The Grievance and Contract Division’s semi-annual report, covering the first half of 2016, is available here. We hope you’ll take the time to read it and learn more about what we do. One of our chief functions is reviewing traditional publishers’ contracts, as well as those of firms that help you self-publish. We offer guidance regarding agents, websites, ghostwriters/joint-authorship projects, and work-for-hire clients. We’re not lawyers, but we know a lot about the literary arena, and we keep educating ourselves and one another. Read about our contract advice here.
We also help members with grievances. If you haven’t gotten paid for your work, contact us. We can’t represent you in court, but sometimes it’s easier for a third party to demand money from the bad guys than it is for you to do it. Read about grievance assistance here.
In addition, we field questions on business practices, rights, permissions, online piracy and anything else from both members and non-members. Our new report discusses our latest transactions. We explore issues that have surfaced through the inquiries we receive.
The report looks at e-book contracts, royalty statements, subsidy presses, and scam artists. In fact, our webinar on e-books and e-rights (watch for the next showing if you haven’t caught it already) came out of members’ reports of abusive contract terms.
The GCD is here for you. Contact us any time at advice@nwu.org. We’ll answer within two days. If you don’t hear from us, we didn’t get your email, so write again. We look forward to hearing from you!
NWU is the sole provider of IFJ Press Passes to freelance journalists in the U.S.