TERMS & CONDITIONS
AGREEMENT:
Upon receiving notice from Rod Serling Books (RSB) that your work has been selected for publication, you must accept this Agreement and agree to be bound by its terms.
1. THE WORK:
The Work shall consist of your manuscript, cover art (novels & novellas only), and any other graphic files associated with the work as submitted by you and shall be referenced by title and author's name.
2. COPYRIGHT:
Rod Serling Books requires that you hold the publishing rights to any content you submit and reserves the right to reject or remove any content for which you do not have rights. If you are unsure if you own rights to materials you wish to submit. please consult an attorney.
3. GRANT OF RIGHTS:
a.) You grant Rod Serling Books the exclusive right to publish the Work worldwide (unless you specify otherwise) for a minimum of twelve (12) months, commencing from the date on which the Work is first published. Subsequent to the twelve (12) month exclusivity period and upon written notification to Rod Serling Books, you may elect to continue publication with Rod Serling Books on a non-exclusive basis or terminate publication. Absent any notification to the contrary your granting of the exclusive publication rights will continue.
b.) You agree that during any period in which Rod Serling Books is publishing your work through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing, CreateSpace or Audible platforms that you will not simultaneously upload the work to those platforms.
c.) You agree that any Work submitted by you is not in the public domain.
d.) You agree that any Work you submit which is accepted by Rod Serling Books will be published exclusively by RSB through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing. CreateSpace, and Audible platforms.
4. DELIVERY & ACCEPTANCE OF MANUSCRIPT:
Upon receipt of an accepted Work's submission, Rod Serling Books will review all materials and you will be notified as to whether it is complete or if items are missing. In the latter case, you will be asked to re-submit a complete package for publication to insure that all components remain together.
5. PREPARATION FOR PUBLICATION:
a.) Rod Serling Books will coordinate the publication of your Work exclusively through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing, and CreateSpace platforms and so requires that all content submitted conform to the specifications delineated in our Content Guidelines page.
b.) If deemed appropriate and at RSB's sole discretion, RSB may elect to prepare and produce a 'book on tape' version through Amazon's Audible platform, after consultation with the rights holder and subject to their approval.
c.) Rod Serling Books may make minor typing, spelling, & punctuation edits to the completed Work. All other changes shall be subject to the rights holder's review and approval and you agree that approval for any such changes shall not be unreasonably withheld.
d.) Rod Serling Books will provide the rights holder proofs before publication, which, shall be read, corrected, and returned within ten (10) days of receipt and shall constitute the final edit before publication.
6. PUBLICATION:
a.) You agree that Rod Serling Books may publish your Work at any time within twelve (12) months of its acceptance of the completed Work.
b.) Rod Serling Books will coordinate the conversion of your Work and other publication details for the production of both e-Book, print on demand (POD), and, if decided, audio editions.
c.) With the exception of novels, Rod Serling Books reserves the right to publish any Work submitted as part of an anthology to be priced as it deems best suited to the sale thereof.
7. PROMOTION:
All Work published by Rod Serling Books will be afforded -
a.) exposure to Amazon's vast customer database by inclusion on their web site.
b.) Rod Serling Books' website promotion through its' News & Events, Thoughts (Blog), and RSB Authors' Book pages, with the latter displaying the title, author's name, and cover art as a clickable link to Amazon for purchase of the book.
c.) Exposure through Rod Serling Book's social media network.
d.) All decisions regarding promotion will be made at the sole discretion of Rod Serling Books.
8. ROYALTIES:
a.) In submitting an accepted Work, the rights holder will select the option of earning a 70% royalty for Work priced between $2.99 to $9.99; or 35% for Work priced at $10.00 or more and agrees that CreateSpace POD (print on demand) versions are priced at a minimum of 20% more than the price of an e-Book edition.
b.) The royalties earned for any work published as part of an anthology will be shared equally among contributors.
c.) A fee of 30% of all royalties earned by the Work will be retained by Rod Serling Books for services rendered in publishing and promoting the Work.
c.) No royalties shall be paid on copies given away for review, advertising, sample, sales promotion, or like purposes, or on portions of the Work used or sublicensed for advertising publicity without compensation.
d.) No royalties shall be paid on copies sold to the rights holders at Author's Discount.
9. SUBSIDIARY RIGHTS:
The rights holder of any Work submitted to and accepted by Rod Serling Books further grants, for a period of three (3) years commencing with the date of first publication of the Work, Rod Serling Books a right of first refusal to adapt such Work into a screenplay.
10. AUTHOR'S COPIES:
Upon publication, authors may purchase printed copies of their books from Rod Serling Books at the discounted price included in their Notification of Publication email.
