hi
I was offered a book publishing contract but they wanted me to pay between £2000 and £4000 depending on my requirements for the book. This would also allow me to keep the rights to my work. Was this a good deal, I can see the theory behind this. if I went for a traditional publishing contract where I wouldn't have to pay anything towards the costs would I loose the rights to my work.
Julie
Hi Julie, you need to research this very carefully. WHilst there are legitimate small presses out there that will work in partnership with an author, it's the exception rather than the rule; most of them are just another version of vanity publishing and end up costing all sorts of extra fees. You don't mention who the publisher is, but have a look at Preditors and Editors for a full write-up of these types of deals.
Regarding the rights issue, you should always ensure that there is a rights reversion clause in any contract; that way, if a publisher decides not to continue with a book, you can request the rights revert to you and look at ways to relaunch it (self-publishing is catching on even with some fairly well-known names now republishing their backlist).