Tuesday, February 25, 2020

I'll take less money...ok?

On the optimistic assumption that some day I will be talking to an agent about my career as a writer, I'm hoping for some advice to ensure asshattery avoidance.

I've read recently that publishers are now sometimes making huge monetary bets on debut authors. While I'd normally be all about fistfuls of cash, if I understand correctly a massive advance can actually hurt a writer's career because it's difficult to earn out.

I'd rather be a medium bet that leads to years of steady sales than a Hail Mary kicked to the curb because I missed my one shot.

This is not to say I expect a six figure advance either. I just don't want my book to NEED to be a smash hit to be a financial success, if for no other reason than there are things beyond writing quality that can impact sales.

(1) And that brings me to the fear of asshattery. Is this something even worth bringing up with an agent, or will it make me sound like a pretentious twit? I can think of a number of potential issues.

(2) Is the problem I'm worried about so rare it would only be worth bringing up if it actually happens? Or, to put it another way, how much talk about long term career plans should even happen during the first call? Maybe bring it up before the book goes on sub instead?

(3) Would taking this approach be likely to actually help my career in any way? Or is the industry just so random I'd be better off taking whatever money I can get and running, giggling, into the night?

(4) Does being willing to take a smaller advance help an agent negotiate other terms more favorably, such as better royalty rates, retention of more rights, or more marketing support?

(5) Is it classy to ask your agent to quite literally negotiate down their own paycheck?

(6) Why the heck is publishing even doing this with debut writers at all? I mean, I really hope my fifth book would be a more gripping story than my first. If I don't learn anything from all the writing, editing, interacting with writers, and interacting with other book people over several years it would be a sign I'd suffered severe brain injury. And, after a few books, I'd hope to have a fanbase and a platform to help with sales.

Those kinds of mega-advances were most often seen in YA, and increasingly rare.

It's also nuts to even think of refusing to take that kind of money. Take it and USE IT to promote your book.

Not earning out is so common as to be the norm. 80% of books don't earn out. Small advances, large advances doesn't matter. And never forget: not earning out is NOT the same as losing money. Publishers are in the black long before an advance is earned out. Some big name authors don't ever earn out; they sell lots of books, but the publisher gives them even more money.

What you need to focus on, particularly if you get that kind of upfront cash, is sales volume. Sell a lot. If you have wads of advance cash, it's a whole lot easier to send out promotional copies of your book to tastemakers, influencers and other early readers.

With wads of cash you can get help building your social media platform and doing a newsletter.

How many copies you sell is more important than how large your advance.


Here are the questions and answers:

 (1) And that brings me to the fear of asshattery. Is this something even worth bringing up with an agent, or will it make me sound like a pretentious twit? I can think of a number of potential issues.

Don't bring this up. Let the agent do her job to the best of her abilities.


(2) Is the problem I'm worried about so rare it would only be worth bringing up if it actually happens? Or, to put it another way, how much talk about long term career plans should even happen during the first call? Maybe bring it up before the book goes on sub instead?
Long term goals should be a part of your early conversations. Saying you don't want a big advance isn't career planning, it's delusional thinking. Talk about where you want to go and let your agent help you plan how to get there.

(3) Would taking this approach be likely to actually help my career in any way? Or is the industry just so random I'd be better off taking whatever money I can get and running, giggling, into the night? 

Take the money and run to the best publicist you can find. You're thinking about this advance money like it's the lottery: free money. It's NOT. It's a way to build platform. Use it.

(4) Does being willing to take a smaller advance help an agent negotiate other terms more favorably, such as better royalty rates, retention of more rights, or more marketing support?
No.
(5) Is it classy to ask your agent to quite literally negotiate down their own paycheck?
No.
(6) Why the heck is publishing even doing this with debut writers at all? I mean, I really hope my fifth book would be a more gripping story than my first. If I don't learn anything from all the writing, editing, interacting with writers, and interacting with other book people over several years it would be a sign I'd suffered severe brain injury. And, after a few books, I'd hope to have a fanbase and a platform to help with sales.

