A kind of silly question...

It's tough to say there's any average. A lot depends on what genre you write, for instance, and whether you're being published by a large publishing house or one of the smaller presses. I think I've seen that the average first book price for a new author is $5,000, but I can't cite my source.

I've seen a couple of sites that track this sort of thing but they were all for romance publishers. I'm guessing you're looking for a more comprehensive listing though.

Generally speaking, you get an advance which can range from hundreds to millions of dollars. I think it's safe to say most first-book advances are under $10,000. Mine was half that. The advance is usually paid in installments - at least two - part upon signing the contract, part upon completion of the finished, edited ms.

If the book "earns out" - that is, sells enough copies that the accumulated royalties equal and then surpass your advance (in effect, repay it) - you are then paid, usually twice a year, royalties on all sales above and beyond the amount of the advance.

I did have an acquaintance that received an advance of like $100,000 (in installments of course) but that's the great exception to the rule. It was her first book (in a series) and she happened to land one of the super top tier of agents. The rest of us poor slobs have to get the $1.00 to $49,000 (nice deal) tier in advances.