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| The Society of Academic Authors monitors trends in authoring contracts. Please let us know your negotiation experience as an author so we may share useful information with other authors. Your anonymity is assured. Contact: Editor CONFIDENTIALITY SECTION In the 1990s several publishers began inserting confidentiality provisions into the boilerplate contract drafts presented to authors as a starting point for negotiations. These are onerous provisions to which authors should object. An effect of the provision is to prevent the authors from comparing notes to help them negotiate knowledgably and intelligently. Typical of the boilerplate language is that of Pearson Education: "The author shall keep confidential and shall not disclose the terms of this agreement except to the author's authorized legal and financial representative with a need to know and then only for purposes of representing the author's interests hereunder."To our knowledge, no publisher has ever defended a gag provision strenuously if an author challenges it during negotiations. Usually it's enough to say the provision is unacceptable and author-unfriendly. Publishers know this and won't counter your resistance. If a publisher's negotiator were to press you on confidentiality, you can point out that the publisher has experience with many authors, perhaps thousands, and uses its accumulated knowledge and experience to negotiate. Authors, on the other hand, cannot negotiate knowledgably or intelligently unless they too have access to the terms that their fellow authors negotiate. Point out that agreeing to the clause would preclude authors from sharing information that's essential to acting in their best interest. Essentially this is an argument for an even playing field for both the author and the publisher. It is a compelling argument. You may want to assure the publisher's negotiator that you have no intention of sharing any contract details that would be detrimental to the success of the work, such as publication schedules.
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