You walk into the grocery store to buy apples, but when you reach the produce section the apples are twice what they are across town, and the quality isn’t quite as good as you remember them from the other store. Do you buy them? Maybe, if you’re in a rush …
My recent post on zombie industries (in which I argued that the pissing and moaning coming from authors and some publishers recently is a sign of an industry that is currently in serious trouble) leads inevitably to the obvious question: If, appearances to the contrary, the customer actually sets the …
There’s a conversation going on at the always controversial blog of Dean Wesley Smith. The post itself is interesting for its unconventional wisdom, but it is the comments that are important. In it, several authors with pub credits in the dozens and loads of literary experience talk explicitly about contract …
— — — — Previous Chapter: Interlude: Think Contracts Don’t Matter? — — — — Most of this series concentrates on general contract principles. This week’s entry is a little different. It’s devoted solely to the creative industries (businesses like films, music, books, theater, etc. which depend on artists for …
Since I’ve been doing a blog series on the Principles of Contracts, I have to include this bit of news about the biggest, ugliest case of a handshake deal I’ve seen in quite some time. Seems that the publishers and authors of The Shack never really figured out who owned …
— — — — Previous Chapter: The Narrowness Principle — — — — All business deals are based on trust, and it’s a trust backed up by a trustworthy legal system. Without trustworthy courts, high trust between people in a culture, and an environment characterized by trust and reciprocity, business …
— — — — Previous Chapter: The Third Cousins Rule — — — — “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” Matthew 7:13, NIV Seldom, if ever, have the words above been truer …
If you’ve been following my activities around for the last several months, you’ve noticed a growing theme in my activities. Starting with my blog posts If You Build It, Will They Come? and It’s Time to Bust It Open, I’ve talked more about the intersection of business with podcasting, writing, …
— — — — Previous Chapter: What is a Contract? — — — — Disputes and Contingencies So, contracts are legal documents that obligate the signers to particular courses of actions in the event of enumerated contingencies. What about disagreements? After all, as a legal document, it’s always possible contract …
— — — — Previous Chapter: Introduction — — — — A contract is probably not what you think it is. It’s not an ironclad dictate that you must sign or die. It’s not something that strips you of your rights. It’s not even a piece of paper (although the …