Sample Contract

Please Note: We are willing to discuss with individual authors any contract changes they may need prior to sending payment. We encourage authors to discuss the contract with their legal team to ensure this is a safe contract for them. We are happy to answer questions or clarify any of our terms. When necessary, we may update our contracts to improve clarity. Contracts for individual collections may vary slightly but generally follow the same format and rules. This is a SAMPLE contract and may be updated at a future date.

CHARMED LEGACY CONTRACT OF AGREEMENT
Charmed Legacy: [EDITION/SERIES TITLE]

This Contract is between:
Author Name:
Title: (Hereby referred to as “The Work”)
Publication Date: (Hereby referred to as “Publication Date”)
Legal Name: (Hereby referred to as “The Author”)
Address:
And:
QBW Services, LLC of 300 E. Oakland Park Blvd, #162, Oakland Park, FL 33334
 
The following agreement regarding The Work has hereby been made between The Author and QBW Services, LLC (Hereby referred to as “QBW”):
 
QBW’S REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES:
 
For $2,225 (non-refundable), QBW Services agrees to deliver:
  • Book Cover (ebook) and 1 Promo Image by a professional, high-end designer, currently quoted at $525 for such package. Generally the designer used is Rebecca Frank, when she’s available.If for any reason Rebecca Frank cannot deliver the cover, a designer of equal talent and value will be assigned at the approval of QBW Services, LLC. If a cheaper designer is hired, the author will be given the choice for a partial refund or to have the additional remaining funds for book cover transferred to marketing instead. Covers are styled to the collection. The Author will get to make some general requests that will be considered when creating a cover that works with the collection branding, and will also be provided a final “proof” the Author can request small changes to. Print cover is not included, but author can pay an additional $100 fee to the designer if they would like to upgrade their package to include a print wrap design.
  • Editing Passes (1 Line-Editing Pass, 1 Proofreading Pass) by one of QBW’s approved editors.
  • Book Launch Advertising with sites such as BookBub, eReader News Today, BookSends, Book Barbarian, Fussy Librarian, Book Gorilla, I Love Vampire Novels, and similar sites. We book whatever we can to use up that $600 budget with the best advertisers we can get for any particular title.
  • The Work is guaranteed to appear on the Charmed Legacy website for the length of this contract (two years from publication date), and may or may not, at QBW’s sole discretion, continue to appear on the website beyond the terms of this contract should the author retain the usage of the provided Charmed Legacy cover art. The Work may or may not, at QBW’s sole discretion, continue to be marketed in any and all Charmed Legacy promotional materials and advertising campaigns beyond initial publication except as provided in the Book Launch Advertising clause above.
  • The Author is provided a world-building packet by QBW to base their story on and with guidelines for common elements in the collection that each contributing author must abide by. Said world-building packet is confidential and not to be shared outside the QBW approved authors of this collection. QBW Services, LLC, retains rights to the world building only.
  • Access to New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Hamilton’s Master Course (valued at $500)
  • Professional eBook Formatting (EPUB and MOBI format)
  • Service Payments and Scheduling (The Author makes one payment, and QBW Services, LLC pays all providers from that.)
  • A “Spotlight” Feature in a Newsletter Owned by Rebecca Hamilton as well as the Charmed Legacy Newsletter, which will not be paid for out of the marketing funds.
 
If Author wishes additional services to be provided, this can be entered into under separate contract by mutual agreement of Author and QBW.
 
QBW Services, LLC agrees to provide proof of how the investment money was spent to The Author within six weeks of request. Author agrees to contact QBW for such requests first via email to [email protected], then (if no response within 2 weeks) via Facebook Messenger PM to Rebecca Hamilton, then (if not response within 2 weeks) to the Facebook Group for the collection to ensure QBW had a chance to view and respond to the request.
 
QBW Services, LLC agrees that no owner, past, present, or future, will write future works in the Charmed Legacy (collection-specific) “world/mythos” without first inviting all previous authors who participated to do so as well, and unless at least 75% of authors who participated initially desire to do so.
 
