What I Wish I’d Known is a regular series where we ask some of our favourite people in the book industry to reflect on their careers. In this instalment, authors share some of the unexpected and useful things they’ve learned along the way about book deals, advances and royalties.
Image: Canva.
Danielle Binks – The Year the Maps Changed
I joined Jacinta di Mase Management as an agent in 2016. In 2019, I was offered my first solo book deal as an author in my own right. I learnt that I needed to separate my agent and author selves, so I gave the reins to Jacinta to negotiate because it doesn’t matter who you are, when your dream is on the table, you lose all common sense and business perspective. She advocates for me to get things like a monetary bonus if I win the CBCA award and rising royalties from 10–12.5 per cent and beyond if I hit certain sales targets.
Claire Christian – It’s Been A Pleasure, Noni Blake
I knew nothing about book deals and how to read book contracts when I won the Text Prize. I asked a theatre producer friend to read over my contract, and they then asked a literary agent friend of theirs to look over my contract—which is how I very fortuitously ended up with an agent.
I’ve released three books in the last seven years, and I still feel like there’s so much I don’t really understand about it all because there’s no one-size-fits-all model and the sector is constantly changing. So ask questions, ask all of the questions and then pay that information forward to other folks, because I really think we’re all out here feeling like we have no idea what we’re doing. Make literary friends, support other authors on social media, read their newsletters, jump in their DMs and befriend your local booksellers. Ask lots of questions. Just this month, I sent out a bunch of frantic voice notes about pitching to some industry pals because I felt like I was flailing. It’s okay if you feel like you’re flailing…as long as you find ways to block it out so you can do the thing you love, which is writing.
I wish I knew there was no cheat code, that hustle culture has no place when making your art and that what matters is the joy in the creation of your work. You learn bit by bit. The books will come, and hopefully come out. So control the controllable, which is the words on the page.
Max Easton – Paradise Estate
It seems common to think of a book deal as a dollar amount and the little logo that gets printed on the spine, but a book deal is more than that. It’s free access to editors and proofreaders, designers and printers, distributors and publicists. Having spent a decade doing most of those processes alone (and at great cost) while self-releasing zines, journals, tapes and records, I felt hugely grateful to be able to focus on the writing. Sure it sucks that advances and royalty rates are relatively small (for me and most writers: $3000 advanced against 10 per cent of every copy sold, in a market where 1000 copies might be considered ‘good’ sales), but I’ve found that having a team of people bringing your thoughts, feelings and ideas to the printed page can’t be costed.
Chris Flynn – Here Be Leviathans
I had no idea advances came in instalments—one-third upon signing, one-third upon completion of edits and the final payment when the book comes out. Given two years can easily elapse from signing to release, that’s a long time between lunches. Even if you’re fortunate enough to secure a decent advance (my first was $2500, and I was so grateful because I only had $175 in my bank account) the three-way split of funds necessitates holding off on that jetski purchase. It does however help instil an essential quality for survival in the writing game: resilience.
Sometimes I feel like we need a service in publishing where writers can ask these kinds of questions. I started talking about applying for public lending rights money (a scheme that gives authors royalties from library loans) in the green room at a lit festival a few years back and within minutes I was surrounded by a dozen authors all wanting to hear how it worked (including some established names!).
Ashley Goldberg – Abomination
When I first learnt that Abomination had been acquired, I was equal parts grateful that my dream was coming true and terrified that someone was going to swoop in and take it all away. I feel like this is a pretty common reaction for debut authors that can, unfortunately, result in a lack of assertiveness when it comes to the negotiation phase.
The things I wish I’d known are these: ask questions—of other authors and your agent (if you have one). Learn as much as you can about the deals publishers have made for similar books, including advances, print runs, multiple books in a deal etc. This information will be invaluable during negotiations. Also, don’t be afraid to ask about marketing and publicity, even the editorial process. This is your dream come true, and it’s up to you to make sure the experience is as close to how you imagined as possible.
Eda Gunaydin – Root & Branch
The best way to make stacks off writing is to have a polished manuscript that is virtually ready to go when you’re querying agents. Although agents take a cut, they attract significantly higher advances because they can force publishers to bid against each other. While this is the gold standard advice, here’s where I admit that I did the exact opposite: I had no agent, and my manuscript wasn’t complete when I signed my contract (this is a little more common for non-fiction than it is fiction, but tends to reduce the advance). It worked out for me this way simply because I didn’t have the financial capacity (not to mention self-confidence) to produce an entire manuscript on the off-chance the gamble would pay off. I was an essayist who often wrote on commission and luckily was able to use about 30 per cent of my previously published work to build a full collection. A key trade-off is autonomy versus financial reward. I had a lot more room to experiment with my not-very-commercial book.
