tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post6113409030525467219..comments2023-07-03T07:26:04.780-04:00Comments on The Rejecter: The Joy of Low AdvancesThe Rejecterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09087643296072075641noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-24624898323180521282008-01-01T11:18:00.000-05:002008-01-01T11:18:00.000-05:00Kind of in the same vein...I'm curious to learn mo...Kind of in the same vein...<BR/><BR/>I'm curious to learn more about multi-book deals. How does that work? I see things on Publisher's Lunch about a 2- or 3-book deal with X publisher. What does that mean in terms of money? Are you only paid an advance on the first book in the series, but some sort of guarantee that the same publisher wants your next 2 books? And then you negotiate a contract for each book in the deal?<BR/><BR/>Are you providing them with proposals for those other books at the time of the deal? Or is it just a basic concept...like an idea for a series of books with only one book written so far and a bare outline of the rest of the series?<BR/><BR/>I'd love to hear your thoughts on this Rejector.K J Gillenwaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12023089365553324315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-48453357872631756812007-10-02T12:06:00.000-04:002007-10-02T12:06:00.000-04:00I'm just setting foot on the long road marked 'Sub...I'm just setting foot on the long road marked 'Submissions' and have also concluded that earning out on a small advance is far better than not earning out on a big one.<BR/><BR/>I'll accept any amount of money. Try me ;)<BR/><BR/>Heck, if by some miracle someone offers me a million, I'm going to take it but that's going to make the second, third etc books very hard to sell. Since I've already drafted them I'd be a bit miffed about that.<BR/><BR/>Worrying about advances is still just an academic exercise for me since I'm only at the submission stage and might never get further. I'll keep trying until I run out of agents, naturally. Then I'll move house, change my name and try them all again with another book.<BR/><BR/>So I'll have to stick with my day job for now, which mostly consists of sitting on street corners wearing a card with 'Please help this man become a capitalist' on it.<BR/><BR/>The pay's not great but at least I'm my own boss.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-20303162180627523392007-09-28T13:21:00.000-04:002007-09-28T13:21:00.000-04:00"Why did you accept such a small advance?"Sheesh! ..."Why did you accept such a small advance?"<BR/><BR/>Sheesh! Have you been in a coma for years, questioner? We writers accept small advances because for the most part, that's all they're offering!<BR/><BR/>Harlequin, when they contract for the first with an author, pays between $5 and $10K. That's it. No amount of agent negotiation is said to change this. Can you write one book for Harlequin and quit your day job? I don't know where you live but I certainly cannot.<BR/><BR/>Also see Victoria Strauss's blog, about how the advances she's getting now are the same dollar amount she got in 1982.<BR/><BR/>This is a business as well as an art, yes, but the business side is NOT structured primarily to give the author an income.<BR/><BR/>Any more questions like this and I will be forced the upload strong coffee.<BR/><BR/>T2Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13100565897627429788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-40991365108482207142007-09-28T12:38:00.000-04:002007-09-28T12:38:00.000-04:00My god, Anon sounds like he is channeling a certai...My god, Anon sounds like he is channeling a certain close relative of mine. It really is a personality problem and lack of social skills, hon, not the universe's way of giving you strength to perservere.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for sharing, Rejector.writtenwyrddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02280711822302493122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-36339509571019049462007-09-27T12:31:00.000-04:002007-09-27T12:31:00.000-04:00yak ayak yak yak yakblarp, blarp, blarpwhy do you ...yak ayak yak yak yak<BR/>blarp, blarp, blarp<BR/>why do you do this blog<BR/>i'm going to put you in myy bookAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-54600110642373314322007-09-26T13:15:00.000-04:002007-09-26T13:15:00.000-04:00Kirsten, I assure you, down here in NY we publish ...Kirsten, I assure you, down here in NY we publish a lot of incoherent lit'ry drivel, too. Sometimes we even pay enormous advances for it. <BR/><BR/>I always laugh my ass off when the beancounters faint with surprise at the number of returns. That's the difference between selling books to bookbuyers and selling books to readers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-29405907381578699922007-09-26T10:16:00.000-04:002007-09-26T10:16:00.000-04:00Re: pseudonymsJayne Ann Krentz said that around te...Re: pseudonyms<BR/><BR/>Jayne Ann Krentz said that around ten years ago she wrote three paranormals (before paranormal hit the big time) that destroyed the name JAK (at least for the time being). She marketed her historical fiction under the name "Amanda Quick," and the only thing her agent told publishers while shopping the book is that she was a successful category author looking to break out.