posted
Okay, now let's talk some politics. (Just kidding. ) Seriously, came across this in ByLine magazine regarding rights that Harlequin/Silhouette buys:
quote:"It is a standard series contract in which we own the rights, with a split between author and publisher."
Never thought about it before, but does a 'series' contract mean the publisher, if he owns the rights, can assign writers, other than the original author, to write those same characters, like in fan fiction?
Posts: 1810 | Registered: Jun 2002
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posted
Yeah, I believe that to be the case, but you wouldn't have a 'series contract' when you write a series of novels (e.g. McCaffrey's Pern books, OSC's Ender series, etc).
I believe this 'series contract' more refers to licensed properties and some other uncommon instances. For example, Simon & Schuster holds the rights to all Star Trek novelizations, including individual series within that milieu. They can ask whatever author they want to write books in it. They could probably even do it with a series like Peter David's New Frontier books if they wanted to.
[This message has been edited by AeroB1033 (edited March 30, 2004).]
posted
In the case of Herlewuin/Silhoutte, the publisher owns all rights, much as George Lucas own all right to everything Star Wars. The publisher pays the author to write the novel, but keeps the rights. They can't have fake Harlequins on the shelves now can they.
posted
This sounds like a quote about a "continuity," and not an author-generated series.
For instance, in 2003, Silhouette Desire published a "continuity" series called DYNASTIES: THE BARONES. Basically, the editors sit in on a round-table discussion, come up with a continuing story thread - about a family, group of friends, whatever- and then plot out what will happen in all 12 books of this continutiy. (i.e., couple A in Book One, will encounter such-and-such a conflict, with couple B being mentioned and their conflict set up, but by the end of the story couple A is happy and all things are resolved between them, but the "smoking gun on the wall" in this story is the catalyst that isn't quite resolved and is what moves into couple B's story, where these folks have their own conflicts but meanwhile will deal with that "smoking gun" while couple 3 is mentioned, and then by the end of the story, the reader is ready for #3's story, and so on.)
In the Barones, the story centered around a family, with some mystery thrown in, but each book can stand alone.
The editors think up stories, and assign different authors to different books of the stories, getting that author's flavor, but the publisher *does* retain the rights to the continuity because it's their baby, not the authors they've hired to write each book. The authors bring the editors' vision to life.
The publisher chooses authors whose work is strong...and they think in terms of crescendo - such as, which author is good with writing high-flying adventure, who's good with a softer, more emotional story. They'll want to place those authors in the continuity at the right time - someone with high adventure at the beginning, someone who can end with a bang at the end, maybe the soft, emotional writer at mid-point.
(And here's food for thought, if an author is asked to be a part of the continuity, I'd suggest they push to be number 1, 2 or 3 in that continuity. If the project fails, wouldn't you rather have your book put out there at the start, when there's all the money behind you from the pub. side? In other words, you can be sure a publisher will "push" the continuity to booksellers, industry rags, etc., because they've invested editor time and talents in coming up with the whole idea and want it to succeed. So being an author who writes one of the earlier books in the continuity would get your name out to the masses via the publisher's "launch" of this continuity, and that equals royalties.)
On the other hand, *authors* generate stories that link characters, plots, etc., and this is *not* considered a continutiy, per se, but rather a *series.* What it is, is the author's idea, and they retain the rights. (More food for thought, in the realm of category romance, it's more enticing to a publisher to hook up with an author who has, say, a 3-book idea about siblings, or whatever - books that can, when bought by readers, stand alone, but add an extra dazzle in that the reader can "revisit" these familiar characters in the future via the 2nd and 3rd book of the author's series idea.) So, be thinking of your writing as a *business* as you begin your writing ideas. How can you best position yourself to be picked up by a publisher? In the world of category romance, coming at them with a thoroughly-thought-out series idea (a synopsis that details all three books, plus the first book finished and the first three chapters of the other two finished) for a 3-book series is definitely something to shoot for for someone interested in this.
posted
The new Silhouette line the article discussed is Silhouette Bombshell, a female action-adventure line. Since the line is open to new writers, I suspect it's not necessarily a continuity; from what you wrote, Lindsay, continuity authors are chosen on past writing strengths. Although I can see where a continuity would work there.
Since these are definitely new series, these contracts wouldn't be for fan fiction like Star Trek, Aero and Teddy, so you can see why I'm confused.
[This message has been edited by Kolona (edited March 31, 2004).]
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) Seriously, came across this in ByLine magazine regarding rights that Harlequin/Silhouette buys: 