Sales isn't about how good the book is; sales is about how many people buy the book. Lots of books that will never win an award are selling zillions of copies.

A lot of writers not only don't get better with the next book, they stall out completely.

If what you're asking is why author are being asked to do promotion work, the answer is they always have had, it just looks different now.

Back in the day, and while dinosaurs weren't still roaming the earth, let's just say my cell phone weighed a pound and gas was shockingly high at $1.50 a gallon, I used to work in book publicity.  And the very best self-promoter I ever saw was a lady who worked her way on to the NYT Bestseller list through sheer perseverance.

J.A. Jance lived in Seattle. She came to Portland (OR) to be on the morning TV show there, and then do a reading that evening.  The TV show was live, and ended at 10am. We were in the car at 10:02.  Were we going back to the hotel? No we were not. Breakfast, coffee, a nosh? No no and no.

Instead, we went to every single bookstore in the Portland Metro area.

Ms. Jance knew them all.
She knew the owner by name.
She knew the managers, also often by name.

She stepped in to the store, greeted everyone, signed books, thanked them for stocking her titles, and then off we went to the next stop.

A store at the Beaverton Mall was on our list. We went in, spoke to the manager. Pleasantries exchanged. Some how it came up that the store was worried about surviving the opening of a new B&N at the Tanasbourne Mall.

Ms. Jance's ears perked up, but her conversation didn't falter.

Back in the car, she said "about that new store."
I said "on it!" whipped the horses into a gallop, and off we went to a store that WAS NOT YET OPEN FOR BUSINESS!

We arrive, and Ms Jance stepped to the front door, tapped politely, and waiting for one of the people inside to open the door.

She held her most recent book up with her author photo displayed.
She knew that the first thing she was going to hear was "we're not open."

Instead, the person who opened the door knew she was an author, and was delighted to meet her. In we swooped, yes they had her books, yes she was their very first author to visit, and a good time was had by all.

She got the names of everyone there.
Back in the car, out came The List, and B&N at Tanasbourne was added, along with the date of our visit, how many copies she'd signed, and the name of the manager and the events coordinator.

She later told me she'd visited every bookstore that stocked new mysteries in Oregon, Washington and Northern California over the course of a couple of years.

Her publisher didn't send her to those places. She just went.
She knew that people ordered the books of authors they knew and liked. She made sure she was an author they knew and liked.

Ms Jance is tall and stalwart. She would have been perfectly cast as Mum to Brienne of Tarth.

But the most formidable thing about her is not her physical presence. It's her ferocious drive and tenacity.

She knew what she wanted. She knew no one would just hand it to her.
So she figured out how to get it, and then worked her asterisk off to do so.

I'm in awe of her.

What does that mean for you?
Clearly you know what you want.
You know that no one is going to hand it to you. How you feel about that is irrelevant; it's just the facts as they are now

Now, figure out how to get what you want.
Then go get it.

Your agent will be your boon companion in this adventure. Talk about what you want to accomplish when you get the call. Then let the agent talk about how she'll help you get there. (If she doesn't, this is the Wrong Agent For You!)






23 comments:

CynthiaMc said...

I love this.

Theresa said...

So, very early this morning I'm already in awe of two people: Ms. Jance and Mr. Forti. So much to learn from both.

nightsmusic said...

On a side note here, I loved Jance's Joanna Brady series...

Karl Henwood said...

Thank you. That was very informative.

E.M. Goldsmith said...

I love this story so much. As for me, if I ever get that call, I want the publisher to back up dump trucks full of cash. I want an agent that knows exactly which editor to call (one with a strong stomach who never worried much about the boogey man under their bed and laughs every time they see the Exorcist) and get my book out on the shelves so I will have something to peddle.

Carolynnwith2Ns said...

Love this.

Um...I'll drive.

S.P. Bowers said...