<BR/><BR/>That was it.<BR/><BR/>So yes, I suspect you can fool the publishers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-74638580023372532252007-09-26T09:52:00.000-04:002007-09-26T09:52:00.000-04:00Those published UK based authors who I have met (s...Those published UK based authors who I have met (some v. successful, others solid mid-listers) have all told me that you're better off getting a small advance for your first book because of the problems of earning out. I've heard some horrific stories of debut authors who got great reviews but because of a variety of factors (little publicity, crappy covers, poor distribution) didn't make back the advance - the result? The publisher dropped them. One respected UK agent told me that he's had to advise clients to develop a pseudonym in order to go back to publishers because one look at the sales figures and they're reject anything under the 'real' name.<BR/><BR/>- BritbeatAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-78616301315892038132007-09-26T03:19:00.000-04:002007-09-26T03:19:00.000-04:00I agree - a large advance can be a sword hanging o...I agree - a large advance can be a sword hanging over your head or mean that a publisher puts more omph behind your book. It's hard to know what is better. <BR/>If enough copies of your book do not get into bookstores then it doesn't matter what the advance is- the reader won't be able to buy your novel. <BR/>This is an interesting discussion (even with all the anon crap)<BR/>All the best to you rejecter!ORIONhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01534064935115027523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-32845770899242050632007-09-26T00:49:00.000-04:002007-09-26T00:49:00.000-04:00Oh, that's good, goblin. A big, wet sloppy kiss to...Oh, that's good, goblin. A big, wet sloppy kiss to you! I just worry, because people have been known to take me the wrong way, when really, 50% of the shit that comes out of my mouth is good-natured hooey.<BR/><BR/>Maybe we all ought to adopt the dreaded emoticon to avoid misunderstandings. But they just bring out feelings of incredible hostility in me, they make me want to smash my keyboard with a meat hammer every time I'm forced to use one. Stupid, cutesy happy faces, mutter, mutter...;)kirsten saellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02778076783406073225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-12009763458929716282007-09-25T23:03:00.000-04:002007-09-25T23:03:00.000-04:00No, no, Kirsten; your comment was funny! I think m...No, no, Kirsten; your comment was funny! I think most of the slightly-snide comments made back were tongue in cheek also.<BR/><BR/>Peace and love, my dear; we're Canadians, after all! :-D <BR/><BR/>*snuggles you*jjdebenedictishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16950592240599703771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-33438204879729501632007-09-25T21:53:00.000-04:002007-09-25T21:53:00.000-04:00I suppose you guys are probably right, but I think...I suppose you guys are probably right, but I think the Canada Council promotes a vicious cycle of underperformance. That little maple leaf on a book repels at least as many readers as it attracts, because they know what it's likely to signify--something dark and depressing and heavy. If that impression were to change, maybe the numbers would change, too. The Canadian market isn't the only market available for books printed in Canada. But it <I>is </I>largely the only market for the <I>kind</I> of books that get published in Canada, and that's a shame. <BR/><BR/>Canadians do buy genre fiction. I know this because I buy genre fiction. There wouldn't be a market here for all those Yankee books on racks at the drug store if we didn't. <BR/><BR/>I know I'd be more open to Canadian fiction if I wasn't 80% sure that what I bought was going to depress, annoy or flummox me. And don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good cry as much as the next person--hence my love of Guy Gavriel Kay--but in order to enjoy a book, it has to end with a sense of hope for the world, and so much literary fiction doesn't give me that. I read as much to be entertained as to be enlightened. If the entertainment isn't there, then why should I bother?<BR/><BR/>I was watching an interview with Dave Foley today, in which he claimed Canadian film was humorless and depressing. I feel the same largely applies to Canadian fiction. There is some cream there amongst the crap, goblin, to be sure, but publishers aren't the only people with budgetary constraints. I've got roughly ten bucks a week to play with, unless I want to gamble the kids' lunch money on a book that's as likely to piss me off as it is to please me. <BR/><BR/>That all being said, <I>it was a joke, people.