Contracts

A small publisher runs on a handful of recurring contracts: artist and graphic designer agreements, a designer royalty agreement if you publish someone else's game, manufacturing purchase orders, freight and fulfillment agreements, and eventually distribution or licensing deals. None of these need to be long or intimidating. A good contract for a small business is a plain-language document that answers three questions: who does what, who pays what and when, and who owns what at the end.

The contract that saves the most grief is the art agreement. It should specify deliverables (how many illustrations, at what resolution), deadlines, the payment schedule (a deposit plus milestones is standard), the number of revision rounds included, what happens if either side walks away mid-project, and above all the rights transfer. Kill fees, which pay the artist a portion if you cancel, are normal and fair. A designer royalty agreement similarly needs to nail down the royalty rate and what it is calculated on, the advance if any, which products and languages are covered, and how rights revert if the game goes out of print.

Get everything in writing, even with friends. Especially with friends. Most disputes in this industry are not between bad actors, they are between well-meaning people who remember a conversation differently two years later. An email that both sides confirm is far better than a handshake, and a signed one-page agreement is better still. Templates from industry organizations and other publishers are a reasonable starting point for standard deals.

For anything unusual, high-value, or international, this is where a real attorney earns their fee. This page is general information, not legal advice. A lawyer reviewing a licensing deal or distribution agreement before you sign typically costs a few hundred dollars and routinely catches terms, like overly broad rights grants or missing reversion clauses, that would cost far more later.