In the Independent on Sunday Paul Bignell reports that Dracula's contract to see the light of day 100 years on -- meaning the contract Bram Stoker drew up for the UK rights for Dracula, for which he apparently negotiated himself a 20 per cent royalty fee.
Admirably and sensibly, he didn't use -- or apparently see much use for -- a 'literary' agent:
Of course, maybe he could have used one re. the US rights, which the article suggests were not quite as straightforward (and where the original contract hasn't yet seen the light of day ...).
Admirably and sensibly, he didn't use -- or apparently see much use for -- a 'literary' agent:
In an interview months after its release, Stoker spoke of his dislike for publishing agents: "Some men nowadays are making 10,000 a year by their novels, and it seems hardly fair that they should pay 10 or 5 per cent of this great sum to a middle man. By a dozen letters or so in the course of the year they could settle all their literary business on their own account."Too bad that thinking didn't catch on .....
Of course, maybe he could have used one re. the US rights, which the article suggests were not quite as straightforward (and where the original contract hasn't yet seen the light of day ...).