</I> A snide one, certainly, but a joke nonetheless. I'm sorry if my raised eyebrow and shit-eating grin didn't come across when I made it, but I think the reaction it evoked is further evidence that we Canadians need to develop a sense of humor about ourselves. Sheesh.kirsten saellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02778076783406073225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-67828639122853004982007-09-25T21:10:00.000-04:002007-09-25T21:10:00.000-04:00Canada has a reputation for producing some stunnin...Canada has a reputation for producing some stunning, incredible literary fiction.<BR/><BR/>And where the industry (such as it is) shows willingness to publish certain kinds of literature, you inevitably wind up with the crap of the crop being published alongside the good stuff.<BR/><BR/>Pretentious and incoherent? Yup; crap of the crop. But to be fair, we do produce a lot of cream up here also.<BR/><BR/>~ A Canadian Goblinjjdebenedictishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16950592240599703771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-29535192779835754902007-09-25T20:40:00.000-04:002007-09-25T20:40:00.000-04:00kirsten - genre literature doesn't pay/publish muc...kirsten - genre literature doesn't pay/publish much, if at all, in Canada sheerly because of numbers (try running them sometime based on US sales figures, over 35 million people). <BR/><BR/>Lit fic continues only because of Canada Council grants, pretty much. And sure, that's biased, but that's the level it's at. Don't worry though, the Harper gov't is dismantling that as quickly as possible, so soon there won't be that much pretentious stuff either.<BR/><BR/>- Canadian editorAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-72410695799415833022007-09-25T18:44:00.000-04:002007-09-25T18:44:00.000-04:00(1) Beauty is a concept that human beings invented...<I>(1) Beauty is a concept that human beings invented. It doesn't exist in nature; it exists in our brains. And since every human being has different patterns of synapses in their brains, why wouldn't we all perceive beauty differently?</I><BR/><BR/>Yay, goblin. When I read that derfwad's ridiculous assertion on the universal nature of beauty, I thought, "jeez, if this guy's right, I'm gonna feel pretty damn sorry for warthogs come mating season."<BR/><BR/><I>ouch, eh?</I><BR/><BR/>All right, maybe I was a tad glib, but you've gotta admit it's hard for genre fiction to make it in Canada. Unless you're like Margaret Atwood, and you write genre fiction that's heavy and depressing enough to masquerade as litfic. There's a presumption in Canada that to be any good, a book has to be "important." It has to matter. It has to transcend the boundaries of genre and ascend into the realm of pure art, or whatever. There are exceptions, some of whom I truly adore. But when I looked for a publisher, I went south, not east.<BR/><BR/>Plus, I have this chronic perverse impulse to say things that I know will annoy others. Coupled with my phobia of emoticons, I'm afraid not everyone can tell my tongue is almost always firmly inserted in my cheek. <BR/><BR/>-also a Canadiankirsten saellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02778076783406073225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-20199159136203171182007-09-25T17:49:00.000-04:002007-09-25T17:49:00.000-04:00"This is almost incoherent and pretentious enough ...<B>"This is almost incoherent and pretentious enough to make it in Canadian literature. Maybe Anon should move to Toronto?"</B><BR/><BR/>We may be pretentious and incoherent up here (I blame the accent. And the subway. And the humidity.), but at least we're polite.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-83519017521393720852007-09-25T17:21:00.000-04:002007-09-25T17:21:00.000-04:00Thank you, jjdebenedictis. If that doesn't shut U...Thank you, jjdebenedictis. If that doesn't shut UAP up, nothing will.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-65210173289061690492007-09-25T16:22:00.000-04:002007-09-25T16:22:00.000-04:00Hey Canadian literature pays less than American ge...Hey Canadian literature pays less than American genre literature, overall. :-) <BR/><BR/>First anon though - remember that a $500k advance in one year is subject to a lot of taxes. I'd want at least two of those to retire. :)<BR/><BR/>Nice post and congrats!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-71415017581797571392007-09-25T13:48:00.000-04:002007-09-25T13:48:00.000-04:00I have been pathetically attacked for thinking tha...<I>I have been pathetically attacked for thinking that beauty must be absolute, otherwise it's not beauty.</I><B>(1)</B><I> Everything is NOT merely a matter of opinion. Our perceptions conform to a mutual reality, and most people are wrong because they don't have the discipline to see it.</I><B>(2)</B><I> If beauty is not objective in any way, we have no consistent principles to rely on. Reality falls apart. Meaning doesn't exist.</I><B>(3)</B><BR/><BR/><B>(1)</B> Beauty is a concept that human beings invented. It doesn't exist in nature; it exists in our brains. And since every human being has different patterns of synapses in their brains, why wouldn't we all perceive beauty differently?<BR/><BR/><B>(2)</B> It's hard to take seriously the opinions of someone who champions snobbery. The person doing so always considers their own opinions to be the correct ones, even without evidence to support their notion.