Pet Please #115: Tagged Signature Lines in Long Documents

A few weeks ago I received my publishing contract. As with all contracts, I was a little daunted by the verbosity of it. My agent and I had already gone over it, but now I was faced with the prospect of signing it.

I had that little moment of panic: What if I don’t sign ALL the blanks? What if I accidentally miss one?

Then I opened the document and saw one of my favorite things in the universe:

smlouva-o-dílo

With that one little sticker, all of my doubts melted away. I was in good hands.

I’ve taken this sticker for granted in the past. It feels a little bit like something we’d do for kids, like labeling their toothbrush with the word “toothbrush” or writing a reminder on their lunch bag (I say that as if I do those things for kids. I don’t have kids, nor do I do those things for my cats. But they seem like the sort of thing people do for their kids).

After all, the word “signature” is right there in the document. We’re adults. We can read.

But amid so many other words, those colorful “sign here” stickers stand out. They’re so reassuring. In fact, when you’re done with each one, you can remove it with satisfaction and flip through the document to know for sure that you haven’t missed any.

So to all you literary agents, mortgage brokers, lawyers, accountants, and insurance agents out there: Thank you for the peace of mind you give to me when you tag signature lines with colorful stickers. Thank you so very much.

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