How Do Authors Get Paid?

For an agented author, yes. That's the standard way. The publishers send royalty checks to the agent of record. The agent takes his/her cut and passes the rest on to the author.

ExposingCorruption said:

Forgive my ignorance on this subject (and the question I have), but I read on an agent's website that if the book is sold, the publisher will pay all monies, including the advance, directly to the agent. The agent then "make payments of domestic earnings due clients promptly, but in no event later than ten business days after clearance."

It's according to the "AAR Canon of Ethics."

I assume that is actually the way that it is done, but as an unpublished author who has just begun to send out queries, i was somewhat surprised by it. It makes it seem like the author is working for the agent instead of the other way around.

Since there is no such thing as a stupid question, I have to ask: Is this the standard way that an author gets paid?

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Its standard if you have an agent. It is the agent who deals with slow payment, or claims that royalties are misrepresented, so the payment goes through the agent to satisfy the agent that payment is as demanded by contract terms.

Delaying it until the check clears is common because the agent really does not want to demand payments BACK from their client if the check does NOT clear.

An author without an agent is paid directly by the publisher and analyzing the payment for being up to the contract standard is left in the hands of the author, unless the author engages a proper attorney to do it for him. Cashing the check might kill him in court if there was something wrong with the payment.

You pay the agent for representation which includes contract analysis and enforcement.

Regards,

Scott

Moving this from Bewares & Background Check to Ask the Agent, where it would seem to be more appropriate.

- Victoria

ExposingCorruption said:

Since there is no such thing as a stupid question, I have to ask: Is this the standard way that an author gets paid?

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An author with an agent, yes.

A literary agent is both a representative agent and a fiduciary agent--they sell your work and they're responsible for making sure you get paid. Because you have granted them fiduciary agency, they can collect debts owing to you in full, and then pay you the sums collected less their percentage.

In this way, a literary agency is an "agency" in the sense of both a real estate agency AND a collection agency.

But you're not "working for them"--it's your money that they've collected. They just have the authority to collect it on your behalf.

Check goes to agent ----> Agent takes commission ---->Agent writes you a check for the remainder.

In a huge agency like WMA the money is wired to my account as soon as it's recieved. No waiting. and I'm glad to have an agent with the amazingly complex tax paperwork to get exemptions from each of the foreign countries...