREBIN • JEAN STROUSE • NICK TAYLOR • SCOTT TUROW MARY RASENBERGER, Executive Director SANDY LONG, Chief Operating Officer JAN CONSTANTINE, General Counsel While there are many reasons for these declines, unfair terms, including reduced royalty rates, are clearly a major part of the problem. Without serious contract reform, the professional author will become an endangered species and publishers—as well as society at large—will be left with less and less quality content. Publishers need to treat their authors equitably so they can keep writing the kinds of books that have enabled the publishing industry to achieve the financial and cultural status it enjoys today. We’ll be asking for individual meetings in the coming months with publishers both large and small to discuss the substance of the attached articles and what can publishers can do to ensure this business is fair and profitable for those who create the works that sustain it. We don’t stand alone in our commitment to more equitable book contracts. The Authors Guild Fair Contract Initiative has earned the support of many U.S. and foreign authors groups, representing many tens of thousands of individual members in the United States alone. Those supporting groups have signed on to this letter. Sincerely, The Authors Guild Asociación Colegial de Escritores Traductores (Spain) American Photographic Artists American Society of Media Photographers Australian Society of Authors Authors Licensing and Collecting Society (UK) Canadian Authors Association Conseil Européen des Associations de Traducteurs Littéraires (Belgium) Conseil Permanent des Écrivains (France) Federazione Unitaria Italiana Scrittori (Italy) Garden Writers Association Graphic Artists Guild Horror Writers Association Irish Writers Union Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Société des Gens de Lettres (France) Mystery Writers of America National Association of Science Writers National Writers Union Sisters in Crime Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Sudanese Writers Union Union des Écrivains et des Écrivains Québécois (Canada) Western Writers of America The Writers’ Union of Canada Zimbabwean Academic and Non-Fiction Authors Association a oanadianauthors Writers heIpr'ng writers since 1921 3! Mystery Wrillrs ni America GARDEN Assnc?m?rmm ace traductores I I Conseil Eurup?en des Associations de Traducteurs Lilt?raires European Council DI Literary TransIanrs' Assutiations SOCIETE DES GE NS DE LETTRES THE UNION OF CANADA PE 0 Conseil Permanent des Ecrivains ITALIANA Sile mid} Grant Crime W??ng! Wrine NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF Irish ?.Iritersa Union UNION DES ECRWAINES Er DES ECRIVAINS OUEBEGDIS Comhar Ila Scri bhneoin' EDUCATING TIIE NATION Americon Society of Medio Photographers