Cardinal Counsel drafts, reviews, and negotiates the full range of publishing agreements Nigerian authors, editors, agents, and publishing companies encounter throughout the life of a book, from first draft to distribution.

Traditional and Hybrid Publishing Agreements
The core contract between an author and a publisher, governing royalty rates, rights granted, print runs, and reversion terms, reviewed to ensure you retain the rights and compensation you’re actually entitled to.

Self-Publishing Agreements
Terms governing your relationship with self-publishing platforms and distributors, reviewed carefully before you upload a manuscript and agree to terms most authors never fully read.

Literary Agent Agreements
Commission structure, exclusivity, and termination terms governing your relationship with a literary agent representing your work to publishers.

Freelance Editor Agreements
Terms covering scope of work, payment, and critically, confirmation that you retain full ownership of your manuscript’s underlying copyright once editing is complete.

Translation Agreements
Licensing terms for translating your work into another language, covering territory, royalty structure, and the translator’s own rights in the resulting translated text.

Audiobook Agreements
Licensing and royalty terms specific to audiobook production and distribution, a distinct right from print and ebook publication that should never be assumed to transfer automatically under a general publishing agreement.

Distribution Agreements
Terms governing how your book physically or digitally reaches retailers and readers, including exclusivity, territory, and payment terms with distributors.

Collaboration Agreements
Agreements between co-authors, or between an author and illustrator, addressing credit, payment splits, creative control, and what happens if the collaboration ends before the project is finished.

Ghostwriting Agreements
Comprehensive agreements covering exclusivity, milestones, payment, revision limits, and critically, a properly drafted copyright assignment ensuring ownership transfers exactly as both parties intend.

Illustrator Agreements
Work-for-hire terms ensuring you own the intellectual property in commissioned artwork, alongside clear payment and revision terms with your illustrator.

Work-for-Hire Agreements
General agreements confirming ownership of any creative contribution you commission, from cover design to research assistance, essential whenever you’re paying someone to help create your book.

Merchandising Agreements
Licensing terms for using your book’s characters, titles, or branding on merchandise, apparel, or related commercial products, a distinct area of law from your book’s core copyright protection.

Option Agreements
Agreements granting a producer or studio the exclusive, time-limited right to develop your book into a film, television series, or other adaptation, before any full rights deal is negotiated.

Attachment Agreements
Agreements confirming which director, producer, or key creative talent is formally attached to a book-to-film or television project during the development and option period.

Every one of these agreements carries its own standard terms, and its own common pitfalls, and a contract that looks reasonable on its face can leave real value, or real rights, on the table if reviewed too quickly or not at all.

Contact us today for a consultation.

Email: info@cardinalcounsel.co
Phone: +234 (0) 90 5262 8465
Website: www.cardinalcounsel.co
Address: Suite D14, Adeniran Ogunsanya Mall, Inside Shoprite Complex, 87 Adeniran Ogunsanya Street, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria