Chances are, you won't get rich.
Posted: May 15th, 2011, 10:42 pm
I imagine this has already been discussed here, but I came across a blog post that breaks down the (sobering) numbers for those of us who think that writing is a way out of their crappy job. Full post is http://mandyhubbard.livejournal.com/249 ... ad=2474182, but here is most of it.
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So here's the deal: Chances are, you won't get rich. Chances are, you won't even quit your day job.
If you write MG or YA, and you sell to a smaller, independent press--but one who still distributes nationally and has most books stocked in B&N and Borders-- your advance will probably be in the $2,000-$5,000 range.
If you sell a book to one of the big six publishers, and it's a single book deal, and it's something deemed more quiet or literary, you may see $7,500-$10,000. if it has a bigger commercial hook, but still seems a little risky, you may get $15,000.
These are all very round, very raw numbers, and in no way does that mean that if you have a quiet book and random house offers you're oging to see $7,500-10K. You could see more, you could see less. We're just playing with some numbers here of some pretty customary, run of the mill deals.
Now, here's the thing-- advances of these size will generally mean your book will have little to no publicity budget. If you get a $10K advance and it's from a big six, it's likely that your book will be sent to the usual reviewers and put in the catalog, and they may have ARCs on display at the trade fairs or events, but they aren't going to throw money into a PR campaign. Your book will quietly float or sink on its own merit and your ability to publicize it yourself.
Remember, also, that the payout of your book is in either two or three payments. Generally, it's one of these two structures:
1/2 on signing the contract
1/2 on completing revisions (aka, Delivery & Acceptance).
OR
1/3 on signing
1/3 on D&A
1/3 on publication.
So, what I'm telling you is: If your book sells to a large publisher, you may still never see a check for over $5,000 all at once, and then your agent does want her 15%, so now your check is down to $4,250, and you have to pay taxes so you'll tuck away at least a grand, and now you've got $3,000 to play with. But you'll need a web designer ($500+) and web hosting ($6-15 a month), and maybe bookmarks or business cards or swag for giveaways.
But here's the thing-- people don't buy scratch tickets becuase they want to win two dollars. They buy them because they want to win $20,000. And everyone wants to dream of a six figure deal, of an auction, of a pre-empt.
Books do regularly sell for over $100,000, and it seems as if a week does not go by without at least one YA book that sold for over $500,000.
So let's look at those numbers, shall we?
A six figure book deal, for a trilogy, would be say, $35K per book x 3 books = $105K.
Your first payment, you get 1/3 of EACH book on signing, so your first check would be $35K - 15% = 29,750. Save a third for taxes, and you have $20,000.
This is the biggest check you will ever see for your book deal (unless you get huge royalty checks later...) because every other check will be 1/3 of a single book payment (like when one D&As, or one pubs), and after your agent's commission? You'll see $9,000.
Yes, you got a six figure deal, but every check after the first one is $9Kish. If you don't have a day job? That's living expenses for a few months, tops, if you have kids or a mortgage.
So maybe that six figure deal isn't enough-- you want a MAJOR deal-- $500K.
$501,000 / 3 books = $167,000 per book.
Your first payment, you get 1/3 of EACH book on signing, so your first check would be $167K. Your agent takes her cut and sends you a cool $141,000. This is going to put you in a big tax bracket, which means you need to put away AT LEAST 1/3 of that-- so you're left with $93K.
6-9 months later, the book will D&A, and you'll see another $55K payment, less 15%, so you'll see $47,000. Put away $17Kish for taxes, and you've got $30K to play with.
So in your first year after signing, your bank account will probably net around $120,000.
Not bad, right? And the nice thing is? If your pub paid $500K, you can bet your book deal they are going to publicize your book like crazy. They want their money back.
We all dream of this kind of a boon. $120K is probably 'quit your day job' kind of money, and isn't that what we all want? if you do quit, though, you'll need health insurance, a retirement account, etc.
And guess what? Your second year out, you'll just see two payments-- $55K when book 1 pubs, and $55k when book 2 D&As, minus your agent's commission, which means the second year, you're only netting $93,000, minus a third for taxes, puts you just over 60K. Same deal on year 3, when Book 2 pubs and book 3 D&As.
And on that fourth year, when book 3 publishes, you see just one payment-- $55K, minus agent commission, so $47,000. Minus taxes, so you make $30Kish unless you've sold another book deal.
So here's how it looks at the end of the day, if you get a seemingly ENORMOUS $501,000 book deal:
Year of book deal: $120K net
Year 2: 60K net
Year 3: 60K net
Year 4: 30k net.
It's good money, but with no stability, no health insurance, and no benefits.
Okay, so I'm not saying this to be debbie downer. Just to really break it down and look at it, and help you understand that even if you get that huge deal, and everyone thinks you're rich, you may not be.
You may just be making a good living doing what you love. And THAT is the point, right? That we're all doing what we love.
And lastly, you're an optimist. I know you're an optimist because you're a published author (or trying really hard to be one)and if you can see these numbers and try to make a go of it anyway, you MUST be optimistic. Which means your book is going to be one of those that rises above, that sells like hotcakes, and makes you as famous as Stephenie Meyer.
