Comments on: Musing on Monday: Identifying Your Business Philosophy

By: Amie Stuart

Amie Stuart — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:10:24 +0000

And bonuses….don’t forget the bonuses!!!

By: admin

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:15:49 +0000

Hey Evangeline, thanks for the compliment. I sometimes worry that my publishing business talk is boring to folks, but at the same time, it’s what’s on my mind, so it gets a lot of play here. I try to be pretty honest about what I see as the ups and downs of the publishing industry, but that’s because I wish I’d seen some of this stuff coming a little sooner. I figure I can’t go back and learn this stuff in advance, but maybe it’ll help someone else.

And Amie’s 100% right–the advance you’re offered is absolutely a signal of how much effort the publisher is likely to put into promoting your book(s). Also how many books they’re willing to buy in one shot–even if they spend less per book, if they buy three or four in one shot, they’re looking at being in it with you for a pretty long haul.

For me, the formula for what I need in a contract depends on a mixture of factors, including not just dollars, but number of books, format, distribution expectations, etc.

By: Amie

Amie — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:49:46 +0000

Yeah, how to be a businessperson AND a writer isn’t exactly something anyone actually teaches (that I know of–and for the reason Evangeline stated!) and the learning curve is STEEP baby!!

You already know, of course, that I”m in complete agreement with you. After four books in print, I’m ready to move to the next level but sometimes i feel like for every one step forward, I take two steps back.

FWIW…and i know you’ve said this but I want to say it out loud for the lurkers–the more they pay you, the more they invest in you, the harder they’re going to work to make back that investment.

Just something to think about.

By: Bev

Bev — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:23:00 +0000

Fabulous blog!!!

By: Elyssa Papa

Elyssa Papa — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:59:49 +0000

This is a fabulous blog! It made me think a lot.

By: Evangeline

Evangeline — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:48:53 +0000

I don’t visit very many blogs, but yours has become a must-stop because of your honesty. It’s so rare to see such openness (well, as open as you feel comfortable being) with romance writers–even on private loops everyone maintains a rah-rah, as-long-as-you’re-published attitude. I know I hesitate to talk about things on my own blog (hence its dormant state) because of that unspoken taboo about talking about the industry, career, etc. It’s even rarer that debut and mid-list authors talk about what’s going on–the obfuscation further feeds the myth that once you sign a contract you’re on Easy Street. Thank you for your honesty.