THE AUTHOR’S REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES:
 
The Author agrees to provide:
  1. A first draft of the completed Work of fiction adhering to the guidelines of the assigned Charmed Legacy Collection to be turned over to QBW by a date three months prior to the agreed upon publication date for first pass content editing.
  2. A second draft of said Work turned over to QBW by a mutually agreed upon date prior to publication, but no later than two months prior to publication, for line edits.
  3. A final completed manuscript for formatting purposes with all edits as agreed upon by Author and QBW one month prior to publication that includes:
    1. Back matter material (bio, links to the author’s other books, website, social media, newsletter, or any other links or information Author wishes to be included). This is so that the back matter is universally formatted between all the books in the collection.
    2. Conditional: Should Author wish to include their likeness in the back cover art and/or back matter bio, a high quality JPG shall be provided by Author to QBW.
    3. Conditional: Should Author choose to use an ISBN, provide the ISBN number(s) for the print (where applicable) and ebook versions to QBW to be included in the copyright page.
    4. Author agrees to follow the recommended blurb formatting recommendations set forth in the Facebook Group for their Charmed Legacy collection, as well as any vender listing instructions.
 
The Author shall deliver all such materials to QBW by no later than the due dates as outlined above. The outline and/or the manuscript of a volume of the Work shall be deemed satisfactory and acceptable only when actually accepted in writing by QBW. If the Author fails to deliver the complete material within the specified time, and no mutual agreement to extend the delivery date can be reached, QBW reserves the right to waive delivery of services and retain the $2,225 deposit without refund.
 
The Author will keep the provided book cover for The Work for the duration of the contract, ending date two years from publication.
 
After not less than two years from the date of publication (expiration date of this contract), at Author’s discretion, Author may either keep the existing cover art or change it. Should Author change the cover art for the Work, said Work will be removed from the Charmed Legacy website and marketing materials.
 
The Author may publish The Work in other languages and may use different cover designs for those versions.
 
The Author may accept publishing deals for The Work from the English market if:
  1. The publisher is willing to use the provided, existing cover;
  2. The Author maintains confidentiality of:
    1. The provided Charmed Legacy World-Building Packet;
    2. Related written works (other books, synopses, world-building, unapproved sales or marketing copy, or similar material) shared between other Charmed Legacy authors;
    3. Any and all QBW or other contributing Charmed Legacy authors’ trade secrets revealed in the process of publication; and,
  3. That Author and Publisher will not write, publish, or otherwise distribute future works in the provided Charmed Legacy “world/mythos” without invitation from QBW Services, LLC to do so.
 
The Author retains the right to sell, license, or dispose of all rights, property, and uses in the Work, including but without limitation for audiobook, dramatic, dramatico-musical, motion picture, radio, television video, videodisc, or commercial exploitation (toys, games, posters, comic book, etc.) purposes, excepting the use of the Charmed Legacy brand name and its world/mythos, or writing/creating additional works in or referencing Charmed Legacy and its world/mythos without invitation from QBW to do so.
 
The Author retains creative rights to their characters and may write other stories in the Dystopian Paranormal Romance genre with the same characters from The Work, so long as they do not write those stories in the provided Charmed Legacy “world/mythos” without invitation from QBW Services, LLC to do so.
 
The Author retains Copyright Ownership of The Work.
 
The Author agrees they will not reveal the world building details, plot, book title, or collection name prior to release or preorder reveal unless directed by QBW Services, LLC.
 
The Author affirms The Work is not libelous or slanderous and that it does not infringe on any existing copyrights and has in no way been pirated or stolen from another source; they assume responsibility for any legalities regarding The Work.
 
The Author agrees the terms for The Work listed here apply to ebook, print (all formats), audiobook, and any and all future formats.
 
The Author agrees to publish their book, at 60,000-80,000 words, minimally making it available in ebook format on Amazon for the Kindle Device by Publication Date. They may also have the book on other vendors if they wish. Should Author choose to make a print version, Author agrees to handle formatting for print publication at their own expense (save for cover art, as provided in this contract).
 
The Author agrees to use an unaltered formatted-by-QBW Services ebook of their novel on all vendors for two years following the publication date. This will include clean back matter that gives The Author opportunity to sell through to other titles as well as to have readers join their personal newsletter, along with a link to the landing page for the Charmed Legacy collection.
 
