Getting to . . . No? (Part I)

Sometimes, your best move is NOT making a deal.

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash

“Sometimes the best deals are the ones you don’t make.”

— Bill Veeck

Several months ago, a large publishing company approached me and expressed interest in my writings on negotiation. The company liked my work and wanted to license and publish parts of it in different formats to reach a wider audience.

Of course, I was intrigued. The more people have an opportunity to come across my writing, the better, I figured.

After positive initial information exchanges and discussion, the company sent me a “form contract” to sign and seal our deal. Being a trained corporate attorney, I reviewed the agreement carefully; knowing what I don’t know, I asked an intellectual property lawyer friend to review the agreement, as well.

Poor Form?

Our initial review of the contract revealed what you might expect of a form document a big company sends to an individual or other party with superficially less leverage. Undoubtedly drafted by the company’s lawyers, the agreement — in …