LITERARY LAWYER
Contract Drafting, Review, and Negotiation • Consultation • Legal Services
for Literary Agents, Authors, and Publishers
For Agents
Gain Time and Focus
Expedite your negotiations by outsourcing contract review, freeing up your time to find new talent, manage current clients, and make deals.
Agency services include:
• Author contract review.
• Subsidiary rights license review.
• Drafting collaboration/co-writer agreements, licenses, and other agreements.
• Legal consultation.
For Authors
Expert Advocacy
A publishing attorney can guide you through the publishing process and advocate on your behalf, getting you the strongest deal terms and protecting your rights as an author. Author services include:
• Contract review and negotiation, including agreements from trade publishers, academic publishers, hybrid publishers, and work-for-hires.
• Literary agency agreement review.
• Publishing industry and legal consultation.
• Drafting collaboration/co-writer agreements, work-for-hire agreements, and permissions agreements.
• Manuscript legal reviews.
• E-book piracy.
For Publishers
Consistency and Expertise
Streamline your contract negotiations and maintain a consistently strong boilerplate without hiring an in-house attorney. Publisher services include:
• Contract negotiation.
• Drafting collaboration agreements, contract amendments, termination letters, and other agreements.
• Legal consultation.
• Legal reads.
About Literary Lawyer
Experienced Negotiation on Both Sides of the Table
Melissa Nasson founded Literary Lawyer to combine her diverse legal and publishing background with her desire to provide expert consultation, legal review, and negotiation services to agents, authors, and publishers. Melissa brings the unique experience of working on both sides of the publishing negotiation table. As Contracts Director at a Boston book publisher, Melissa has negotiated publishing contracts since 2013, along with permissions agreements, translation licenses, film options, audio licenses, and more. She also has extensive drafting experience, with a focus on balancing thoroughness with clarity and brevity.
As Literary Agent at Rubin Pfeffer Content, a boutique children's literary agency, Melissa has negotiated contracts on behalf of agency clients with a wide range of publishers, from boutique to Big 5.
Melissa joined the affiliated faculty at Emerson College in Spring 2020, teaching Publishing Law in the graduate program for Writing, Literature, and Publishing.
Melissa graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Boston University. A Terrier for life, she also graduated from Boston University School of Law. Melissa is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. She currently lives in Boston.
CONTACT
Contact Literary Lawyer to discuss your needs.
Melissa Nasson, Esq.
Email: melissa@literary-lawyer.com