On Monday, I posted about the controversy between the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) and Random House. The publisher recently launched several digital-only imprints and the SFWA voiced concern about the terms of their contract.
In particular, the SFWA refused to accept Random House’s Hydra imprint as a qualifying market for a writer to gain membership in their organization because this imprint didn’t offer an advance against royalties. However, the SFWA, Writer Beware and other writer groups also voiced opposition to other terms of the contract, including how the copyright reversion was handled and the profit sharing model, which expected authors to pay for production and marketing of their novel.
Today, I’m happy to report that Random House has changed the terms of their contract for these imprints, and they are now more favorable to the writer. Rather than paraphrase content, I suggest reading the two articles listed below. The first was written by Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware. The second is a special message from Random House posted on their digital-only imprints home page.
Random House Announces New Terms at Digital Imprints Hydra, Alibi, Loveswept, and Flirt
A Special Message from Hydra, Alibi, Loveswept and Flirt
This is great news, not just for writers, but also for Random House. An attractive contract is incentive that draws quality writers. Surely they want the best novels they can find to launch these new imprints.
For writers, this is great because it shows that when we band together and voice our concerns, change can happen, positive change that benefits both parties. I feel I can once again recommend this market and suggest checking out their guidelines.
Random House Digital-only Imprints Submission Process and Guidelines
