Advances from Publishers

What genre, Cowboy? They vary drastically. Westerns, for example, offer a different pay scale than romances or mysteries for first timers.


I haven't heard of either of those publishers, but I'll do some research and let you know what I find.

I don't know for sure but I would not assume there is any advance from STARbooks and with either publisher it will not be a large amount. they publish in a niche (gay fiction) and on top of that STAR is a smallish press.

Tobias Buckell (author of Crystal Rain, from Tor) did a very nice survey of first novel advances among SF/F authors, including how having an agent affects things. That survey is at:

http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/wordpress/?p=1695

Cowboy,

Well, failing to find anything of use on their website, I searched all my usual hangouts for information. Nothing. I did find some third party (and hence, suspect) information from a couple of loops on STARbooks anthologies. Apparently, there's no advance on the stories, and the pay is quite low ($30 in two instances, with two free copies of the book). It doesn't bode well for advances on novels. But just to be safe, I've sent an email to the STARbooks editor, requesting information on a) their advances; b) royalty percentages (and whether it's on net or gross); c) whether they're primarily pubbed in ebooks or trade paperback and d) whether they're accepting submissions right now. I'll let you know on this thread if I hear anything back from them, and then will post the information on the "Where to sell you romance novel" thread (since it would seem to apply to that forum.)

I found a bit more information on Haworth, but only as it relates to their non-fiction gay/transgender titles. It does appear that they pay a small advance (bits and pieces on various sites seem to indicate about $500-1,000), and they're primarily in trade paperback. But I couldn't find any information on novels in their line, and the link to their website was 404. Don't know much more than that.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but I'll let you know if I hear anything from STARbooks.

Cowboy,

Have you tried e-mailing some of the authors who have books out with these publishers? I did that with my very first novel, and most authors were more than happy to answer my questions... And any legit publisher should be fine with you contacting their authors with questions.

If you're still around, cowboy, I finally heard back from Mr. Summers, the editor of STARbooks. I asked him the following about their company:

The most common questions are whether you pay advances, the typical format for your novels (ebook or trade paperback) and what royalty percentage you offer (and whether they’re paid on net/gross.)

Click to expand...

Here is his reply:

Our submissions page lists all open calls. We do not pay advances. All books are trade paperback. Royalties are paid as a percentage of list price.

Click to expand...

So, no advances, but royalties on list. Pretty typical for a small press. Hope something on their submission page works for you. I'll be adding this small press to my list of publishers over in Romance, so you can later find it if you need.

Hope that helps...

From another thread I think he has already gone 'off' Starbooks.