Awe-Struck E-Books, Inc. Author Contract

AUDIO BOOKS

 

1.) This contract is dated: ______________ and hence forth exists between the author:

Name: _______________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

Phone: _______________________________________________

E-Mail: _______________________________________________

Fax: _______________________________________________

2.) and the publisher, Awe-Struck E-Books, represented by: Kathryn D. Struck and Dick Claassen.

3.) This Agreement is entered into in good faith and sound mind by all parties. The signatures from all parties named in this contract indicate understanding and acceptance to the terms described below.

4.) The author agrees to grant the Awe-Struck E-Books the exclusive license to produce, sell, and promote first rights of all audio versions (on disks or as downloads), nationally and internationally, in any language including English, and adaptations of the work(s) of fiction, named in this contract, titled:

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

(hereafter referred to as 'the work') internationally.

5.) The author retains the right to publish excerpt portion(s) of the work (excerpts to total no more than 5,000 words) for promotional use on his/her personal Internet website, with no restrictions upon length of time the excerpt(s) may be posted. The author retains the right to seek and establish contracts with print publishers, as long as credit is given to Awe-Struck as the electronic/audio publisher.

6.) The author testifies that the work is his/her original work of fiction, and that he/she has the exclusive ownership of it and power to grant all rights to it.

7.) The publisher will, if necessary, assist in registering the copyright of the work. The author, however, is responsible for fees incurred in procuring copyright.

8.) The author agrees to secure permission for use of any copyrighted materials incorporated in his/her original work, communicated to the publisher by the author, which is included in the work covered by this contract.

9.) The publisher holds author harmless from litigation resulting from breach of promise of the publisher.

10.) The author holds the publisher harmless from litigation resulting from breach of promise of the author.

11.) Excerpting from or adapting the work, except in the case of marketing and promoting the work will not be permitted without author's written approval.

12.) The publisher may not assign this audio book publication contract to another publisher without the author's approval.

13.) The author will receive appropriate credit as author of the work. If the work was first published in book form, the book publisher will also receive appropriate credit.

14.) The author agrees to allow the publisher to perform certain minor editing (sentence usage, mechanics correction, spelling correction, minor abridging, and grammar correction, etc.), and the publisher agrees not to change the characters, storyline, or theme in any significant way without the consent of the author.

15.) The author has the right to approve the final text prior to publication; approval must be presented to the publisher in the form of a letter, e-mail or fax transmission. The author's pre-publication approval of both text and cover will be kept on file at the publisher's business. The work shall not be published if the final form is not approved by the author.

16.) Royalties will be paid quarterly if they amount to 15.00. They will be paid bi-annually regardless of amount. No royalties shall be paid on audio files, disks, or copies furnished free of charge to media reviewers, or for use in advertising or promotion of the work. Royalties will commence a maximum 90 days after the work named in this contract goes on sale. If the author should die while this contract is in force, royalties shall be paid to the author's legal heir(s).

17.) Royalty checks will be issued within three weeks after the end of the quarter. 1099's will be supplied to any author receiving at least $15.00 in royalties at the end of the calendar year. To receive one, the author must supply a Social Security number to the publisher.

18.) The author may request information about his/her account at any time, and is advised to keep accurate records for tax purposes.

19.) Publisher has the license to publish, promote, and distribute the work, as an audio book, for two full years from the date on which the work (in its entirety—most sites sell each chapter of the novel separately) is actually posted for sale. The contract may be renewed after the two years has elapsed by mutual consent.

20.) If the author writes another work which is a sequel to the work covered in this contract, using an identical theme and/or major characters that are contained in the contracted work, the publisher retains the first right of first refusal and must reply to the author within four months to publish the subsequent work in audio format.

21.) This contract may be terminated by either the author or the publisher with a 90-day written, certified mail notice, and all rights granted the publisher will revert to author at that time.

22.) If the publisher does not publish and make available for sale the work named in this contract, in e-book format within thirty days of the mutually agreed upon release date, this contract is void and all rights revert to the author.

23.) The publisher makes no promises or guarantees regarding estimated sales figures. The publisher shall do its best to publish and promote the work using the latest internet standards and options as they develop. The author is advised to actively promote his/her work, individually and in collaboration with the publisher.

24.) The publisher has the right to contract with distributors/vendors of audio books to produce files for sale in association with the Awe-Struck E-Books’ name. A complete list of booksellers and distributors is available to the author upon request. The author will be compensated at 20% of the publisher's percentage received from each unit sold.

25.) Any changes in this contract must be in writing and signed by both parties

 

Signatures of the publisher: ________________________________________________________________________ (The above signature represents both Kathryn Struck and Dick Claassen.)

Date: ____________________

 

________________________________________________________________________

Signature(s) of the author(s):

Date: ____________________

Please print out two copies of this contract, fill each out, date, sign, and send to:

Awe-Struck E-Books, Inc.

2458 Cherry Street

Dubuque, Iowa 52001

Attention: Kathryn/Audio books

 

As of August/September of 2006, the only vendor we have contracted with is Fictionwise. The next vendor we will approach will be Amazon. As vendors enter the audio book business, we will contract with them if possible.

Sample royalty break-down as of August 2006:

One electronic book sells for $17.00 USD-retail price Often they are put on sale by Fictionwise, so we don't always see the retail price.

Fictionwise takes 50% of selling price (eg: 8.50 IF sold at retail)

Awe-Struck takes 20% of the remainder (of 8.50)

Audio reader, who also uploads the files, takes 60% of the remainder (of 8.50)

Author takes 20% of the remainder (of 8.50)

This is a new form of business. These books are sold as downloads, and people buy the audio file, and then burn them onto CD’s or load them onto an MP-3 player or similar device. They are not sold as CD’s. There is vast potential, especially for the blind and visually impaired who need audio books. But anyone in a car on a long trip will enjoy them also…the potential is enormous.