MONEY QUESTION

for contemporary (not fantasy, not non-fiction, not multiple books, not series) you'll likely get between 1-15K for your first.

I've talked about this in the UK with a number of publishers and agents.

Broadly, you're very lucky to get £5000 for your first novel and many of the children's/YA publishers who'll pay that will insist on taking world rights with it because it's the best way they have of managing the risk and making more money.

On average, the figure I keep getting told is £2,500 (which you should be aware will be split into 2 or 3 payments).

Of course, if your novel is fantabulosa and you get to do an auction, you will come out with more money. I've heard of one debut novelist here who got £20,000 for their debut (but that was part of a 2 book deal and was seen as paving the way for a series).

Increasingly, the advice I'm being told is to not negotiate hard on the advance but to try and get a spending committment on the marketing and publicity because realistically, you want the book to earn out the advance so you can start getting royalties.

Hope that's useful.

MM

It varies wildly. I got six-figures for a three-book deal, but the average is MUCH lower, as the others have said. There's no way to know what your book might get. Don't expect much and you won't be disappointed.

Just a note, most authors do NOT make a living solely on their writing. They have day jobs like everyone else and write on the side because it isn't enough to pay the bills. I did very well with my advance and I'm still keeping my day job, as I have no way of knowing if the books will sell well or not.

Also, for most authors the money is in your backlist! Just keep writing and selling and don't worry about how much of an advance you will get.

Remember, the advance is supposed to have some connection to the amount of money the author is expected to earn in royalties. If they reckon you'll sell 5000 copies at £5.99 each, and you are on a royalty of (a fairly generous) 10% of purchase price, you'd expect to earn about £3000. (And you'd actually get offered £2000).

There is a really great site that will tell you what most YA publishers will pay. Some of the figures are SUPER large and others aren't even 200 bucks. I guess it depends on how large the publisher is and how much they can afford. Without further ado they site link is http://www.brendahiatt.com/id2.html

Does the money really matter though? For me just the idea of my book in print for people across the world to read is priceless.

Write4Life said:

There is a really great site that will tell you what most YA publishers will pay. Some of the figures are SUPER large and others aren't even 200 bucks. I guess it depends on how large the publisher is and how much they can afford. Without further ado they site link is http://www.brendahiatt.com/id2.html

Does the money really matter though? For me just the idea of my book in print for people across the world to read is priceless.

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Those are Romance publishers, not YA. Two very different things. I understand people wanting to know. But there's no way to know, so it's probably better to go in with low expectations and let your agent have the high expectations.

[QUOTE Originally posted by Bethany]Those are Romance publishers, not YA. Two very different things. I understand people wanting to know. But there's no way to know, so it's probably better to go in with low expectations and let your agent have the high expectations.[/QUOTE]

That's a good point Bethany however some of the publishers listed on SHOW ME THE MONEY are young adult publishers too, Harper Collins, Harlequin, Wild Rose Press, etc. I completely agree tengraceapples! Writing is a proffesion and it is a good idea to do your research so you know what is regular pay and what is not.

Robert Heinlein would be rolling in his grave if he could hear you say that it "isn't about the money".

Expect nothing, celebrate anything, but don't be fooled into thinking you shouldn't be paid for your hard work.