From: dao4@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (DONALD A. O'SHALL)
Newsgroups: misc.writing
Subject: Re: Re: You really want to be a writer?
Date: 14 Apr 92 17:25:24 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University

In article <GJH.92Apr14094822@ghiggins.hpl.hp.com>, gjh@hplb.hpl.hp.com (Graham
Higgins) writes:
>
>> why sell a novel for a $5K advance when it could have been sold for $10 if
>> you knew how (and/or who) to ask for it?
>
>Being a naif, I have yet to figure out the economics of advances. Given the
>fact that a book will earn $x for the people involved in manufacturing and
>selling the product and that an author gets a pre-negotiated slice of the
>revenue (not profit, *revenue*), what's the point of getting a larger part of
>it early? Is it a case of grabbing the money and running? If so, why?

Graham, it has been my experience that people tend to value things more when
they have a larger investment in them. Admittedly, my books are probably a
much different type of writing than a novellist's or even a mainstream How-To
writer's book, so my experiences may not be valid for you. However, I feel
that it is more than circumstantial that books where I have dug in my heels
for a larger  initial commitment from the  publisher have also been the ones
with a better track record. Either I am very smart about when to dig in my
heels ( "NOT" ) OR the bigger investment moved the publisher toward more
efficient marketing.

Also, many books take a commitment of both time and materials, which comes out
of YOUR pocket initially... If you wait and take the dribbles, where does the
seed money for the NEXT book come from? Once again, this may only be
applicable to my particular type of situation. A person writing a novel in
their spare time would have a bit more freedom to wait, I imagine.
>
>envisage a long-term, open partnership with "my" publisher and would have
>thought that if the author gets a fixed proportion of revenue, whether that
>slice arrives earlier or later, doesn't change the total amount earned by the
>book. IMHO, brinksmanship over advances is only going to have deleterious
>effects on the relationship between author and publisher --- I intend to create
>the most positive relationship I can between myself and the people who turn my
>MSs into books.)
>
Another situation where my experience may or may not be relevant, but MY
publisher tends to be a little the opposite of the situation you describe. If
I don't haggle over details and make a general nuisance of myself, he tends to
 minimize the amount of commitment he needs to make to the project, and it
 gets a low priority on the project list, behind books that others have
 submitted, both in the printing stage and the marketing stage. Also, by being
 "easy" I reduce negotiating strength in the next project, AND he is more
 likely to call me in the middle of the night with a "hot" book suggestion
 that he will lose interest in half-way through the writing stage. By making a
 serious commitment on THIS project, he anticipates the need to on the next,
 and if he calls with that "hot" idea, it is likely to see print.
><< My opinions above are exactly that: my own, and opinions. >>
   Mine are also.
Newsgroups: misc.writing,rec.arts.books,rec.arts.sf.written