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!)