While this memo of understanding is
informal and very general, it does lay out the basic understandings needed to protect (a) the writers who are published on The Gay Publishing Company Web site as well as any mention in its newsletter and/or its magazine and (b) the The Gay Publishing Company itself. If signed below, this brief understanding protects either and both parties from any unfair and unintended expectations, misinterpretations, and misunderstandings of one for the other. A more complete contract and author agreement will be negotiated and countersigned before actual publication.
I. The Gay Publishing Company is not a so-called vanity press; neither is it a POD publisher. The Gay Publishing Company will not charge any writer for editing, formatting, or publishing material. We are, however, associated with theGayEditor, an independent and professional editor who will be glad to provide non-binding, competitive estimates and proposals for any ghostwriting, researching/fact-checking, editing, proofreading, or other pre-publication services that might be required for any product, whether or not it is related to this Web site.
II. The Gay Publishing Company assumes no rights to any material, though in exchange for providing editorial assistance, publication, and other professional support, it does request an exclusive first-option license, or right of first offer, or right to first refusal for any variations of a work and any derivative products. Materials published by The Gay Publishing Company are not "works made for hire."
The Gay Publishing Company prefers to publish only original works. Nonetheless, we will consider previously published,
out-of-print works if the submitting author holds the exclusive rights. Should The Gay Publishing Company accept such a work for publication, undeniable proof that determines the holder of any and all relevant rights will be requested. In addition, the author will be asked to warrant that he/she is the writer and/or sole owner of any submitted work or that he/she has been assigned the rights to that work. Furthermore, the author will be asked to warrant that any submitted work is original; that any submitted work contains no unlawful content; that any submitted work does not violate the rights of any third party; that any submitted work is not in the public domain. Author will also be asked to warrant that he/she owns or controls any claimed rights without encumbrance.
If any judgment is obtained against this publisher for violating rights still controlled by another publisher or another entity because of any author's actions or deeds, the author agrees to hold this publisher harmless and innocent to the activity and to repay this publisher for any costs incurred or business lost as a result of such an accusation.
III. Authors are responsible for registering their work with their territory's Copyright Office and for paying any fees and/or costs of preparing the work or any related documentation. If requested, authors will provide a legal copy of the copyright certificate. If an author chooses not to register his/her work, he/she understands that any reimbursements, claims, damages, or other restitution may be limited in the event of a copyright violation.
IV. No advances are paid to writers who are published on the Web site of The Gay Publishing Company. However, The Gay Publishing Company offers a generous royalty on the actual retail selling price of (in most cases) 35% on the first 5,000 copies, 40% on the next 5,000, and 45% thereafter. In addition, readers who contribute to this publisher's author scholarship fund can name specific writers as beneficiaries of their contributions in support of their work. These contributions are credited to the appropriate authors as quickly as possible, as long as the author's contact information is maintained. It is the author's responsibility to communicate with the publisher any change in Taxpayer Identification Number or Social Security Number, mailing address, telephone number(s), e-mail address(es), or banking information. If the author fails to advise publisher of any changes, the publisher is authorized to withhold any contributions and/or royalties without penalty or expectation of later payment. This publisher will make at least three separate attempts to contact any author. In the event that any author is beneficiary of an amount in excess of the IRS Form 1099 threshold, that author is responsible for paying his/her own taxes or for deferring payments back into the general scholarship fund of the publishing company.
V. All authors shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless this publisher as well as any owners, affiliates, editors, shareholders, officers, directors, partners, staff, contractors, associates, agents, and representatives in the event of any claims, debts, demands, suits, actions, liens, proceedings, and/or prosecutions based on allegations, and to be responsible for any and all liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses including but not limited to attorney's fees and court costs. Either party to this agreement shall give prompt notice to the other party of any proceedings.
VI. IN WITNESS HEREOF, author and publisher have executed this understanding on the day and year noted, to be effective immediately unless other dates are furnished. An electronic signature in the form of e-mailed correspondence or faxed copy shall be considered of identical weight to a handwritten signature so long as both parties agree to accept such signatures as valid. In the event a full contract and author agreement is in effect, this understanding becomes null and void.
For the Author:
Date:
Print Name:
Pseudonym (if applicable):
Mailing Address:
City, State, Postal Code, Country:
Daytime Telephone Number:
Evening Telephone Number:
E-Mail Address: ___________________________@______________________
For the Publisher: ________________________
Date: ________________
The Gay Publishing Company
c/o theGayEditor, PO Box 1168, Orlando FL 32802
407-898-4299
theGayEditor@zoho.com
|
