Question for someone who has been published

published

MightyMax5 said:

I would like to know the correct standard process of when you are signed by a publisher. What are the first steps? sign a contract and work out the royalties. Do authors get signing bonuses? Can anyone help me answer these questions. thanks,

Mighty Max

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No, no signing bonuses, but depending on the publisher, you should receive an advance against royalties.

You don't really work out royalties. Most publishers have set royalties. You will receive a contract, but if you know nothing about contracts you won't have a clue about what is and isn't negotiable.

When you receive an offer from a publisher, well, that's when you desperately need an agent to handle the business side of the deal. If yu do not have an agent, look for one the moment you receive an offer.

Or you could just get help with going over the contract, here's some places that will help you do that without getting an agent.

http://www.publishlawyer.com/carousel3.htm
http://www.publaw.com/
http://www.vlany.org/

Just remember that you need to negotiate anything in the contract you want changed BEFORE you sign it. Once it is signed, its too late.

DeniseK said:

Or you could just get help with going over the contract, here's some places that will help you do that without getting an agent.

http://www.publishlawyer.com/carousel3.htm
http://www.publaw.com/
http://www.vlany.org/

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You could, but you'd be hurting yourself for no good reason. No matter what links such as these tell you, they really help not at all. In fact, this is a case where a little knowledge really is a dangerous thing. There's a reason pro writers believe agents are worth their weight in gold. . .because they are. Only an agent knows what can and can't be negotiated, how to go about negotiating it, and what each individual publisher is will to bend on, and what is boilerplate. It takes years of study to do this right.

An agent never, ever costs a writer a penny. Any good agent will gain you far, far more than her fifteen percent. The moment you receive an offer, you need an agent. Without one you will not get the kind of contract you should get, the kind of royalties you should get, or the kind of advance you should get.

I have to disagree with you, James. You make it sound like publishers are out to screw over authors. They aren't. And in the case of a small publisher like us, there isn't a lot of wiggle room regarding advances and royalties. I tell authors what we're willing to do, and that's what we're willing to do. I'm happy to work with agents, but the end result is the same. Perhaps you're thinking only of larger publishers?

Nomad said:

I have to disagree with you, James. You make it sound like publishers are out to screw over authors. They aren't. And in the case of a small publisher like us, there isn't a lot of wiggle room regarding advances and royalties. I tell authors what we're willing to do, and that's what we're willing to do. I'm happy to work with agents, but the end result is the same. Perhaps you're thinking only of larger publishers?

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You may be the exception, but publishers are out to make as much profit as possible. I've seen a lot of contracts from a lot of publishers, and I've never, ever seen a single one the writer should settle for as it's written. I've never, ever seen a single one an agent couldn't improve in several areas.

The end result of working with an agent should never be the same, if you have a good agent. Your contracts may have all any agent can ask for and get, but if so, you really are an extremely rare exception. No contract from a large publisher ever offers the same clauses and rights to a writer without an agent as to a writer with an agent. No large publisher even offers an advance as large as one a good agent can get. Large publishers, and many, many smaller ones, will offer a writer without an agent royalty on net, but will offer a writer with an agent royaty on cover.

It isn't a matter of publishers trying to screw writers, but it is a matter of profit, and it's just naive to think most publishers offer the same deal to a non-agented writer as they will to a writer with an agent. At the vast majority of publishers, writers without an agent get offered the minimum in every category. Writers with an agent get offered the maximum in every category.

When a writer receives an offer from a publisher, that writer needs an agent immediately, and definitely before signing anything. If the agent can't change at least some things with the contract that publisher offers, any good agent will immediately look for another publisher, and use the fact that one publisher has already made an offer as a sales tool. It's usually a very effective tool.

Here's the direction:

Start with agentquery. Read all the articles on their site and do a search for "Children's books" in the drop down search box. Research every agent that fits your need.

allen

And agentquery many times has the links to the agency's web site, so you can cross-reference.

MightyMax5 said:

Point me the right direction of a agent that will take on a new author with their first contract offer. I am a children's picture book author. any suggestions?

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Are you saying you've gotten an offer from a publisher? If so, unless the publisher pays an advance, it's not very likely that an agent will be interested. Good agents work on commission, and get paid only when you do. If you don't get paid, there's no incentive for them to work with you.

- Victoria

agent

MightyMax5 said:

Point me the right direction of a agent that will take on a new author with their first contract offer. I am a children's picture book author. any suggestions?

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It depends on the offer. If there's money involved, talk to any agent who represents children's picture books. If there's no money involved, I'd be looking for a better offer.

MightyMax5 said:

Point me the right direction of a agent that will take on a new author with their first contract offer. I am a children's picture book author. any suggestions?

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I think MightyMax has run into the "facts of life" in picture books right now. Agents would rather not represent them. Although most of the agents and editors I've heard recently are cautiously optimistic, the reality is the picture books are hard to sell to publishers (thus taking a lot of the agent's time to make the connections) and they generally have small advances. So -- lots of work, not much money.

Sure, MightyMax has a publisher interested in THIS book, and that would be relatively easy money for the agent, but then what about the next book and the next one? Max is a picturebook writer -- and MOST children's book agents aren't interested in turning one trick, they want to sell future works. So the agent might be getting easy-ish money now only to face "lots of work, not much money" on future works.

Although some agents do take on picture book authors as a RARE addition...they usually do so because (1) they see something in the work that makes them think books by this author will be big or (2) the author writes picture books AND other books with more earning potential. Or they take on PB authors who have sold a number of books on their own and proven sales potential for the future.

So, YES...an agent is a lovely thing to have in negotiations, but I personally couldn't name a single agent who would jump on this with some kind of gleeful "easy money" feeling just because their's already an offer....well, maybe if the offer was for ... a bizillion dollar advance but there really isn't much likelihood of that unless MightyMax forget to tell us that he's actually Tom Cruise.

gran

When I worked on picture books, maybe 30% of writers and 5% of artists had agents, at a rough estimate.

I was at a conference this past fall where an agent said he'd take anything EXCEPT a picture book writer.

They're really hard to make money from at any point of the publishing process. I have never known a picture book manuscript to be the subject of an auction, either.

I've been writing for 10 years and full-time for 4 years now (as in, with no other job and earning a decent living). I don't have an agent, but I consulted an arts-specific lawyer to assess my first contract before I signed it. It cost me about $90, and I subsequently requested a few changes, but not much. Do you have a writers' centre, or similar in your area? They might be able to recommend a lawyer who knows about the industry.
I'm sorry for those of you who have had a bad experience with a publisher trying to stiff you out of your money. That's never been my experience (although sometimes they are slow to pay royalties, or advances on translations, which is a pain). I write mainly for two big, mainstream publishing houses. Yes, publishers are about profit. It makes good business sense to get a long-term return out of their investment in you. If they stuff you around, you're going to go to someone else next time, and that's not good for their bottomline.
Also, remember that getting a big advance is fantastic, but don't forget it's an advance - you have to pay it back in sales, and you don't get any royalties until that happens. If you go for a modest advance and then you'll receive a steady flow of royalties sooner.
That's what I reckon anyway!
A