The following first draft of the Bill of Rights was prepared for the second Writers Group Summit. It is not by any means a final version, and is posted here for comment. Please direct any suggested changes to Michael Capobianco at michael6@crosslink.net.

The Writers Group Summit is a series of informal roundtable discussions hosted by Romance Writers of America. Participants include RWA, ASJA, Authors Guild, Western Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, SFWA, and Novelists, Inc. Two summit meetings were held in 2000.

Authors of books shall have certain inalienable rights when their books are published, foremost among them the right to negotiate their contract in good faith and the right to honest and equitable representation by a literary agent. Other rights include but are not limited to:

1. The right to an advance against royalties equal to the author's expected earnings from the book.

2. The right to capable editing and the right to review copyedited manuscripts and page proofs in a timely manner, and the final say on all changes.

3. Authors have the right to full and complete information about the publication of their books. Royalty statements should include publication date, number in print, number shipped, current sales, cumulative sales by units, cumulative sales by type of sale, amount in reserve, reserve released, and number of returns. Complete Reconciliation to Print should be provided upon request and upon termination of the contract. All subrights contracts shall be available to the author upon request.

4. Works shall not be basket accounted. If a book does not earn out its advance, the author shall not be responsible for repaying the balance.

5. Copyright on a novel written solely by the author shall belong to the author. Authors retain "moral rights" to their work, as defined in the Berne Convention.

6. Verbal agreements made in the process of acquiring a book for publication shall be reduced to writing and included in or as an addendum to the contract

7. Right to reasonable acceptance time (a maximum of three months) on approval and on option clauses. Authors shall not be prevented from negotiating new terms for subsequent works by option clauses.

8. Authors will have total control over the use of their writing names and/or pseudonyms, and publishers shall not attempt to limit the use or appropriate these names.

9. Reversion of rights. Authors shall be informed immediately when a book meets the Out of Print criteria as defined in the contract. If the author requests reversion of rights and the reversion criteria are met, said reversion will be granted in a timely manner, not longer than 60 days after the receipt of a written request. Print- on-Demand, electronic, or other "one at a time" print methods will not be acceptable as constituting a "reprint." In order to be considered a reprint, the publisher must prove a print run of a minimum of 1,000 paperback or 500 hardcover copies. Any book declared "Out of Stock" for more than three months shall be deemed Out of Print. Any book selling fewer than 200 copies in a calendar year shall be deemed Out of Print.

10. All reserves should be released after four reporting periods. Minimal reserves shall be held for reprint editions.

11. Authors shall have the right to obtain at no charge sufficient "author's copies" of their work to promote the work properly, with a minimum of 50 mass-market or trade paperbacks, 25 hardcovers.

12. Authors shall have the right to audit the publisher with an unlimited lookback period.

13. Authors should have the right to use cover art in promotional activities, including on web sites, for as long as the edition is available for sale. If an author purchases remainders, they shall be permitted to use the cover art as a promotional tool as long as they have books to sell.

14. Authors copyright extends to the design and appearance of the text of the book and these rights revert to the author upon termination of the contract.

15. Authors, not their agents, shall have the right to sign all contracts under normal circumstances. Authors shall be directly notified when their works are licensed or reprinted. Foreign publishers shall directly notify authors upon publication of their work and shall send them a minimum of 2 author's copies.

16. Works shall not be released in electronic formats without due consideration to the effects of electronic piracy and authors shall have the right to deny such publication if they are not satisfied that their rights are being protected. Print-on-Demand publication, or electronic publication, shall not be used to withhold reversion of rights to the author.

17. Subrights that have not been exploited after two years from the date of publishing agreement shall revert to the author.

18. The right to an indemnity clause in the publishing contract which reasonably apportions liability. In particular, the writer's duty to indemnify the Publisher should not accrue until misfeasance or breach is established by a court of competent jurisdiction (after all appeals have been exhausted), and the contract should make clear that a writer's representations are based upon a "to the best of my knowledge" standard. No contract should impose liability on the writer for edits or additions made by the Publisher or its agents.