Advances and royalties

Filed under Soapbox on August 17, 2004
Keywords: advances, royalties

While many of the Pens & Swords readers out there may already know what I’m going to talk about, I’ve seen and heard enough misconceptions that I thought I’d discuss the issue of how author’s get paid. Besides, talking about money is always fun.

I should first point out that the method of payment differs by market. Most short stories are sold up front for a flat fee, often dictated by word count (i.e., so many pennies per word). Novelists get royalties based off of book sales, with an advance given based off of future sales. The author won’t see any royalties until their advance has been “paid off”. For example, Maiden of Pain will have to sell more than thirty times as many copies as the number of people who entered the open call before I see a royalty check.

The amount of the advance, and the percentage of the royalty, varies by publisher. If an author has proven sales, they can command more. Even then, most authors don’t get rich off their books, at least not right away. Those big name authors are rich because they sold the movie or other merchandising rights to their book. I read an online interview with R. A. Salvatore where he suggested that an author would have to be putting out five or more novels a year to make a living just off of writing. I’m having a hard time finishing one while working a forty-hour week!