Spreading The Good News Of Others
Karen Fox reprints recent sales from Publisher’s Lunch on her website, along with a host of other helpful information such as Brenda Hiatt’s "Show Me The Money" regarding romances advances. The Publisher’s Lunch replay provides some insight into who is buying what, when, for how much and with what agent. Familiar names pop up over and over. New names, folks who blog hop, folks with blogs and folks who have been writing forever - you can find them all here. It’s interesting reading. Here are two highlights from the April selections so far:
Shelley Bradley’s first two eroticas, one about a personal security specialist who lures his enemy’s sister into a trap he’s set for revenge
After a quick check of her website, her previous books appear to be Zebra Historicals from 1999-2002. Her new deal is with Berkley Sensation and she calls the August 2006 release a "rompy, erotic suspense novel." Looks like a new-to-erotica writer snagging a multi-book deal with Berkley. Not EC or Black Lace or even Brava, but one of the less-usual suspects, Berkley. Berkley has made a grab for several writers lately for erotic anthologies. Half of Brava and a third of EC seem to be headed to Berkley. No question about that. If you write sexy, looks as if Berkley could be a good starter (or forever) home .
And what about this one:
Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s debut DAIRY QUEEN, about the summer that a fifteen-year-old girl running her family’s dairy farm in Wisconsin, simultaneously decides she wants to play on the high-school football team and falls for the rival team’s quarterback, who she happens to be training, to Margaret Raymo at Houghton Mifflin Children’s, in a significant deal ($251,000 - $499,000), for two books, by Jill Grinberg at Anderson Grinberg Literary Management (NA). Karen_walsh@hmco.com — Publisher’s Lunch, 4/5/05
A debut writer getting a two-book deal in that price range is, well, shocking. Maybe not to others, but to me it is. Do you hear that sound? That’s the thundering of footsteps as hordes of unpublished (and some published) writers run to their keyboards to try their hands at YA. I don’t know what else to say but, damn, that’s quite a deal. There isn’t much writing related stuff out there in virtual land under this lady’s name. Guess that’s what "debut" means. And, what a hell of a way to make an entrance.
Congrats ladies.
April 30th, 2005 at 11:02 am
It’s often easier for a brand new author to generate publisher excitement and the big money than someone with a track record and so-so sales.
But the big advance can be both a blessing and a curse, because now her sales HAVE to live up to it. IF they don’t, she doesn’t have a so-so record, she has a sucky one. And that may mean she’s finished, caput, in publishing. Book Angst has a cautionary tale of a new author who got the big money http://bookangst.blogspot.com/2005/04/mad-max-survey-vol-ii-keith-thriller.html
Sometimes it’s better to start small and build a loyal following with increasing advances comparable sales over time.
April 30th, 2005 at 11:16 am
The Murdock deal does seem large. But, it’s difficult to say without knowing what rights are covered. For example, did she sell the hard back and paper back rights together at that price? Are the rights U.S. and foreign? If you take the low number and break it down between two hard backs and two paper backs, that 60k or so a piece. Still a lot of money for a debut, but a much easier per edition sell through. On the other hand, if her first book is a national best seller, she’s can’t renegotiate the advance or royalty percentage for the second because contractually she’s lost her leverage. But, the odds of that are sooo slim, Monica’s ‘can’t sell through’ scenario is more likely. It might be better to begin inauspiciously and come big.
April 30th, 2005 at 12:59 pm
Compare it with Eloisa James and Michele Jaffe’s debut sales. You’ll see a similarity between these three authors.
According to Google, it’s not her first book as she’s written a critically acclaimed non-fiction book. She has a good academic background, along with the interesting bio, e.g. her husband is an inventor. She’s every publicist’s dream. That does figure in as a factor, IMO.
IMO, an author as part of a package does count: looks, background, academic qualifications, and anything that could help to recoup that kind of money, via an extensive media campaign. Uh, and, of course, her writing talent helps. Then again, this is the U.K., so it may be different over there.
April 30th, 2005 at 2:42 pm
Monica - I saw that article too. Very scary. Even scarier were some of the comments to the poor guy. One lady said he deserved it for getting such a big advance. Man, that’s tough love. Where were the publisher and agent?
Maili, as much as that scares me, and it does, you’re probably right about the whole package. That publishing is part beauty contest is really an eye-opening idea. I didn’t know about the deals for the other writers but it is interesting that it’s not just a YA issue. I guess I never realized, outside of Rowling, Cabot and a few others, that there was this money potential in YA. Call me clueless.
Wendy - I didn’t think about all the number encompasses but, still, that seemed high to me. When you look at Brenda Hiatt’s Show Me The Money, the numbers are far lower than this deal. Brava’s numbers are downright pitiful - $500 for a novella. Wow. Let’s hope the back end money is better.
May 1st, 2005 at 9:27 am
I just want to know why the girl is training the rival team’s quarterback. *g*
May 1st, 2005 at 9:55 am
Brava’s numbers are downright pitiful - $500 for a novella.
Who the hell is reporting that??????
May 1st, 2005 at 9:58 am
I guess MY question is why didn’t he hire a publicity what-do-they-call-them? person? after the first two books????
May 1st, 2005 at 10:13 am
Alison, you made my day. That number was in Brenda Hiatt’s Show Me The Money tally at some point. I’ve always hoped that was a misprint or mistake. From your response, I’ll hope that’s true.
Cece - Fair question. At some point the guy has to take some responsibility. I just didn’t think the comments about it ALL being his fault and that he somehow deserved it because he got a good deal was fair.
Shannon - It ain’t conflict without the boy being on the other team
May 1st, 2005 at 10:31 am
HK - It might be the case for a never previously pubb’d author. I really can’t say. But the Blaze numbers also don’t reflect what I know, so it’s all probably a case of where you are in your career!
May 1st, 2005 at 10:42 am
See, Alison, you’re making me sad again. As one of those never previously pubb’d writers, and one aiming for Brava, I’m kind of hoping these numbers are low. My goal, at some point, is to make a career out of writing and I’d kind of like to eat and not live in a shoe if possible. Of course, first I’ll worry about getting published then tackle the how-to-make-a-living problem.
May 1st, 2005 at 11:27 am
Cece, as for the guy at bookangst doing his own publicity. Maybe you have seen stuff I haven’t, but do-it-yourself publicity (hired or not) seems to have little effect. The biggest thing seems to be having the publisher supporting you. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have a good up-to-date website but the rest of it with bookmarks and book tours and what have you doesn’t seem all that effective. It’s getting the book–with a half-decent cover–into bookstores.