One of the key promises in any publishing contract is when you'll deliver the complete manuscript to the publisher. The time frame can range from three months to a year, depending on the publisher and on how hot your topic is. Sometimes publishers who normally grant six months for completing a manuscript may ask you to finish in four months if they want to try to cash in on a swelling trend. The delivery date also can vary according to whether you're writing a fiction book or a nonfiction book. Since you have to have the manuscript virtually completed to sell your first novel, the publisher may ask for final delivery in four or six weeks, giving you enough time to polish but not much time to make significant alterations.

Most contracts give the publisher the right to cancel your book — and require you to return any money you've received — if you fail to meet your delivery date. Usually there's a mechanism that calls for formal notification of tardiness from the publisher before this clause kicks in. This is another reason why meeting deadlines is so critical in this business.

Acceptability Standards

Virtually every contract will require you to deliver a manuscript that the publisher deems acceptable or satisfactory. This clause usually is not negotiable. It has become standard practice because too many publishers have found themselves in possession of a manuscript that is far from what they expected when they made the deal.

The “acceptable manuscript” clause typically includes a definite process for fixing problems. The publisher has to notify the author, usually in writing and usually within thirty days of final delivery, that the manuscript is unacceptable, citing specific things that need to be changed. The author then is given a set period, usually another thirty days, to fix the manuscript to the publisher's satisfaction. If you fail to make the necessary changes, or if the changes aren't satisfactory, the publisher then has the right to cancel your contract or hire someone else to fix the manuscript. The expense of hiring the other writer will be charged against your advance and/or royalties.

For most writers, this clause sounds a lot more sinister than it really is. It isn't meant to foster disputes over minor issues; it doesn't even come into play unless there are major problems or major misunderstandings with the book as it was proposed versus the final manuscript. But it does illustrate the importance of making sure you and your editor share the same general vision for your book.

Obligation to Publish

The promise that the publisher makes to you in a contract is that your work will be published. But in the last few years, many publishers have inserted clauses that relieve them of this obligation. The reasons are mainly economic: Book sales might plummet before your book is ready to go to print; a publishing house may run into financial difficulties unrelated to your specific project; or the publisher may feel that the market won't be as receptive to your book as was anticipated when the contract was signed.

The issue for writers in this case is what happens to your book rights if the publisher decides not to issue your book. If there are no guarantees in the contract that your book will be published, you end up in a sort of legal limbo, unable to move forward with either your book or the rest of your career.

You can avoid this by negotiating a time limit for publication. Specify in the contract that the publisher has so many months — usually between one and two years — to publish your book, and that, if the publisher fails to do so, all rights in the material revert to you. That way, you can at least shop your book to another publisher after the time limit expires.

If the publisher accepts your manuscript as satisfactory but decides not to publish your book for other reasons, you usually will not have to repay any advance you've already received. However, the contract may stipulate that the publisher is not obligated to make future advance payments under these circumstances.