So inspiring, even though this pathetic woodland creature wants to hide under the couch and tremble at the thought of walking into stores and talking to all those people.

NLiu said...

Inspired and also depressed - wondering how one does anything like that when one lives on the wrong continent (without one's close family members angrily threatening to move house without one in the meantime).

Rachel Rushefsky said...

That is an awesome story about J. A. Jance. Technique duly noted! (I love her J. P. Beaumont series. Devoured them like they were candy -- as soon as I finished one, I went to the bookstore and bought the next.)

Linda Shantz said...

When you're willing to work your asterisk off like that, you'll be successful. I've seen it in all walks of life. If that kind of confidence could be bottled and sold, I'd use all my savings to buy it! Ha!

Beth Carpenter said...

Inspiring!

Cecilia Ortiz Luna said...

Nliu,

Exactly!

John Davis Frain said...

Duly inspired, I'm flipping the sand timer...

Colin Smith said...

I've had the same thought in the past--take a smaller advance to increase the chance of earning out, making the publisher happy and increasing my chances of continuing to work with that publisher. So I appreciate this perspective. Thanks, Janet! :)

I have added this post to the Gems page in the Treasure Chest. I put it under "Marketing." :)

Alyssa R said...

Ms. Jance sounds like...my mom.
They're both strong, determined women who know how to talk to people (read: get people to like them). They both remember names, apparently (sadly something I did not inherit, unless you count fictional characters). They both work their asterisks off in their chosen professions. They're both epically amazing (at least, Mom is, and Ms. Jance sounds like she is)!!

If my mom were an author, I can see her doing this same thing, if not the same places. I don't know Ms. Jance, but I imagine she'd be *almost* as awesome a mom as mine.

I'm adding Ms. Jance to my list of People I Admire.

Jennifer R. Donohue said...

I stopped by my local bookstore just this morning! The owner was not within, however I did chat briefly with the employee there, who recognized me from the library and who congratulated me on my publishing. My books are available to order through Ingram now, and so while I could have (perhaps SHOULD have) sold some through them on consignment, now they're willing to just stock them. But, I've gotta talk to the guy...

(I was downtown for other reasons, and for my trouble, also procured a bagel and some iced coffee)

Craig F said...

I can see myself getting dressed in funny clothes and dragging a dog and alien show at sci-fi cons. There are just so few bookstores left in my neck of the woods. Our last independent store closed down a few months ago. Even my favorite art store closed last weekend, her rent had tripled with her new contract.

Nliu and Cecelia: That is what we are all here for. If you need to come and have a place to stay, put out a call, we are family here and would help.

April Mack said...

I have wondered about using this strategy myself, so I'm so glad OP asked about it! Thank you for sharing this insightful post.

Lennon Faris said...

Good post.

Craig, amen!

NLiu said...

Craig, Lennon: thanks! It was incredibly heartwarming to read that!

Now if you could just fly here and look after my children for me... Lol

KDJames said...

I love this post. Thanks, OP, for asking these questions that have often been in my head as well (although not nearly as well-ordered as this).

Ms. Jance's determination is admirable, but as an extremely introverted introvert, I fear I am doomed. I'll just have to figure out how to do effective virtual bookstore visits.

Panda in Chief said...

Before I even read to the part of your post where you identified the author who worked her way onto the NYT Best Seller list, I knew it was going to be JA Jance. She's kind of a legend around here, because my partner's late partner was a sales rep for JA's publisher. According to Holly, not only did she make friends with all the bookshop owners in the Pac NW, she also brought donuts for the truck drivers who delivered the books to the stores.
When she finally made the top 10 on the NY Times list, she threw a party at the Four Seasons in Seattle for all the people who helped her get there. She is truly a class act.

Mary said...

OH THANK GOD for the statement "80% of books don't earn out." I've been working my heine off yet haven't made my advance yet. Felt like a loser. I'm hopeful it will but it sure takes a lot of books sold to make that happen.