PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 1996 by Eugene Schwartz, President, Consortium House When I first started my career in the printing business in New York City (after abandoning my civil engineering and public administration goals), I started selling for a $35-a-week draw against commissions. We did our own estimating, and my boss, Ozzie Schroeder, who could practically make …

First Amendment protagonists are not always the types of people you’d choose to chat with over lunch or a cup of coffee. The cast of characters in federal-court free-speech cases includes anarchists, Ku Klux Klan wizards, teenaged cross-burners, and pornographers. One such character whose fate has been on the line is a former University of …

PUBLISHED AUGUST 1996 by Curt Matthews, Chairman, Board of Chicago Review; Independent Publishers Group Is there a secret to success in publishing? Or perhaps seven habits, or a thirty-day, or -minute, or -second plan that will insure success? I don’t think so. The truth is that absolutely no one in our business knows what makes …

As a publisher, you need to understand publishing law. If your publishing responsibility is new author/book acquisitions, a working knowledge of book contracts is essential to your success. To provide you with a working knowledge of publishing law and book contracts, I recommend seven books I have found valuable. Each of these books should be …

What did you think of the ABA? This is the second year we’ve attended the convention, and for us the essence of the ABA will from this time on be associated with PMA. The PMA Publishing University was held this year at the Hyatt-Regency whose sky-lit, many-storied, inner courtyard invites you to toast and converse …

PUBLISHED JULY 1996 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — We often hear about book royalties in a fashion that is illusory. To discuss a royalty rate without at the same time discussing the basis for the rate’s calculation is like comparing apples to oranges. To banter about numbers like 8%, 9%, 17% or such is …

For the majority of contracts signed and books acquired by independent publishers, the author-publisher negotiation is between the two parties without any intermediaries involved. Most authors generally don’t retain either an agent or lawyer to represent them when dealing with professional, educational, technical, or scientific publishers. Generally, agents do not represent the authors of small …

PUBLISHED JUNE 1996 by Gail E. Farrelly, Associate Professor of Accounting, Rutgers University Cyberspace experts tell us that the secret to a frequently accessed home page is the building of numerous links that entice searchers to visit your “home.” Using the same logic, authors can help with the marketing of their books-even off-line-by making use …

PUBLISHED JUNE 1996 by Meredith Rutter, President, Publicom, Inc. Publicom works with many writers, editors, designers, and artists under Work for Hire clauses as part of the way we operate when providing publishing services to textbook publishers. We are under a Work for Hire contract with those educational publishers ourselves, and so we must have …

PUBLISHED JUNE 1996 by Lawrence Jordan, Attorney, Seeligson & Jordan In the January 1996 issue of the PMA Newsletter (currently IBPA Independent magazine), you’ll find my introduction to the topic of standard contracts (See “When and How to Use Your ‘Standard’ Contracts,” page 1). Now it’s time to flesh out some the suggestions made in …

PUBLISHED JUNE 1996 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — The question frequently arises as to when a copyright goes into the public domain so that the material may be freely copied. The answer is not a simple, straightforward one since there have been a number of changes to the United States Copyright law that have …

PUBLISHED JUNE 1996 by Robert C. Brenner, President, Brenner Information Group The entrepreneurial playing field is littered with the debris of failed publishing businesses. Yet I wonder how many of these companies would have survived, or prospered, if their owners had listened to the marketplace. Listening is not easy. It’s a skill, a science, and …

PUBLISHED JUNE 1996 by Judith Appelbaum, Editor, IBPA Independent A new BISAC form with the potential to help publishers collect millions of dollars in “mystery money”-i.e., payments from buyers of subsidiary rights that come with inadequate documentation-is about to go out to the leading large publishers and thousands of smaller houses. Developed by the Book Industry …

PUBLISHED MAY 1996 by Curt Matthews, Independent Publishers Group I had a call the other day from an editor at Publishers Weekly who was researching an article about returns in the book trade. He wanted to know, from the independent press prospective, if returns were still running at the dreadful levels reached in the first …

PUBLISHED MAY 1996 by Ivan Hoffman, Publishing Attorney — At the inception of any new medium, those in the already existing media cry out about the imminent downfall of their cherished territory. This happened when television came in and those in the movie industry screamed about the loss of their markets. This happened when the …

PUBLISHED MAY 2016 by Robert C. Brenner, President, Brenner Information Group Based on what he had learned about how to forecast future trends, John took action to apply his new skill. He collected subjective and empirical data on the nation, the state, and his local area. He wanted to identify business opportunities. As part of …

PUBLISHED MAY 1996 by Carolyn Moran, Editor & Publisher, Talking Leaves I have been the editor and publisher of an ecology magazine called Talking Leaves for seven years. As an ecology magazine, we are concerned about the dwindling forest ecosystems worldwide, a substantial portion of which are felled for the pulp and paper industry. When …

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 1995 by Betsy Lampe, Florida Publishers Association A sales flyer must speak for your book, especially when the person reading the flyer does not have the book in hand, which is the case when a book is displayed at a trade show. Look into using a good graphic design company to put your …

PUBLISHED JANUARY 1995 by Florrie Binford Kichler, IBPA Board President First and Goal In life, as in football, you won’t go far unless you know where the goalposts are. —Arnold Glasgow Colts 10, Kansas City 10. Two minutes left to play. Colts have the football. First down, 10 yards to go. The Colts quarterback takes …