You have more leverage than you think.

If you've ever been published, then you've seen it before -- a WHEREAS and a THEREFORE followed by eight or more pages of pre-printed, pedantic prose offered up by the editor as his/her "standard publishing contract." Other than a few tiny spaces for your name, the title of the work, and the manuscript delivery date, the bulk of it looks as though it were long ago locked down in Century Schoolbook type.

But the truth is that there is more to review than the spelling of your name, choice of title, and projected...