<BR/><BR/><B>(3)</B> As someone with a couple of degrees in physics, let me assure you that reality does not fall apart if beauty is not absolute. Nor does the universe fail to have consistent principles. It is possible your understanding of the universe falls apart if beauty is not absolute, but that is not the universe's problem.jjdebenedictishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16950592240599703771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-67799918543151611852007-09-25T13:44:00.000-04:002007-09-25T13:44:00.000-04:00No, Da Vinci Code was not Brown's first published ...No, Da Vinci Code was not Brown's first published book.<BR/><BR/>As jj says, you're not trying to fool agents or publishers with a pseudonym. You're trying to fool idiot computers. If that isn't tautologous.nonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00415222406280230021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-90290294086983007412007-09-25T13:21:00.000-04:002007-09-25T13:21:00.000-04:00- That is what pseudonyms are for, my friend.- Yea...<I>- That is what pseudonyms are for, my friend.<BR/><BR/>- Yeah, but you're not hiding your true identity from another potential publisher.</I><BR/><BR/>No. The publisher would know, and your previous publisher isn't going to give you a second shot, regardless. <BR/><BR/>However, a new publisher might. The bookstores' records are fooled by a pseudonym, which means your previous poor numbers won't affect how many books they order when your new, pseudonymous book comes out.<BR/><BR/>My understanding is, if you publish under a pseudonym, you're pretty much starting from scratch, like a first-time author. You have write a book people believe will sell and your previous reputation gets you nothing.<BR/><BR/>Aaaaand I could certainly be mistaken about all this. Anyone who knows for sure, feel free to correct me. :-)jjdebenedictishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16950592240599703771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-40404349817782710672007-09-24T22:42:00.000-04:002007-09-24T22:42:00.000-04:00I would accept a low advance. HAPPILY. Because at ...I would accept a low advance. HAPPILY. Because at this point in my life, a "small" advance in the publishing world is still an awful lot of money for me. Someone hands me a check for a few thousands dollars? That's a flushed radiator, lots of new clothes for my daughter, and a shitload of groceries. AND some debts paid off. <BR/><BR/>I want to be published. No author can live full time off their first novel right away and focus on deathless prose. Well, some do, but hey, we can't all be Dan Brown. <BR/><BR/>Oh wait... was Da Vinci Code his first book? Don't know, don't care. Won't read it. <BR/><BR/>I want to walk into Books a Million and see my book on the shelf. I'm willing to accept a lesser advance to see that, because as a first time author, I'm just not worth the big bucks. I think I will be, one day... but I have to make the first sale!Heather Dudleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04186324266078999666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-18431937049715275392007-09-24T16:28:00.000-04:002007-09-24T16:28:00.000-04:00"This is almost incoherent and pretentious enough ..."This is almost incoherent and pretentious enough to make it in Canadian literature. Maybe Anon should move to Toronto?"<BR/><BR/>ouch, eh?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-34568729331718805962007-09-24T14:35:00.000-04:002007-09-24T14:35:00.000-04:00Hmm I think anon is the same poster who has been s...Hmm I think anon is the same poster who has been slamming me on my blog. Basically a disgruntled, frustrated person who doesn't have the courage to use his real name. I have no doubt that he has no friends in the real world; anyone who sees it as their purpose to discredit others via this cowardly medium is obviously deluded and pathetic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35623128.post-28212790645170586582007-09-24T13:38:00.000-04:002007-09-24T13:38:00.000-04:00While a great big advance would be nice. I think i...While a great big advance would be nice. I think it really does not make a whole lot of difference (aside for mundane things like eating, shelter and other sundry bills) whether you get the money all up front in the form of an advance or let it trickle in twice a year as royalties.<BR/><BR/>Let's hope you get to see some royalty checks and they brighten your day.<BR/><BR/>Of course, all this brings to mind the story of the milkmaid who was dreaming of the fine dress she would buy with the money from the chickens she sold, which were raised from the chicks she had hatched from the eggs she had bought with the money from the milk she had sold. We all know where that story ended up. <BR/><BR/>I wonder if people who sneer at a small advance are the same ones who will ignore a penny on the street as they walk? As far as am I concerned, the bank doesn't care how the money got into my account, whether it came in small quantities or large, just as long as it is there.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08466885792177930052noreply@blogger.com