(By the way I sent the publishers these questions 1) Who retains the rights to any characters besides the main ones (the publisher has issued a very skimpy "bible" with names and some facts about the main characters)
2) Who has rights to any setting details provided--customs, modes of transportation, location, etc 3) Is the writer guarenteed work on any subsequent books if the series is a hit? 4) How about any character details the writer provides (nothing about personal history, parents, hair color, height, weight, clothes, etc was provided) 5) What about ancillary rights such as tv, movies, games, etc. The answers came back quickly. The company keeps everything. The contracts are for one book only. I recall another Siegel and Schuster story. When Superman was a big hit and there were all these toys, games, watches, newspapers strips, radio shows, etc coming out, people would say, "Man you guys must be getting rich." And of course they weren't. I still ask myself, "Why take a chance?" --- In SciFiNoir_Lit@yahoogroups.com, bma2b <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Why would someone do this? > To eat, maybe? > > I've done work for hire many times. Yes, it sucks. And > the compensation is never enough to cover the lost > sleep. > > But it's the trend to take more and more from writers > and offer less and less pay. And then, of course, > writers are often the last ones to get paid. They act > like they're giving us charity. > > The best you can do with a work for hire is get a > byline. At least then you get continual credit. > > Bah! I should have been an accountant... > > --- Chris Hayden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I just ran across a proposal to write a novel on a > > work for hire > > basis. The money offered would be nice--nicer than > > any other money > > I've made writing-- > > > > But visions of Siegel and Shuster and Jack Kirby and > > Stan Lee, who > > missed out on a fortune because they signed those > > work for hire > > agreements, keep flashing through my head. > > > > As you know, you surrender all rights in return for > > the money. So > > they can reprint your work as often as they like. > > And you don't get > > paid. And use any characters you create for them. > > And you don't get > > paid. > > > > We ain't even talking about movies, DVD's, toys, tv > > programs, > > clothes, ancillary stuff-- > > > > While I have not created a Superman, Spider-Man, > > Harry Potter--why > > take a chance? > > > > This would lead to me not creating anything and not > > doing my best > > work--so they probably wouldn't accept it anyway. > > > > Who if anybody should ever sign a work for hire > > agreement? > > > > >
