'NYT' Pushed for First-Refusal

A memo from the reporters' union at the New York Times to its members reveals that Times management had been pushing for two key points that the it eventually relented on, both of which involve first refusal. One would have required that proposals be shown and offered to the Times before being shown or offered anywhere else. The other would have allowed the Times to match any outside offer, and required the author to accept.

In the final version, each was retained to a degree. On the first point, reporters are now required to "notify" management of their proposal before anyone in book publishing sees it, but then are allowed to show the proposal to Holt's Times Books at the same time they start showing to everyone else. On the second, Times Books will be allowed to match any offer, but authors are not required to accept.

When executive editor Howell Raines's comments about going after first refusal in a New Yorker profile first brought the story to light, some said he had misspoken. The memo indicates that, in fact, he had been pursuing these rights, but had simply not been able to win the concession.

Meanwhile, the Free Press's WSJ Books said it would continue trying to entice writers to sign with them. To that end, the newspaper offers free advertising in the Wall Street Journal as well as the possibility of excerpts for reporters who sign with Free Press. "We want to build a strong imprint that will make people want to publish with us," said Free Press publisher Martha Levin. "We don't want to force anyone to do anything they don't want to do."

While Levin was vague about whether the Journal prohibits a preempt from another publisher (as the Times does), she said "it's never happened" that a book from a reporter was sold anywhere without the Free Press being aware of it.