The Author agrees to follow the following pricing policies:
  • $0.99 on new release week, up to 7 days.
  • $2.99 after that up to 100 reviews
  • After 100 reviews, $3.99 or $4.99 (optional)
  • After 200 reviews, the Author assumes complete pricing control but must stay $2.99 or higher.
  • The Author agrees to follow our sales policy for twenty-four months: No more than $0.99 up to 5 days once every quarter.
  • The Author may offer their book for free no more than once per year for 3 days total.
 
The Author agrees to hold harmless and indemnify QBW against any claim, demand, action, suit or proceeding, recovery or expense of any nature whatsoever arising from any claims or infringement of copyright or proprietary right, or claims of libel, obscenity, unlawfulness or invasion of privacy or based upon or arising out of any matter or thing contained in the Work; or any breach of warranties or representations herein contained.
 
CONFIDENTIALITY AND THE “CHARMED LEGACY” MYTHOS/WORLD/BRAND:
 
The Author affirms The Author is the current publisher of this work, and that QBW Services, LLC only retains creative rights to the Charmed Legacy “world/mythos” and not to the characters within The Work.
 
The Author understands that even when the contract term ends, they will still be unable to write future works in the Charmed Legacy “world/mythos” without invitation from QBW Services, LLC to do so. The Author will not write any future books in the Charmed Legacy “world/mythos” provided to them without invitation from QBW Services, LLC to do so. The Author will not write, publish, distribute, sell, license, or sublicense any Charmed Legacy world/mythos related dramatic or merchandising rights (comic book, audio, film, toys, etc.) and will refer any and all requests for such rights from Author or other parties to QBW Services, LLC. Author only maintains such rights to The Work, and not to the Charmed Legacy brand, world, or mythos.
 
The Author understands that legal action may be taken if the Charmed Legacy “world/mythos” is used without permission of QBW Services, LLC.
 
AUTHOR’S NAME AND LIKENESS
 
QBW Services, LLC shall have the right to use the Author’s provided name (legal or pen name, as directed by Author) together with the Author’s likeness in a reasonable manner to advertise and promote the sale of the Work. Such manner may include advertisements and promotional material of or including the Work, the Charmed Legacy brand, author’s name and/or likeness on the front and back cover art of the Work.
 
IN CLOSING
 
Both Author and QBW Services, LLC agree the warranties, representations, and indemnities shall survive the expiration and termination of this Agreement.
 
Any suit, action, or proceeding seeking to enforce any provision of, or based on any right arising out of, this Agreement must be brought against any of the parties in the courts of the state of Florida, county of Broward or, if it has or can acquire jurisdiction, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and each of the parties consents to the jurisdiction of such courts (and of the appropriate appellate courts) in any such suit, action or proceeding and waives any objection to venue laid therein. Process in any suit, action or proceeding referred to in the preceding sentence may be served on any party anywhere in the world, whether within or without the State of Florida, and may also be served upon any party in the manner provided for giving notices (delivered personally or by Certified or Registered Mail, Return Receipt Requested). The parties agree that the court shall be the sole trier of the facts therein.
 
Any suit, action, or proceeding must be commenced no later than one year from the date the claim arose. In any suit, proceeding, or action involving this Agreement, the judge shall not make any award which will alter, change, cancel, or rescind any provision of this Agreement, and his award shall be consistent with the provisions of this Agreement.
 
This Agreement shall be governed and interpreted by the laws of the State of Florida without regard to its conflict of laws provisions.
 
No waiver or modification of any of the provisions of this Agreement or of any of the rights or remedies of the parties hereto shall be valid unless such change is in writing, signed by both Author and the duly authorized representative of QBW Services, LLC. No waiver of this Agreement shall be deemed a waiver of any other provision.
 
This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and may not be terminated, altered, or amended except by a writing executed by Author and QBW Services, LLC. Neither party has relied on any representation or promise not contained in this Agreement.
QBW Services, LLC and Author each agree that they will execute and deliver to each other at any time all and any documents reasonably necessary to fulfill the terms of this Agreement, and by the due dates listed hereto.