Better get a lawyer, son*

My point? If you’re a writer with a contract – either a new, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed first-timer, or a gnarled, booze-raddled, jaded, curmudgeonly, old warhorse – you need to understand your contract.

Even if you have an agent, you need to understand your contract because you are signing it. In signing this document, you are undertaking obligations and responsibilities – the consequences of not fulfilling them may be heavy and certainly financial in nature. In some cases, there may also be large men at your door to take you for a swimming lesson, concrete shoes likely.

Okay, so I exaggerate – I’m a writer, it’s what I do.

But: to get back to my point, if you have a contract and no agent, then please, please, please find someone to interpret your contract for you if you don’t understand it. Someone like Alex at Alex Adsett Publishing Services. She’s looked over my contracts before and translated them into plain English for me.

It’s important not to abdicate responsibility for your writing career and having someone like Alex on your business team is very, very wise indeed.

There are no do-overs, and crying ‘But I didn’t understand what I was signing, hell, I didn’t even read it!’ is not going to get you anywhere.

She lives here http://www.alexadsett.com.au/Site/Home.html

* Apologies to The Cruel Sea.