In the most recent Writer's Digest is a two-page article, The Future Role of Agents. Towards the end is a section called "Developing new business models for how authors pay agents.." And, after a paragraph saying that agents are earning less money today than before for various reasons, comes this gem: "One agency has quietly come out with a new model that requires authors to pay a minimum commission--i.e., the agent must earn a minimum amount on a sale no matter what advance the publisher pays, which means authors would "share" a larger part of the advance upfront (or even pay out of pocket in the case of very low advances).... Agents may take projects knowing they will ultimately be paid by authors rather than publishers."
The article does not say what agency had this brainstorm.
This might introduce an interesting variant into that old chestnut, 'Money flows towards the author'.
The article does not say what agency had this brainstorm.
This might introduce an interesting variant into that old chestnut, 'Money flows towards the author'.
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