THE CAREER NOVELIST
Or so says the theory. In reality, large advances can actually be
profitable for a publisher, in the short term, anyway.
How's that again?
Okay, here's how it works: let us use as an example an advance of
$1 million. Authors reading about such deals are prone to think,
"Shoot! That writer just got a million bucks!" But did she?
Probably not. Overtime she will get the full amount, of course, but
most publishers spread the payment of megasums over as much time
as possible. The author's on-signing portion of that advance is likely
to be somewhere around $200,000. That is still a lot of money, but
look at what happens next. The publisher, which now has a hot novel
on its hands thanks to the publicity given the deal, also acquired
world rights—that is, all rights in all languages—to this property.
World rights? Of course. How else do you think the agent got $1
million?
Okay, so now the publisher takes the novel to the Frankfurt Book
Fair. Remember that? It is the huge rights marketplace that con-
venes in Frankfurt, Germany, every year in October. Foreign publish-
ers attending the fair are all excited about the $1 million novel.
Their U.S. scouts have told them about it, maybe even snuck them
stolen copies of the manuscript.
Auction fever begins. Everyone is hot to buy translation rights to
this $1 million wonder. (And, probably, the novel is pretty commer-
cial if it got that kind of money.) So, the selling begins. The Brits pay
the equivalent of $100,000. The Dutch pay $50,000. The Germans,
who love American culture, fork over $225,000! And the Japanese go
nuts: they cough up a cool half mil.
When the dust settles, the U.S. publisher has raked in $1 million
in overseas sales. The book is paid for, right? Noooo, actually the
publisher has turned a profit of about $800,000. (Remember, so far
it has paid the author only a paltry $200,000.) True, some of that $1
million in overseas moneys will eventually have to be split with the
author, but not until the author's first royalty statement is due,
which may be two years from then.
Nice racket, huh?
Now you also know one dirty little secret of seven- and eight-
figure deals: To obtain money like that, agents often sell all world