I (25) am a first time novelist who's been offered a contract for a trilogy by an independent house I've worked with as a freelance editor. I know the people there and a lot of the authors; they're great people, great connections, and I couldn't be happier that I've had this opportunity presented to me.

However, there's one item in the contract that gives me pause: "Author grants (publisher), for a period of seven years, the exclusive rights to names and likenesses of the characters in the work."

After a small amount of digging, it seems like this isn't normal, or if it is, it's usually negotiated out by the agent (I don't have an agent). I don't want to give up the rights to my characters, but I also don't want to lose the contract, and I have no frame of reference to tell how big a deal this is. Can anyone shed some light on this?