Rights to New Book

[cam360]

I've done several searches to try to find info on the following situation. Any help or advise will be welcomed.
I have put together a nature photo book about a local nature park using Blurb.com. The city where the park is located wants the rights to the book to publish it for promotions and sales. My name will still be on the book and I will get a percentage of the profits for any sales. They will also pay me compensation for the time it took me to take the photos & put the book together. I have mentioned that I want to keep the copyrights to all my photos used in the book and I'm not sure how that will work out. I will also have final approval for any changes to the final layout before it's published.
I know I want all this in writing beforehand but should I do the contract or should the city? What should I be charging for the hours I've invested in this book? Or is all this a bad idea? If I keep the copyrights to the photos, do I charge the city for any other uses they may come up with? How much?
I have lots of questions and at a lost here. Any advice?

Thanks,
Ann

[bondarnes]

It's always good to go to a photo forum for legal advice and to seek out an attorney for photographic information. Just kidding!!

If you let the city draw up the contract, I can promise it will be in their favor, but will cost you nothing. If you get your own attorney it will cost you some money upfront, but might pay off big in the end. Because every situation is different, I would suggest getting professional legal advice. Legal advice is not cheap, but many times it is priceless.

Since the work has already been done, I doubt that you would be able to charge your regular day rate.

[cam360]

Thanks Don. I'm not looking for legal advice. I was hoping someone on the forum may have been in this situation before and could give a few hints on what to look out for.
Not that I don't trust lawyers, but I want to be armed with a little bit of knowledge before talking to one. Even your own lawyer can take you down the wrong path if you can't communicate what you want.
As far as payment for something like this I know I can't charge a "normal rate". I have calculated the total hours to be about 500 hours, from being in the field, post-processing, and creating the book. So how do you base a fee on this?
Any information will be helpful. Thanks.