I've really been talking to a small non-fiction publishing company about my project. They seem really interested. I'm curious how the royalty advances go. What to expect? How much is normal for a new non-fiction writer. Can anyone help?
If you're talking to a small nonfiction house, scale down June's estimates by a lot. Most small houses are unlikely to pay more than $3-5k advances--they just can't afford much more than that, especially on a new and/or untried author.
I really appreciate it. I'm not expecting to get paid much. I just want to publish my work.My advance for my first book was zero, and that was with a fairly well known publisher. I was a rank newbie, though and just ecstatic that someone wanted to publish my book. However, five years later I still get quarterly checks, so it's cool. It's based on 10-12% of the cover price.
For my current project, I'm being paid a set amount per book (three books, actually). They have set out a payment schedule - so much for the expanded TOC and synopsis, so much for the shot list, so much for 50% of the ms, that sort of thing.
Good luck with your book, I hope it takes off!
JasonA,
May I interject a plea for you to save some of your advance to pay for publicity, especially if you are signing with a small publisher. The fact is that no one will know about your book if you don't invest in marketing. By that I mean the cost of stamps to send a mailing, acquiring a website domain name, your travel expenses to attend a conference, or a publicist should you go that route. These are the little things that eat away at your money (if you have any money). Think of your advance not only as a payment for your writing time, which doesn't sound like an issue for you since you "just want to get published," but the funds that will help you along the publishing path.
I'd also like to add that sometimes you get the advance in chunks, rather than all at once. You might get a little on signing, a little on manuscript acceptance, and then the final chunk when the book is published.
I've really been talking to a small non-fiction publishing company about my project. They seem really interested. I'm curious how the royalty advances go. What to expect? How much is normal for a new non-fiction writer. Can anyone help?
Are you famous in the field about which you are writing? Or a celebrity. If the answer to either of those questions is "no", your advance will be minimal. And rightly so; you're unproven.
It's not even whether or not you're an expert in something, or a good or bad writer--if you're working with a smaller publishing company that doesn't have the money to pay you a big advance, you aren't going to get offered one. It's just that simple.
Jason, I don't know anything personally about Osprey Publishing, but good luck with your endeavors and best of luck with the book!
HI jason, I don't know if it's too late or if you'd be interested, but here's a good article on why we should never deal with publishing companies unagented.
http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-you-should-never-submit-unagented.html
I found the article because it was recommended on Nathan Bransford's blog, so it is extremely reliable.
http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/
Best of luck to you.