An Example Agreement

In a formal mentoring arrangement, it is best to have some kind of written agreement. This helps to assure that both parties understand what they are getting out of the arrangement and what will be required of them. The last thing a published author needs is a wannabe author thinking that the published author will convince his publisher to offer the wannabe a contract. And the last thing an aspiring author needs is a lawsuit from a published author saying the aspiring author stole his intellectual property. You might watch Finding Forester again to see some of the benefits and problems of mentoring within the author community. How formal you go is up to you, but the following will give you some idea of what you might want to put in a formal agreement:

Example Agreement

We, the mentor and mentee have mutually developed this agreement to lay down the ground rules of how our mentoring relationship should work.

We are both committing to do our best to honor these ground rules. We will both try to:

• E-mail at least once per ____________, for at least _____________ (amount of time)
• Deal with any problems we might have by talking about it—even when it isn’t easy. We will face our problems and things that don’t feel right, rather than not dealing with it.
• Keep the other person apprised of times when we will not be available, via an e-mail message.
• Honor the other person’s privacy. We will ask the mentor/mentee before passing on any information that person has given us. The only exception to this is that it does not excuse us from doing our duty to report illegal actions that come to our knowledge or dangerous situations. Nor does it prevent the mentee from asking advice from others when he/she feels unsafe.
• Work toward our shared goals. These include (list below):
• Recognize that we are not the same people. We will respect and value each other for the ways we are alike and the ways we are different, recognizing that while we may not at agree on all things, we can learn from our differences and the path by which we came to those differences.
• Listen. We will try to understand the other person’s viewpoint.
• Take responsibility for making sure that we get things done, but also have fun doing it.

Additionally, we understand that:

• Any story ideas, wording, intellectual property, etc. should not be used in our own work without express permission.
• If one person’s idea or wording does happen to show up in the other person’s work without permission, we will handle the situation between the two of us, rather than involving other people and lawyers.

____________________

Mentee Signature

____________________

Mentor Signature

An Atmosphere of Friendship

It is in the best interest of both parties to be able to trust the other person as a friend, but if some issue does come up, such as one of the mentee’s ideas appearing in the mentor’s next book, it is better to keep it between the two of them. Court cases are costly and the the lawyers seem to be the only people who make money. Besides, in the future, potential mentors are likely to turn down requests from someone sued a previous mentor. There are situations where the situation may require more drastic action, such as if a mentor were to take advantage and abuse a mentee, but if at all possible, it is best to bow out of the conflict in other situations. Of course, the best thing to do is to pick a mentor/mentee that isn’t going to create such a problem in the first place. Also, if you don’t want an idea shared, it might be better to not mention it at all. It is easy to latch onto an idea and forget where it came from. We may not intend to use another person’s idea, but things happen. Look for a mentor/mentee you can trust and don’t burden him/her with keeping any secrets if it is not necessary for reaching your goals. Try to create and Atmosphere of Friendship.