Letter of Agreement between Ron Drummond (dba Incunabula, a publisher, whose mailing address is Post Office Box 31626, Seattle, Washington, 98103-1626) and HarperCollins, Publishers (located at 10 East 53rd Street, New York, New York 10022), regarding the disposition of the hardcover rights to John Crowley's novel Little, Big (henceforth referred to as “the novel”).
This Letter revises and replaces an earlier Letter of Agreement dated 20 March 2002.
Incunabula and HarperCollins agree to honor and support by their actions the following:
HarperCollins grants to Incunabula the right to publish a hardcover edition of Little, Big, by John Crowley, under the circumstances, conditions, and limitations described below.
Incunabula will undertake to publish a hardcover edition of the novel (said edition to include three states or versions of the printed book) on a subscription basis. This will involve establishing a financial goal for the project as a whole (funds sufficient to pay for all fees and all production costs of the edition in all particulars), establishing prices for each of the three versions of the edition, advertising for subscribers, and placing all funds collected in an escrow account, where the money will accumulate until a pre-established and preannounced deadline of March 2006. If the financial goal for the edition is met, at that time an advance for the book will be paid to HarperCollins (see below), and the project will proceed, with a projected publication date of September 2006 but in any event no later than May 2007. If the financial goal is not met by the March 2006 deadline, then all moneys will be refunded to the subscribers and all rights for hardcover publication of the book will revert completely to HarperCollins.
In the event that the financial goal is met and the project goes forward, three versions of the edition will be published. Although the precise number of total copies is not yet known, that total will not exceed 2,500 copies. The three versions of the book will be as follows:
1) A 26-copy edition signed and lettered by the author, artist(s), book designer, and publisher, printed and bound with high quality manufacturing standards using fine materials;
2) an edition of somewhere between 300 and 600 copies (the precise quantity to be determined), signed and numbered by the author and artist(s), printed and bound with high quality manufacturing standards using fine materials; and
3) an unsigned, unnumbered, high-quality “trade” edition of between 1,000 and 1,800 copies, depending on demand and the size of #2 above.
Subscription prices for the three editions of the book will not exceed the following amounts: For the Lettered Edition, not more than $1,000 a copy, with at least 20 of the 26 copies being distributed (offered for sale); for the Numbered Edition, not more than $350 a copy, with all but 25 copies being distributed; for the Trade Edition, not more than $125 a copy, with all but 50 copies being distributed. Also, Incunabula would retain the option to not do an unnumbered edition at all, if demand does not warrant it.
Within three months of reaching the financial goal (with a deadline for reaching that goal of no later than March 2006), Incunabula will pay HarperCollins an advance of $2,500 or an amount equal to a ten percent royalty on the retail prices of 20 copies of the lettered edition plus 125 copies of the numbered edition of the novel, whichever is larger. Once the financial goal is reached, the advance is paid, and a formal contract instituted embodying these agreements, then hardcover publication rights to the novel will be granted through May 2007, with no further reprint rights granted beyond the agreed-upon editions together totalling not more than 2,500 copies. A ten percent royalty on sales of all additional copies not covered in the advance will be paid within six months of receipt of the moneys from those sales or subscriptions.
Incunabula and HarperCollins hereby agree to proceed in good faith with the execution of the above publication scenario, as attested to and witnessed by Ron Drummond for Incunabula and Robert Spizer for HarperCollins:
Ron Drummond, Publisher
Incunabula
P.O. Box 31626
Seattle WA 98103-1626
Robert Spizer, Subsidiary Rights
HarperCollins
10 East 53rd St.
New York NY 10022