Contracts & Payscales

Writing Contracts & Payscales Guidelines

Writing Contracts | Writer Payscales | Literary Agents | Other Resources

Writing Contracts

This page is an attempt to give writers an idea of how to approach contracts with an understanding of general payscales. There are variations between genres, markets and geographic regions. You may wish to check with a writing association near you for advice before you negotiate or sign a contract.

What is Involved in the Standard Contract according to the Editors Association of Canada.
Contract Advice For Freelance Creators prepared by PWAC

Boycott Transcontinental Media

An unprecedented coalition of more than a dozen respected Canadian writers' organizations have called on the thousands of writers they represent not to write for publications owned by Transcontinental Media. Be sure to review the list of Transcontinental Media publications before signing a contract.

The site's review of the terms of the Transcontinental Media contract will help you to understand writing contracts.

Writer Payscales

What to Pay a Writer according to PWAC ().
Stock Photo Price Calculator from the Photographer's Index will give you an idea of how much stock photos cost when used for advertising, corporate or editorial use. All prices are in U.S. dollars.
The NO!SPEC campaign discusses the issue of working for "spec" (for free). A useful site for writers considering giving their work away.
Creative Commons is an alternative way to share intellectual property with a variety of licences in combination: Attribution, Non-commercial, No Derivative Works, and Share Alike.

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Literary Agents

It is not always necessary for a writer to have a literary agent before getting published in Canada and there are not that many of them, but agents can assist in placing manuscripts.

Verify Literary Agents

Be sure to check out any literary agent carefully before committing. Reading the resources below should give you an idea what to look for and, more importantly, what to avoid when selecting an agent.

The Canadian Writer's Guide Thirteenth Edition () contains information on literary agents in the Writer's Reference section.
Writers Guild of Canada list of Agents ().
Quick Brown Fox () displays posts containing news about literary agents actively seeking authors on this Canadian literary blog.
Method in the Madness: Finding a Good Agent or Publisher.
On the Getting of Agents is a down-to-earth description of the process and prospects of getting an agent.
Finding an Agent.
Association of Authors' Representatives, Inc. (AAR), a not-for-profit organization of independent literary and dramatic agents.
Preditors and Editors: Listings of Agents and other Representation contains information about contacting agents and how agents work.

Avoiding Unscrupulous Agents

The Web is full of horror stories where unscrupulous agents take advantage of a writer's desires in the same manner as a vanity press.

How to Get a Real Agent is a brutally honest look at the business of obtaining a useful agent.
Writer Beware: Literary Agents portrays the characteristics of dishonest, amateur, marginal, and incompetent agents and discusses the practice of charging fees.
Preditors and Editors: Some General Rules for Spotting a Scam Literary Agency is found down this page following the section on spotting a scam publisher (which will be useful for you to read as well).
Getting Published: How Much Control Do You Think You Have? includes "The Scam, The Sting, and The Dirty Little Secret — An Insider's View of the Book Publishing Industry" which provides some hard lessons for too-anxious writers.

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Other Resources

Writers Guild of Canada () offers a script registration service to assist writers in establishing the identity and date of completion of a stage of their literary material. (Copyright is automatic in Canada. Check our Copyright and Electronic Rights: Laws and Agencies page for agencies.)
Cataloguing in Publication (CIP) () is a voluntary program enabling the cataloguing of books prior to publication. The Canadian CIP program is coordinated by the National Library of Canada.
Authors' Rights: On Getting Paid In The Age Of Digital Reproduction by Anna Couey.

More Information on this Site

The following pages on this site contain related information:

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www.canauthors.org/links/contracts.html
Updated: February 16, 2013