Read this more as a "one person who's done one thing once" than my usual writing, which tends to come from decades of experience and deep ish thinking. First, I wanted to learn more about it. I wanted to figure it out, and the most effective way I learn is by actually doing, so that's what I did.
Second, I love the idea of experimenting, so I was curious to see what my experience would be like and how sales would work with a publisher also promoting my book. Third, I wanted to get the book's message out to as many folks as possible. Most of you on my list already get the value of not blindly growing a business in all directions, since it's something I've talked about for years. But there's a whole other bunch of folks who think business works in a certain way and looks a certain way and that success is fairly narrowly defined.
I want to propose a counter-intuitive argument to that way of thinking for those people. And I think a traditionally published book can accomplish that. Finally, I want to improve my writing.
I already write good -ish, but having a talented team of folks pushing me to do even better is a total win. I'm not even talking technical writing either? I want to get better at making points and valid arguments, telling stories and making my words remarkable.
By surrounding myself with people whose sole job is to enhance my writing so it sells more , I can accomplish this. Quite a few people have asked why I chose to go with an agent, instead of going directly to publishers.
As I mentioned, I knew nothing about the industry, so I wanted someone on my side, to make sure I got the best deal possible. That's what an agent does. But an agent also helps authors write their book proposals, which are the biggest part of landing a book deal. They help think up the best way to position it since they know the industry , they think of the best editors at publishers to pitch it to since they have contacts and business relationships and they make sure the proposal itself is written as well as it possibly can be.
My agent has also been my Yoda my guide for non-nerds through this whole thing. She knows exactly how the process works, why, and how to get the most out of it. She gave me the information I needed to make decisions as well what to think about when writing the book proposal. Besides, what you think is great, someone else thinks is crap. If you want to?
Because people, writers, readers, interior designers , love books. Books are the best. There should always be more books.
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Skip to content. Thanks for sharing! For me, the real shocker came when I learned that returned books counted against my royalty earnings. First royalty period that my novel Blind Sight was out, I got a nice check.
I figured I was on the gravy train. Next royalty statement showed me around 2k in the hole because the returns had flooded in. Yes — sales give the author money; returns take author money away. But publishers do that quarterly as best they can, then go back and adjust the next quarter. Chip, I was just curious: Eons ago was an advance just an advance—in other words, payment for the time put into writing the book, like a type of salary?
Did publishers always consider an advance a type of pre-payment that you had to pay back to them in book sales? Advances have always had to earn out, so far as I know, Lynn. It does make me wonder why publishers even bother with recommended retail price if every retailer is simply going to apply their own magic formula aka random number generator to come up with a sale price.
And yes, it can get complicated. Publishers have an RRP because somebody has to set a baseline for sales, by the way. That allows them to work out i. You must be logged in to post a comment.
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Share :. Joel Gunderson says:. February 2, at pm. Log in to Reply. Reginald Barnes says:. January 30, at pm. Anne Schreiber says:. January 22, at pm. CEFlint says:. January 19, at am. December 15, at pm. Jenny Hays says:. October 16, at am. Miyoko says:.
July 28, at pm. Lisa V says:. April 23, at am. I hope you buy and enjoy our book someday soon. And know that you played a part. Taylor, I would welcome that! Keep moving forward! And thanks for this lovely comment; it made my day! Chad R. Allen Menu Skip to content. Book Recommendations Speaking Products Updates. How to Write a Nonfiction Book Proposal My Author Income Calculator is a simple spreadsheet that helps you determine how much money you can make from your book.
Just plug in a few numbers and look at the bottom line. Click here to download your FREE copy. Posted on. Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic. Sharon, glad it was helpful to you, and thanks for taking the time to comment! Katie, thank you. You can do it, just keep serving your audience. Sorry about that. Chad this is a really helpful post. Thanks for the clarity — and the calculator!
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