tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275104442398599121.post4647384201064740756..comments2023-08-21T02:23:54.992-05:00Comments on Timothy's Thoughts: The Royalty AdvanceTimothy Fishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06554064732811895577noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275104442398599121.post-45980240174454135802009-05-06T21:14:00.000-05:002009-05-06T21:14:00.000-05:00Sigh.Anonymous 4:52,
If I understand you correctl...<I>Sigh.</I>Anonymous 4:52,<br /><br />If I understand you correctly, you are saying the author never has to return any money to the publisher. We are agreed on this.<br /><br />This blog post deals with a different concept.<br /><br />TimothyTimothy Fishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06554064732811895577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275104442398599121.post-47155083736412722412009-05-06T16:52:00.000-05:002009-05-06T16:52:00.000-05:00You're not actually explaining anything. I think y...You're not actually explaining anything. I think you're simply misinformed and since that's what I believe, I won't impute any motives to you that you may not possess. <br /><br />I'll say it again: the author does NOT owe the publisher any part of the advance even if the book doesn't sell it out. The publisher has paid the author for the rights to the book--the advance forms the mininum of that payment. It's not a loan.<br /><br />The one thing you got right is that the pub may not be so eager to publish a second book. In fact, the pub may even relinquish its option if the second book is an option book. <br /><br />I strongly suggest you hang out more often at blogs of reputable agents, which you appear to be doing, and then you won't put out misinformation such as this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275104442398599121.post-64442452578730704922009-05-05T20:35:00.000-05:002009-05-05T20:35:00.000-05:00Anonymous 6:55,
Perhaps, rather than owe, you wou...Anonymous 6:55,<br /><br />Perhaps, rather than <I>owe</I>, you would prefer that I had used the term <I>indebted</I>. You’re absolutely correct. The author is not contractually obligated to pay back any part of the advance, even if the publisher never sells any books. That aspect of it is what makes it more like an earnest payment, but there is another way to look at it. <br /><br />Publishing is a partnership. The publisher provides several services and the author provides a well written manuscript. Going into this partnership, the publisher and the author reach some kind of consensus on how many books they think they will be able to sell and the publisher pays an advance that they believe is within the number of books they will sell. Let’s say they expect to sell 50,000 books and they pay the author $50,000. But something happens and they only sell 3,000 books. The publisher is now eating a huge loss and the author has $47,000 that he didn’t earn. Legally, he is not obligated to pay it back, but is that the right thing to do?<br /><br />I think it was Michael Hyatt who mentioned the other day that publishers have a tendency to look at books that don’t earn out a large advance as failures, even though they have sold fairly well, say 10,000 books or whatever. So, even if you aren’t concerned about the ethical side of it, there is also a business side. If the publisher thinks your book is a failure because it hasn’t earned out the advance, it isn’t very likely that they will be anxious to publish your next book.<br /><br />I hope that explains things a little better.<br /><br />TimothyTimothy Fishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06554064732811895577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275104442398599121.post-74445453051815065902009-05-05T18:55:00.000-05:002009-05-05T18:55:00.000-05:00This post does NOT contain true information, in fa...This post does NOT contain true information, in fact it's totally false. An advance is not money the author will ever owe the publisher. It is simply a down payment from the publisher on acquisition of the novel. If it's balanced against anything, it's balanced against royalties received AFTER THE ADVANCE IS EARNED OUT. The author NEVER pays the advance back to the publisher, even if the book does not sell a single copy.<br /><br />Again, information is being provided here by someone without sufficient knowledge of how publishing works.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8275104442398599121.post-61967070146615918192009-04-29T08:36:00.000-05:002009-04-29T08:36:00.000-05:00Great information, thank you!Great information, thank you!Michelle D. Argylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09696465137285587646noreply@blogger.com