There are some things that can make or break a deal with a publisher. There is no one set of deal-breakers, but every writer will have a certain something that is simply not acceptable. Here are a few of mine along with some I’ve come across in my writing circles.

* All rights. There are some writers who will walk away from any assignment that has an all rights clause attached. It becomes tougher as the payment increases (would you really walk away if you were being paid $4 per word?), but for less than $2 a word, it’s worth fighting to keep your rights. With the right marketing, you can make a lot more than that for your work.

* Payment on publication. Some writers will simply not accept a payment-on-publication clause, and I’m on the path to becoming one of them. I just got paid for a piece I wrote over a year ago and which was published recently, and it’s a pattern I don’t think I’ll be repeating. There are however, publications that don’t have massive lead times. Still, that does put control in your editor or publisher’s hands and creates ambiguity in when you might expect that check. When possible, my rule is now to push for either acceptance or within three months of submission of manuscript.

* Indemnification clauses. This is a certain deal breaker for me, and I won’t sign any document that tries to hold me responsible for things that are not my responsibility. Simply said, many publications will try and make you sign something that says that if a lawsuit should result from your article, you’ll be responsible for bearing the costs. So if someone’s having a slow day and decides that he wants to sue the magazine, you get to pay the costs. Now, it’s quite possible that the person will lose, but you’re still paying those hefty legal fees. I get my contracts changed to reflect that if a lawsuit results as a consequence of my breaking the contract (plagiarism, falsifying events, etc), I’ll take responsibility, but I won’t be held financially responsible for any other lawsuits. Be clear about this.

* Indefinite rights in all media. Another deal breaker for me. If they want to use the piece again, they should pay for it. My agreements typically reflect a 20 to 50% additional fee for any additional reuse of the piece by the company. If you can, try and negotiate extra payment for Internet rights.

* Kill fees. 20% is standard. But here’s what you need to remember. If you’ve met your end of the contract, that is, you’ve submitted a piece that was asked for and the piece is killed for factors beyond your control, you should get the full fee for the piece. A kill fee is only for situations when the writer is unable to get the piece right even after several rewrites and the editor’s expectation is not met. You don’t get paid a kill fee if the editor simply changes his or her mind and decides not to use it. In that situation, fight for the full fee. Try and have this reflected in your contract, should you have one.

Those are some of my deal breakers. What are yours?