Appendix B-2 – Simple Collaboration Contract
Collaboration Agreement – Short Version
For books between xx Namexx ( Collaborator ) and BigName ( Publisher ) which are collaborations written in the list series or book or whatever here . This contract is for list what it’s for (trilogy, series, standalone). Here are the details:
1) We agree to split all income as follows: Collaborator will be paid 50% of royalties after the cost of the covers has been subtracted (covers cost $xxx each). Publisher will receive 50%, Income is paid by Amazon (or others if not exclusive to Amazon) for sales of books, and monthly KENP payment (should our series be in Kindle Unlimited). Payment will be made by Publisher to Collaborator within five (5) business days after Amazon (and/or other distributors used) pays Publisher . Publisher will provide a monthly accounting of sales and revenue to Collaborator . This agreement remains in effect should one of the parties to this contract pre-decease the other. Rights will transfer to heirs or assigns as determined by competent authority. This contract is not transferable.
2) Publisher will pay up-front costs for the covers, formal editing, and book formatting (both digital and paperback). Only the cost of the cover shall be shared by the Collaborator .
3) The inside of the book is going to read something like the information below. The idea is that the Mystically Engineered universe and characters etc. etc. belong to Publisher , who want protection for all collaborators and understand that by listing collaborators in the front of a book they have the right to question (go to court and have rights) if someone tried to, as an example, sell the movie rights to a book and not include the collaborator in the income payment.  As a note, all income for movie rights would be split as defined in paragraph 1).
TITLE (this book) is a work of fiction. 
All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
This Complete Book is Copyright (c) 2019 by Collaborator & Publisher
list series or book or whatever here (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are copyright © 2019 by Publisher and Collaborator (in shares determined in paragraph 1 above).
All rights reserved. No part of this specific publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Publisher
4) Publisher shall retain sole discretion in the determination of derivative rights from this and all works using the series name characters and ideas. Profits from derivative works will be split as defined in paragraph 1).
5) An audiobook version may be produced (unless previous agreed otherwise) within 6 months of book release (often this is within a month - but Publisher does not know the future).  We will split the cost of the narrator, which will also be taken out of the audio income. Publisher will pay the costs for the audiobook up front, and shall recover 50% of those documented costs from initial audiobook proceeds . Following this recovery, all further audiobook proceeds will be split as follows:  Publisher 50% and Collaborator 50%.
6) No Marketing Expenses are to be apportioned by either party.  While it is a smart idea to market our books, we take those expenses on separately. Both Collaborator and Publisher share in the due diligence to market the book through newsletters (both personal and swapped), social media, and paid ads.
7) This agreement is for the xxreiterate here the title of the series and then how many booksxx . The intent is that the manuscripts will be approximately 70,000 words in length and delivered no more than six weeks apart starting as soon as possible. Publisher will provide an outline for each story to the Collaborator . They will be published as soon as Publisher determines the best window of opportunity for maximum profitability. This contract will be renegotiated should the series continue to a fourth book and beyond.
8) The term of this agreement is for seven (7) years, after which one party may buy out the others at a price to be mutually agreed upon at that time. If that does not happen within 30 days of the 7 th anniversary of this agreement, the agreement will renew for an additional seven (7) years, under the same terms.
Agreed and Accepted:
Collaborator:  ___________________________
Date: _________________
Publisher: __________________________
Date: ______________________________