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Home | About NWU | Events | Issues | Get Involved | Benefits | Marketplace | Links | Submissions | Contacts
A Letter from the Grievance and Contract DivisionGreetings, fellow writer, It is my pleasure as National Grievance Officer to bring you this first in an occasional series of GCD Missives from the leadership of the Grievance and Contract Division (GCD) of the National Writers Union. Our purpose is to help NWU members make the best possible use of one of the most valuable membership benefits: contract and grievance advice from trained union volunteers. In this first Missive, you will learn what the GCD can do for you, and what you can do for the GCD. But first, here's a question for you about the business of writing. The correct answer is given at the end of this email. Protect Your Rights: Do You Know? Which of the following strategies does the NWU recommend to writers negotiating to publish a piece in a periodical?
The next step is to discuss the issues with one of our Contract Advisers. You can ask for a review of a (proposed) contract. The Contract Adviser will help you understand what is being offered and expected. Understanding your contract will put you in a much better position to negotiate for more advantageous terms or to hold the publisher/employer to the agreed terms. To obtain contract advice, send an email to advice@nwu.org with your full name, NWU member number, contact information, and a brief description of your request. It saves times if you provide the name of the publisher or type of client, and, if a book is involved, the kind of book. Do not send any documents with this initial email. The GCD Coordinator will review your email and assign your case to an available Contract Adviser. That person will contact you directly within a few days.The other GCD service is grievance advice. A grievance is "any work-related injustice done to you that you can't resolve yourself and the union should" (from our website). Grievances often occur over non-payment, but other issues include all-rights grabs, unacceptable editorial practices, disputes over royalties, slow or no pay, and so on. If you need grievance advice, we ask that you first review the information about grievances and the grievance process at the NWU's website. Scroll down, find, and click "Grievances" in the left column to be taken to that page of the website. Next you may wish to discuss issues with a Grievance Officer. Send an email to advice@nwu.org with your full name, NWU member number, contact information, and a brief description of your situation. Do not send any documents with the initial email. The GCD Coordinator will review your email and assign your case to an available Grievance Officer. That person will contract you directly within a few days. What You Can Do for the GCD The Grievance and Contract Division (GCD) works because we have well trained union members serving as Contract Advisers and Grievance Officers. Our GCD members are stretched to capacity most of the time owing to the many calls on our services. We are always looking for other members who want to serve as either Contract Advisers or Grievance Officers. Our present need is mainly for CAs in the areas of academic, ebooks, print-on- demand (POD), and self publishing. We also need about twice as many Grievance Officers as are currently active (about 12). If you have the time, the inclination, and the commitment to train and serve as a Grievance Officer or Contract Adviser, please contact Chris Ammer or Kris Rusch, the Co- National Contract Advisers, or Amy Rose, the National Grievance Officer. The satisfaction of helping fellow writers can be enormous! Protect Your Rights: Do You Know? Answer The correct answer is #2. The NWU recommends that you begin by negotiating a basic fee for First North American Serial Rights (FNASR). This allows the publication to be the first and only publisher of your piece, but only in its initial form (print or on the web, for example). After its first appearance in that publication, you are free to offer the piece anywhere else. All other rights (for example, putting a print piece onto a website) should be negotiated separately if at all possible. Note that many magazines currently demand more than FNASR from their writers. Resist licensing any additional rights without a specific fee and agreement. If the publication stands firm on demanding all rights, it's in your best interest to ask for additional payment to compensate you. Contacting Us If you have a question arising from this Missive or in connection with the business of writing, send an email tonwugoca1@earthlink.net and we will try to answer in an email or in another Missive. Please do not use this address to request help with a specific situation. Instead, email advice@nwu.org as explained above. Yours for writers' rights! Amy RoseNational Grievance Officer National Writers Union For information on becoming a Grievance Officer or Contract Adviser, click here. Home | About NWU | Events | Issues | Get Involved | Benefits | Marketplace | Links | Submissions | Contacts
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