11. PAYMENT & STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT:
a.) Rod Serling Books shall render a statement of account for the Work to the last day of each semiannual accounting period following the publication of the Work and thereafter similar statements for each semiannual accounting period in which copies of the Work shall have been available for sale and for which the total balance due the author is equal to or more than $25.00, and to send such statements together with checks in payment of the amount due thereon, on or about sixty (60) days from the close of the semiannual period for which the statement is due. Semiannual accounting periods close June 30th and December 31st, respectively. If the rights holder have received any overpayment or are otherwise indebted to Rod Serling Books, Rod Serling Books may deduct the same from any monies due or to become due to the rights holder under this agreement.
b.) All payments shall be made direct to the rights holders. Any percentage of proceeds the rights holders may owe to an agent or agency is a liability of the rights holders, and the rights holders agree to hold Rod Serling Books harmless in the event of any claim by such agent or agency.
c.) The rights holders shall have the right, upon written request, but no more than once annually, to examine (by an independent public accountant or audit specialist for the industry) the books of account of Rod Serling Books insofar as they relate to the Work in question. Such examination shall be at the rights holders' expense, unless errors aggregating more than five percent (5%) of the total sum accrued to the rights holder are found and agreed to be to the rights holder's disadvantage, in which case the reasonable cost of such examination shall be borne by Rod Serling Books, but in no event shall such cost be more than the amount found due and owing as a result of such audit.
d.) In the event of Rod Serling Books' failure to make a timely payment, the rights holders or designated financial agent with properly executed power of attorney may have access to all financial records pertaining to the Work upon presentation of a notarized request by the rights holder to the appropriate location of the records.
12. WARRANTIES & INDEMNITIES:
You represent and warrant that:
a.) you have the full right, power and authority to enter into and fully perform this Agreement and will comply with the terms of this Agreement;
b.) prior to delivery of any content, you will have obtained all rights that are necessary for the exercise of the rights granted under this Agreement;
c.) neither the exercise of the rights authorized under this Agreement nor any materials embodied in the content, nor its sale or distribution as authorized in this Agreement will violate or infringe upon the intellectual property, proprietary or other rights of any person or entity, including, without limitation, contractual rights, copyrights, trademarks, common law rights, rights of publicity, or privacy, or moral rights, or contain defamatory material or violate any laws or regulations of any jurisdiction;
d.) you will ensure that all content delivered to us comply with the technical delivery specifications provided by us; and
e.) you will be solely responsible for accounting and paying any co-owners or co-administrators of any Work or portion of any royalties with respect to the uses of the content and their respective shares, if any, under this Agreement.
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you will indemnify, defend and hold Rod Serling Books, its officers, editorial board members, employees, affiliates, subcontractors and assigns harmless from and against any loss, claim, liability, damage, action or cause of action (including reasonable attorneys' fees) that arises from any breach of your representations, warranties, or obligations set forth in this Agreement. We will be entitled, at our expense, to participate in the defense and settlement of the claim or action with counsel of our own choosing.
13. REVERSION OF RIGHTS:
With the exception of any subsidiary rights granted by the rights holder to Rod Serling Books under this agreement, all other exclusive rights granted Rod Serling Books shall continue beyond the initial twelve (12) month period until formally terminated by the rights holder submitting the Notification of Termination Form provided. Within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notification, Rod Serling Books will cease to publish the Work specified and, with the exception of any subsidiary rights granted, all other rights will revert to the rights holder.
14. GOVERNING LAW:
Regardless of the place of actual execution and performance, this agreement shall be treated as though executed and performed within the State of New York, and shall be governed by the laws and statutes thereof. Any dispute arising from the details of this agreement shall be settled through binding arbitration by submitting the disputed matter to the Arbitration Association of America.
15. ASSIGNMENT:
This agreement shall be binding upon the assigns, heirs, executors, or administrators of the rights holders and Rod Serling Books but no assignment shall be binding upon either of the parties without the written consent of the other, except that Rod Serling Books may, in any event, assign this agreement to or authorize publication of the Work worldwide (unless specified otherwise) by its parent or any subsidiary or affiliated company to any company which acquires all or substantially all of its business assets and obligations as publisher of the Work.
16. BANKRUPTCY OR INSOLVENCY:
If a petition of bankruptcy shall be filled against or by Rod Serling Books, or if it shall be judged insolvent by any court, or if Rod Serling Books shall take the benefit of any bankruptcy or insolvency act, this agreement shall terminate automatically without notice, and such termination shall be effective as of the date of filing such petition, adjudication, or declaration or commencement of reorganization or liquidation proceedings, and all rights granted for the Work hereunder shall thereupon revert to the rights holder.
17. WAIVER:
No waiver of any of the terms in this agreement shall be considered a waiver of any other terms herein.
18. FULL AGREEMENT:
Thia agreement contains clauses 1 - 18, which clauses constitute the full understanding of the parties and no modifications thereof shall be binding unless in writing and signed by both parties. You accept this Agreement and agree to be bound by its terms by (a) submitting both your manuscript, cover art, and any other graphic files associated with the work; (b) filling out and submitting the Submission Form; and (c) clicking the accept the terms box included within the provided Submission Form.