Media tie-in writers probably have similar stories to tell.
But aren't media tie-ins typically work for hire? In which case the writer gets paid a flat fee, not an advance plus royalties, so this situation wouldn't apply.
Media tie-in writers probably have similar stories to tell.
But aren't media tie-ins typically work for hire? In which case the writer gets paid a flat fee, not an advance plus royalties, so this situation wouldn't apply.
The other thing I noticed is she did get a nice advance on every single one of her books. @ $6,500 per book. So on the high end she's made $162,500 on her 25 books. Are her royalty rates shitty -- hell yes. Still $162,500 up front/guaranteed isn't something I'd call "disgusting". How many self pub books make $6,500 out of the gate?
Emphasis mine.My advance for Twilight Fall was $50,000.00, a third of which I did not get paid until the book physically hit the shelf — this is now a common practice by publishers, to withhold a portion of the advance until date of publication. Of that $50K, my agent received $7,500.00 as her 15% (which she earns, believe me) the goverment received roughly $15,000.00, and $1594.27 went to cover my expenses (office supplies, blog giveaways, shipping, promotion, etc.) After expenses and everyone else was paid, I netted about $26K of my $50K advance for this book, which is believe it or not very good — most authors are lucky if they can make 10% profit on any book.
"Work for hire" just means the author doesn't own the rights. Some work-for-hire contracts will still pay royalties. I expect most of them pay some kind of royalty, but I'm sure there are tie-in writers here who have broader experience in the field than I do.
As for giving one of her titles away for free--that's a common ploy in e-book sales, their version of a loss leader.
Put a title up for free (or at a low price like .99) for a few days and you get a truckload of people downloading a copy. Your sales rank shoots up.
If they LIKE that book, they will come back for more and pay to have them. Their rankings also shoot up.
At what point does "I'll wait till it's free" become a book-shopping strategy like "I'll wait for the paperback"?
/derail
At what point does "I'll wait till it's free" become a book-shopping strategy like "I'll wait for the paperback"?
/derail
To be fair, this is true of most every type of income--that is, the government takes a chunk. You get a net, not a gross.
I certainly don't see all of my salary. I, too, get a net amount after taxes, SSI payments, etc.
I netted about $26K of my $50K advance for this book, which is believe it or not very good — most authors are lucky if they can make 10% profit on any book.
They've had that forever -- only it's "I'll wait to get it from the library."
Bottom line, I'll scoop up free ebooks all day long as long as I'm remotely interested. I won't pay $9.99 for 50 shades of gray, but I'll be the first one downloading Jim Butchers' new Dresden novel or GRRM's Winds of Winter for full price.
I haven't checked a book out of the library in twenty years,
You will get more than 10% of your advance no matter how you crunch the numbers. Quoting a number such as 10%, which simply isn't true, makes me suggest a lot of her numbers are exaggerated for effect.But 10% seems awfully low, doesn't it?
Actually, It does seem awfully low. Can I ask folks who know if this is true?
As fearful as publishers should be, readers should be even more scared. One thing that hasn't changed about self-publishing is that 99.9% of it sucks. It's functionally illiterate.
It will work for a few, but using Konrath as your guide will probably bury any potential career before it even gets started.
You will get more than 10% of your advance no matter how you crunch the numbers. Quoting a number such as 10%, which simply isn't true, makes me suggest a lot of her numbers are exaggerated for effect.
Advances are typically paid out in 3 installments. (Sometimes 2, sometimes 4. Contract will specify.) Assuming you meet the terms the contract specifies for payout, you WILL get 100% of the advance -- just divided into installments.
Now, from that 100%, you will pay 15% to your agent, if you have one, and you will pay taxes and Social Security at whatever tax percentage you pay. If you don't make much overall in a year, you won't pay as much as someone who makes more.
Advances these days are *frequently* $5K - $10K. That's going to net you $1K - $2K per payment (if divided into 3 installments). No, it isn't much.
But aren't media tie-ins typically work for hire? In which case the writer gets paid a flat fee, not an advance plus royalties, so this situation wouldn't apply.
Thanks for reminding me -- I meant to talk about that.But don't forget Viehl also says "$1594.27 went to cover my expenses (office supplies, blog giveaways, shipping, promotion, etc.)."
Is that a more-or-less fixed promotion cost for many authors? I know in romance, commercial authors are kinda expected to go to the RT and RWA conventions and do giveaways and all that.
Could an author net a low percentage if that cost is subtracted from a low advance? Perhaps not 10% low, but 20% if the advance is 5K.
Holy crap. It is really sad to realize that my piddly little experiment in self-publishing is bringing me more money than some of Ann's HQN titles are earning for her.
I published my first novel with Harlequin's Intrigue line in August of 2000. My twenty-fifth was released in November, 2011.
All Harlequin series authors know that US retail royalties are going to be lower than industry standard going in. We also know that Harlequin pays rather low advances. My largest and most current advance was only $6,500 per book
ALL of my books have earned out and then some.
Let me share with you the numbers of a book I wrote that was first published in January, 2002, still one of my favorites. My life-to-date statement says this bookhas sold 179,057 copies so far, and it has earned $20,375.22.
But don't forget Viehl also says "$1594.27 went to cover my expenses (office supplies, blog giveaways, shipping, promotion, etc.)."
2. Give out-of-print titles back to your authors. I just had a long conversation with a friend of mine (not Ann) whose publisher won't give him his rights back because they state even though they no longer sell the paper copies, they are still selling them in ebook format. WTF? If that's the case, why does every contract have an out of print clause? Show me an ebook that has ever gone out of print! I offered to pay my buddy's legal fees when he sues the hell out of those assholes, because he'll set the precedent that frees us all.