2010 TAA Conference on Text and Academic Authoring

Ramada Mall of America Minneapolis, Minnesota

June 24-26, 2010

Textbook Track Session:

Michael R. Lennie Jan Kardys

Contract Advice For Experienced Authors

Day/Time: Saturday, 11:15 - 12:15 p.m.

Presenters: Michael R. Lennie, an author's attorney and literary agent at Lennie Literary & Authors Attorneys in San Diego, and Jan Kardys, a former director of contracts at several major publishers

Michael Lennie, Esq. brings to this interactive interview format a wealth of experience having negotiated contracts on behalf of textbook authors with all major textbook publishers. A measure of Lennie's success is the fact that his major contract negotiations always include a “Confidentiality Clause” that prohibits both Lennie and the author from publicizing the content of a specific contract. The interplay between Michael (representing the author) and Jan (representing the publisher) will be mixed with questions and answers between these experts to explore the current issues authors need to be aware of to preserve and protect their royalties and what successful authors should focus on in contract negotiations.

The Contract Database Project – Lennie is is building a major database of textbook author contracts to more effectively and efficiently serve TAA members. Please bring electronic (preferred) or print copies of your contracts, both the original offer from the publisher, and the contract that was ultimately signed by all parties to participate in this project.

About the Presenters:

Michael R. Lennie has negotiated hundreds of major contracts for both established and first-time authors of text and trade books. He regularly speaks at workshops and conferences around the country about current legal issues in publishing. Michael also served many years on the TAA Council and has been an active member of TAA since its inception in 1987. He has made presentations, given workshops and appeared on panels at TAA's annual conferences, and has served as a legal advisor to TAA. According to Publishers Weekly magazine Michael has negotiated one of the largest settlements recorded on behalf of textbook authors, and he has successfully litigated a number of other major author/publisher court actions.

Jan L. Kardys has over 30 years of diversified publishing experience for nine major corporations. She was the Director of Contracts at Warner Books/Little Brown and Co., Director of Contracts at Macmillan Publishing Co. and Contracts Director at Prentice Hall/Simon and Schuster. Kardys has also worked at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Doubleday, Scholastic, Lippincott & Crowell, Publishers and St. Martin's Press in editorial, art, production, subsidiary rights, sales, and in contracts, copyrights and permissions. Jan also worked for Google for three years and has a wealth of experience to teach authors and artists how to cross-market and use Google products on the Internet. Jan is a literary agent for Black Hawk Enterprises representing a broad spectrum of authors and illustrators.