Jill’s interest in old tombstones meant that she had collected tombstone inscriptions all her adult life. She’d even taught herself basic Latin
to be able to
translate them. Even though her husband Len always teased her about it, whenever they left their village in the
Yorkshire dales to visit other parts of the English countryside, Jill would take her notebook and camera with her and plan
visits to interesting churchyards. Over the years her collection of inscriptions grew and eventually she decided to
collect the most interesting ones together into a book, illustrated with her photographs.
She had anticipated that it would be really difficult to
get her book published, so she was thrilled when the third publisher she sent it to,
a small company in London, offered to publish it for a modest advance. The contract they sent her was a bit mystifying, though.
How did she know what it all meant? What did ‘net’ mean? Did she have to give the publisher ‘legal term of copyright ‘ and what
did it mean? What was ‘a reserve against returns’? What did the clauses about royalties and discounts mean?
Was it safe to sign it? She’d heard that agents would help with contracts, but why would an
agent be interested in representing her book, for a 10% share of her advance
of £500? Common-sense told her she was on her own, but she hated signing
anything she didn’t understand. It would cost a fortune to consult a solicitor,
but how else could she get a professional opinion on her contract?
