Ask HN: How much is a typical publishing deal worth?
I know this is likely unrelated to HN directly, but it's something that's alway fascinated me. How much is an average publishing deal worth for a work of fiction? Let's say a (new) author has written a novel, and is selling it around. Let's say the novel is around 500 pages, and for some reason one of the publishers likes it and decides to take a stab and publish it. How much would said author expect to earn on something like this?
I've been curious about this ever since that Twilight author sold her first book. I'm not a writer by any stretch, but am interested in how much aspiring novelists make as compensation for a 500pg book.
1 comment
[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 9.7 ms ] threadDo you understand the economics of book publishing? They have nothing to do with page count. Typically, an author will be awarded an advance on signing their contract with the publisher. For a first time fiction author, that would be about $5,000. They are then given a percentage of sales of hardcover, trade paperback, and various other channels, with the first $N of those royalties kept by the publisher until the advance is "earned out", after which the author actually receives royalties.
Because publishing is a hit-centric industry, most first-time authors will not earn out their advances, so the total compensation for their first novel will be $5,000 (plus, more likely if they're successful, money for the sale of ancillary rights, such as foreign publication rights, etc). If it goes on to be a mega-blockbuster, the sky is the limit. J.K. Rowlings' revenues attributable just to the first Harry Potter book are in the hundreds of millions -- most for the movie rights.
For more on the economics of authordom, I highly recommend reading jakonrath.blogspot.com