Timothy King, hereafter known as the Writer, and John Doe, hereafter known as the Author, do hereby enter into a Contract with each other to write the autobiography of the Author.
The Writer shall compose the thoughts and recollections of the Author into written form, performing such research, interviewing, and editing as may be necessary, so that a publishable book shal be the result. The Writer commits to the Author that he shall meet with the Author once per week, on such day and time as they shall agree upon, to conduct interviews with the Author, discuss the copy design with the Author, review and edit the manuscript with the Author, and perform any other work necessary that would require the Author's presence, and that he shall not fail to attend said meeting with the Author except for significant cause. The Writer further commits to the Author that he shall work with due diligence on the manuscript so that it shall be completed in a timely fashion, according to the following rough schedule. The investigative phase of the work should be completed in about 2 months from the date of the signing of this contract; the design phase of the work should be completed within an additional month after that; and the actual writing phase should be completed within about another 3 months after that, with a publishable copy being ready after a total of about 6 months after the signing date of this contract. The Writer also commits to the Author that he shall exercise due diligence in seeking out an appropriate publisher to publish and market the finished work.
The Author commits to the Writer that he shall reimburse the Writer for all his reasonable and customary expenses, to include a $20 reimbursement per weekly meeting with the Writer. Furthermore, the Author commits to the Writer that the Writer is entitled to a 40% share of any and all royalties generated by the sale of the finished work(s), which may include one or more magazine arficies, in addition to the book. T'he Author also commits to the Writer that he shall provide the Writer with all such information necessary to compose the work(s), to include information that may require contacting family members or other such research, where necessary.
Either the Writer or the Author may terminate this Contract at any time. If the Writer terminates for cause (against the Author), he may only seek reimbursement of his time from the Author at a rate of $8 / hour. If the Author terminates for cause (against the Writer), he may seek up to, but not to exceed, $500 in lost royalties from the Writer. If the Writer terminates for personal reasons, the Author may seek up to, but not to exceed, $500 in lost royalties from the Writer. If the Author terminates for personal reasons, the Writer may seek up to, but not to exceed, $300 in lost royalites from the Author. If the Writer and the Author mutually agree to terminate the contract, for whatever reason, then both sides agree to waive any claim to further reimbursement or to any lost royalties or other consideration. If either side terminates for cause or for personal reasons, then both sides agree beforehand to relingquish all rights to any manuscript copy that has been produced up to that date, and the copy shall be destroyed or deleted, and any research, interview, or other personal information pertaining to the Author must be returned to the Author. If the Contract is terminated by mutual agreement the Writer may have the option of purchasing rights to the manuscript, such as it is, and to the Author's information, such as has been collected to date, for such consideration as they may agree upon; otherwise, all manuscript copy must be destroyed or deleted, and the Author's information must be returned to him.
Upon completion of the work(s), and subject to any agreements
entered into with the Publisher, the Writer shall continue to own 40% of
all rights deriving from the manuscript(s) and also 40% of all rights to
the Author's information, while the Author shall continue to own 60% of
all rights deriving from the manuscript(s) and his information.
This Contract is voluntarily entered into, this __________
Day of ______________, _______
__________________________________
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Writer
Author