Confidential Role Information

BestBooks/Paige Turner Exercise

Instructions. Please use the information below as a basis for playing the role of the agent representing
Paige Turner, a best selling author. You should rely on the facts listed below, but you may need to improvise
(i.e., go beyond this exact information). DO NOT show your role information OR YOUR POINT VALUES to your
opponent before or during the negotiation.

Role Instructions for Paige Turner’s Agent:

The nation's best-selling author, Paige Turner, would like to change publishers and is considering signing a
contract with BestBooks. Paige abhors the business side of the literary world and has asked you, an up-
and-coming agent, to see if you can work out a deal with a representative from BestBooks. Your
negotiation will focus on the following 8 terms:

• Royalties (percentage per sale): Paige is a top-selling author and this is one of the two most important
issues. If each sale earns a higher percentage in royalties, Paige gets a larger return on her new book.
• Times that the contract is renewable at the option of the publisher: Paige knows her audience and that
her books will sell, so she wants to ensure the best possible deal. For this reason, she insists on
keeping the number of times the contract can be renewed with the same terms to the absolute
minimum—if her reputation increases, she can sell even more books, so does not want to be stuck
with last year’s deal. This is your second critical issue.
• Contract signing bonus: this is one of Paige’s second most important concerns. Paige lives primarily
off of royalties, but authors compare signing bonuses as a way to gauge how much the publisher
values them. Paige expects that a new publisher would recognize the value of her work by agreeing
to a top signing bonus amount.
• Number of book clubs that will adopt the book: this is the other of Paige’s second most important
concerns. She expects a top publisher will show its marketing prowess by cutting deals with the
larger book clubs (e.g., Oprah) to ensure that her book is adopted as “book of the month.” Publishers
that enlist more book clubs will generate higher sales.
• Number of countries where the book will be sold: sales drive royalties and author reputations, and
Paige would like to maximize the number of countries in which the publisher will invest time and
money marketing her book. Getting her book translated and in print in the maximum number of
developed countries is important, though not quite as critical as the four issues listed above.
• Number of weeks that the book will remain in publication: books that remain actively in publication
longer are able generate more sales, even if they get off to a slow start. Publishers often try to
minimize the number of weeks in print to reduce their costs, but Paige thinks this is short-sighted.
Sales depend on having the book available. Paige cares about this issue, but it is less important than
royalties, book clubs, contract renewals or the signing bonus.
• Duration of the contract (years): just like the renewability of the contract, the contract duration limits
Paige’s ability to find or re-negotiate a better deal as her fame and popularity grow. That said, she
could live with a longer contract if she got better terms on royalties, fewer contract renewals, book
clubs or the signing bonus.
• Number of weeks that Paige has to promote the book: Paige understands how the marketing “game”
is played, but dislikes having to travel for long periods because it keeps her away from writing new
 books. On the other hand, she enjoys talking with her fans, so this is the least critical issue in terms of
keeping her happy.
You would like to keep Paige on as a client, and you realize that the best way of doing this would be to get
the best possible deal from BestBooks and thereby establish yourself as a top-notch negotiator. Ideally, a
successful negotiation will result in a contract that will be favorable to Paige on all 8 of the above-
mentioned terms. You can evaluate your success in the negotiation process with BestBooks by using the
table below, which ensures that you as understand how Paige weights the relative value and tradeoffs of
each of the issues. The points you earn reflect what your commission will be on the deal (i.e., points = $
commission).

Your goal is to reach a deal while obtaining the highest possible score. If you are able to reach a mutually
beneficial agreement, Paige could continue to write for BestBooks for many years—something that would
be lucrative for both parties. Paige values long-term relationships and believes they can ultimately help
her get the best possible deal for each book. Reaching a creative deal that maximizes the gain for both
parties will help both you and the BestBooks rep develop your reputations and career opportunities. Plan
to expand the pie by using as many collaborative tactics as possible.

IT IS CRITICAL TO KEEP THE PAYOFF SCHEDULE AWAY FROM THE BESTBOOKS REPRESENTATIVE. ALSO, DO NOT
REVEAL AT ANY TIME DURING THE NEGOTIATION THE NUMBER OF POINTS/COMMISSION YOU HAVE ACCUMULATED.
YOU MAY NEGOTIATE AMOUNTS IN BETWEEN THE LISTED VALUES BUT YOU MAY NOT EXCEED THE VALUES.

Terms Points / Commission

Royalties
15 percent royalty on sales 6000
13 percent royalty on sales 5000
10 percent royalty on sales 4000
7 percent royalty on sales 3000
5 percent royalty on sales 2000
Number of times that the contract is renewable at publisher’s option
5 0
4 1500
3 3000
2 4500
1 6000
Contract signing bonus
$1.5 million 5000
$1 million 4000
$500,000 3000
$250,000 2000
$100,000 1000
Number of book clubs that will adopt book as their “Book of the Month”
5 5000
4 4000
3 3000
2 2000
1 1000
Number of countries in which book will be sold
14 countries 4000
12 countries 3500
10 countries 3000
8 countries 2500
 Terms Points / Commission
6 countries 2000
Number of weeks book will remain in publication
200 3500
175 3000
150 2500
125 2000
100 1500
Duration of the contract (in years)
7 years 500
6 years 1000
5 years 1500
4 years 2000
3 years 2500
Number of weeks Paige has to promote the book
35 100
30 200
25 300
20 400
15 500