Packagers and work-for-hireto publish. Preedited manuscripts! Cover art in place! Of course, the
reality is that packaged books can be twice as much work as those
of single authors, but history never stopped anyone from taking a
shortcut.
Another reason publishers like packagers is that they come up
with strong commercial ideas. Clever hooks are the packager's ace
up the sleeve. It is hard for editors to resist a cute idea, especially
when that cute idea can easily be sold to the boss.
Packagers also have the knack of linking novels with licensed
brand names. Spiderman? Sure! He's a natural bet for a novel, not
because he is an especially rich or complex character (although he
is more interesting than some), but because he has a ready-made
audience—in theory. In actual fact, the packager who convinced
Marvel Comics to go ahead with Spiderman novels hedged his bets
and recruited a client of mine known for her quality writing, Diane
Duane, to make the idea more foolproof.
Indeed, so many packaged novels and series have failed that
publishers are growing wary. They are also getting smart: in some
cases they are beating the packagers in the race to link up with top
licensors. (That packagers make a healthy profit by exploiting young
writers has not escaped their notice, either.) The packaging road
rally is gathering speed.
RATIONALIZATIONS
So what does all this mean for authors? Opportunity? Danger?
The first truth to grasp is that in obtaining contracts from pub-
lishers, packagers do not generally get better terms than authors.
Packagers claim that they do, and in some cases they are correct.
But usually a packager's advance is no more than an author could
get for the same project. Now, let's do a little math.
Is 100 percent of that advance money going to be paid to the
work-for-hire writer? Are you kidding? The packager is going to take
a healthy cut, usually 50 percent. What value do packagers add to a
fiction property to justify this split? Ask and they will say: their
ideas, outlines, editing, and reputations. (Cover art and production
services do not count; those are paid for by the publisher in a sep-
arate transaction for an additional fee.)