Plus, duh, you'll get a movie deal.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
So here's the deal: Chances are, you won't get rich. Chances are, you won't even quit your day job.
If you write MG or YA, and you sell to a smaller, independent press--but one who still distributes nationally and has most books stocked in B&N and Borders-- your advance will probably be in the $2,000-$5,000 range.
If you sell a book to one of the big six publishers, and it's a single book deal, and it's something deemed more quiet or literary, you may see $7,500-$10,000. if it has a bigger commercial hook, but still seems a little risky, you may get $15,000.
These are all very round, very raw numbers, and in no way does that mean that if you have a quiet book and random house offers you're oging to see $7,500-10K. You could see more, you could see less. We're just playing with some numbers here of some pretty customary, run of the mill deals.
Now, here's the thing-- advances of these size will generally mean your book will have little to no publicity budget. If you get a $10K advance and it's from a big six, it's likely that your book will be sent to the usual reviewers and put in the catalog, and they may have ARCs on display at the trade fairs or events, but they aren't going to throw money into a PR campaign. Your book will quietly float or sink on its own merit and your ability to publicize it yourself.
Remember, also, that the payout of your book is in either two or three payments. Generally, it's one of these two structures:
1/2 on signing the contract
1/2 on completing revisions (aka, Delivery & Acceptance).
OR
1/3 on signing
1/3 on D&A
1/3 on publication.
So, what I'm telling you is: If your book sells to a large publisher, you may still never see a check for over $5,000 all at once, and then your agent does want her 15%, so now your check is down to $4,250, and you have to pay taxes so you'll tuck away at least a grand, and now you've got $3,000 to play with. But you'll need a web designer ($500+) and web hosting ($6-15 a month), and maybe bookmarks or business cards or swag for giveaways.
But here's the thing-- people don't buy scratch tickets becuase they want to win two dollars. They buy them because they want to win $20,000. And everyone wants to dream of a six figure deal, of an auction, of a pre-empt.
Books do regularly sell for over $100,000, and it seems as if a week does not go by without at least one YA book that sold for over $500,000.
So let's look at those numbers, shall we?
A six figure book deal, for a trilogy, would be say, $35K per book x 3 books = $105K.
Your first payment, you get 1/3 of EACH book on signing, so your first check would be $35K - 15% = 29,750. Save a third for taxes, and you have $20,000.
This is the biggest check you will ever see for your book deal (unless you get huge royalty checks later...) because every other check will be 1/3 of a single book payment (like when one D&As, or one pubs), and after your agent's commission? You'll see $9,000.
Yes, you got a six figure deal, but every check after the first one is $9Kish. If you don't have a day job? That's living expenses for a few months, tops, if you have kids or a mortgage.
So maybe that six figure deal isn't enough-- you want a MAJOR deal-- $500K.
$501,000 / 3 books = $167,000 per book.
Your first payment, you get 1/3 of EACH book on signing, so your first check would be $167K. Your agent takes her cut and sends you a cool $141,000. This is going to put you in a big tax bracket, which means you need to put away AT LEAST 1/3 of that-- so you're left with $93K.
6-9 months later, the book will D&A, and you'll see another $55K payment, less 15%, so you'll see $47,000. Put away $17Kish for taxes, and you've got $30K to play with.
So in your first year after signing, your bank account will probably net around $120,000.
Not bad, right? And the nice thing is? If your pub paid $500K, you can bet your book deal they are going to publicize your book like crazy. They want their money back.
We all dream of this kind of a boon. $120K is probably 'quit your day job' kind of money, and isn't that what we all want? if you do quit, though, you'll need health insurance, a retirement account, etc.
And guess what? Your second year out, you'll just see two payments-- $55K when book 1 pubs, and $55k when book 2 D&As, minus your agent's commission, which means the second year, you're only netting $93,000, minus a third for taxes, puts you just over 60K. Same deal on year 3, when Book 2 pubs and book 3 D&As.
And on that fourth year, when book 3 publishes, you see just one payment-- $55K, minus agent commission, so $47,000. Minus taxes, so you make $30Kish unless you've sold another book deal.
So here's how it looks at the end of the day, if you get a seemingly ENORMOUS $501,000 book deal:
Year of book deal: $120K net
Year 2: 60K net
Year 3: 60K net
Year 4: 30k net.
It's good money, but with no stability, no health insurance, and no benefits.
Okay, so I'm not saying this to be debbie downer. Just to really break it down and look at it, and help you understand that even if you get that huge deal, and everyone thinks you're rich, you may not be.
You may just be making a good living doing what you love. And THAT is the point, right? That we're all doing what we love.
And lastly, you're an optimist. I know you're an optimist because you're a published author (or trying really hard to be one)and if you can see these numbers and try to make a go of it anyway, you MUST be optimistic. Which means your book is going to be one of those that rises above, that sells like hotcakes, and makes you as famous as Stephenie Meyer.
Plus, duh, you'll get a movie deal.