What you will hear very often is that the higher the advance, the longer it takes to start making royalties, which is true. Indeed most books never earn out their advances. The fact my advance was relatively small (think in the realm of selling about three essays to well-paying Australian literary journals) meant that I ‘earned out’, which I’m proud of, and which publishers view positively. Overall, most writers are not making our key writing income from royalty earnings.
Simone Amelia Jordan – Tell Her She’s Dreamin’
Winning the Richell Prize in 2021 marked my entry into the literary world. The $10,000 prize and mentorship from Vanessa Radnidge at Hachette Australia was a fortunate start! After developing my memoir Tell Her She’s Dreamin’ further, Hachette offered me a publishing deal. I joined the Australian Society of Authors, which had just launched Authors Legal, for crucial advice from managing lawyer Victoria Chylek.
Honestly, I still don’t know how the agreement (my advance, royalty structure, etc.) compares to other writers’—authors tend to shy away from talking about these things, and I don’t like to ask—but I’m content with the agreement, especially because I didn’t have an agent. Future earnings in this challenging market remain uncertain; however, being paid anything to tell my story marked a personal triumph in realising a lifelong dream.
Kate Mildenhall – The Hummingbird Effect / The First Time podcast
- that the first deal doesn’t necessarily beget the second one (or any thereafter!);
- that an agent is worth their weight in gold (or at very least, their commission);
- that asking questions, forming a community of other writers, joining the ASA, subscribing to litmags and listening to writerly podcasts are all part of the toolkit that helps a writer understand the way the industry works and what to expect as they negotiate a book deal;
- that there are easier ways of making money than writing books.
Liam Pieper – Appreciation
A book deal is—for an aspiring author—a panacea after a lifetime of longing. For a publisher, it’s Tuesday. Because that’s the day acquisition meetings are held, where a publisher must decide if your book is something they can sell, that they want to buy off you. Hence a book deal.
To help them, an author must, as though in a Cronenberg movie, reach into one’s own chest and rip out the heart to render a work of undeniable literary worth—the shining facets of your soul rendered in ink on the page. That’s one way. The other is to be popular on TikTok.
With literary fiction, an author generally has to write the whole novel and have it fairly perfect before taking it to a publisher. Non-fiction book deals are often offered without a complete manuscript, because it’s easier to market and sell non-fiction, particularly memoir. This is why every celebrity will be offered a book deal at some point. Which they usually take, even if they don’t want to write a book. There are many, many celebrities with book deals that they don’t know quite what to do with. I know this because I ghost-write these books for them, and because my latest novel, Appreciation, is about exactly that—being trapped in a cursed book deal with no way out. Please buy it. I signed a deal on it, and while I’m a perfectly serviceable literary author, I’m not very popular on TikTok.
Abra Pressler – Love and Other Scores
If I told my younger self I had turned down a book deal, she would have screamed, ‘What, why? It’s a book deal!’ But the reality is that some book deals do not leave you better off than doing it on your own, and that can be a hard pill to swallow.
Romance is a hot market. I did modestly well self-publishing romance for three years (and continue to do so), but I had a manuscript that I felt would fit into the traditional market. When I got an offer, the indie experience allowed me to identify what made a good deal and what made a rather poor deal in terms of royalties, rights and advances versus what I could make indie publishing—especially important as I did not have an agent.
No-one likes walking away from opportunities, but I felt my book deserved to find a home where the enthusiasm of the publisher was reflected in the offer—and a few months later, I found it!
Mirandi Riwoe – Sunbirds
I always encourage emerging writers to enter writing competitions. I think they’re a great way to ensure your name gets seen, your work looked at by potential publishers, maybe publication and a little money.
My first novel (a crime novel) was published because I was already in contact with the commissioning editor through a writing competition in which I’d had another novel shortlisted. I didn’t have an agent, and certainly had no idea of what to expect, and the advance and royalties were laughably low, but the giddiness of being published and having a book cover was thrilling. Perhaps it’s too easy now to think, ‘Oh, I wish I’d known to “get an agent” or “ask for more advance” or “wait for another publisher and get a better deal”’ because those things probably would not have happened. (Perhaps I should have paid a fee to have someone look at that first contract, but then that would have taken up a lot of the advance! In hindsight, of course, I’ve learnt about negotiating for a higher advance and learnt about seeking an agent and publisher who are right for me.). Also, the publication of that first novel definitely led to other great writing opportunities.
