Classical contract theory—of will and morality, of promise or consent—translates awkwardly to contemporary publishing agreements where cultural products are not definitively valued, and publishing agreements’ industrial and aspirational ideals require an ongoing conversation, and relationship, between an author and publisher. Relational contract theory presents a framework in which parties to a contract can continue negotiations, particularly when industry developments create change or conflict. This paper applies relational contract theory to publishing contract negotiations to show how they operate incrementally, and illustrates via select qualitative interviews how contract terms are used in a post negotiation space to strengthen author–publisher relationships and support authors’ livelihoods.

古典合同理论-意志和道德，承诺或同意-尴尬地转化为当代出版协议，在这些协议中，文化产品没有得到绝对的重视，出版协议的工业和理想理想要求作者和出版商之间进行持续的对话和联系。关系合同理论提出了一个框架，合同双方可以在其中继续进行谈判，特别是在行业发展引起变化或冲突时。本文将关系合同理论应用于发布合同谈判，以显示其如何逐步进行，并通过定性访谈说明如何在谈判后空间中使用合同条款，以加强作者与出版者的关系并支持作者的生计。