The Call: Take Two!

How was that suspense? Did the six days since I last blogged feel like a LONG WEEKEND? 😉

At least the wait ended with good results …

Monday, October 20th

I, the compulsive email checker, see the email from my agent mere minutes before she calls to tell me. Publisher B has made an offer! They spell out the advance and royalty breakdown in a short email. The numbers are higher than I expect, so I’m blown away when my agent suggests countering for more. More? Really? How can my book be worth that?* Also, my agent will contact Publisher A to see if their offer is ready.

I scream and jump, run downstairs to scream and jump with Mom and Dad, hug and kiss Kevin when he gets home, and struggle with not announcing it instantly on the ACFW loop and this blog.

Fortunately, my agent is going to the Glorieta conference and will see Editor A there.

Unfortunately, my agent is going to the Glorieta conference and will be without internet access for near to a week.

During her absence, I stumble upon (thank you, ACFW loop) a presentation by Terry Burns. He gathered many opinions on the current state of the publishing business.

One of the editors he posed the questions to “happens” to be Editor B, who says:

We do seem to be getting more conservative with our sales projections on various projects as the economy struggles. With that, we end up lowering the advances offered. I would advise authors to think about sharing the risk with the publishers a bit more. If the author really believes in his/her work and thinks they can help the publisher reach the market.

I ask in fear in trembling, What, dear God, should I do about this?

*This is nearing dangerous territory. Talking about advances is considered a major no-no in the industry. I used to wonder why. Shouldn’t we have some idea of the monetary payoff years of effort could bring? For the record, I will not disclose the amount of my advance for two reasons:

1) To protect both you and me. For some reason, we humans tend to struggle with jealousy. What if my advance is more than yours? Does that make your book any less God’s calling on your life? What if your advance is larger than mine? Are you more loved by God? It gets ridiculous pretty quickly.

2) To help pre-publisher authors avoid unrealistic expectations. Different-sized houses offer different-sized advances. The mere amount of money the publishing house can pay you is NOT a straight correlation to how much support they will give your book.

2 Responses to The Call: Take Two!

  1. Miralee Ferrell December 18, 2008 at 9:53 am #

    That is SO awesome that you have two offers. God is SO good!!!

    I struggled on my first book with a relatively low advance, based on what the industry often pays (according to my agent). But she very wisely counseled that it’s better to take a lower advance, than one that’s so high you can’t earn out. I’m blessed that my first book is now in second print, and it has earned out it’s advance. If I’d pushed for a lot higher advance, I’d have been losing sleep worrying they wouldn’t want book 2, if book 1 didn’t earn the advance. So there’s something to be said for a low advance. If your book doesn’t do super well, it’s not such a huge deal. If it’s does awesome, you’ll have royalty checks coming in.

    And isn’t your agent taking her cell phone to the conference? She could call you after she talks to the publisher, right?

    Blessings!! Miralee Ferrell
    http://www.miraleeferrell.com

  2. Jessica December 20, 2008 at 9:58 am #

    You’re very smart not to disclose your advance. 🙂
    This is such an interesting story!