Dear ********:
Publishers, Agents & Films www.publishersagentsandfilms.com has now launched a new Web series of tips for finding publishers and agents and navigating todays difficult publishing waters. The latest posts deal with problems when publishers seek book purchase commitments, writers face delays in getting paid, and are uncertain whether to work as a co-writer or ghostwriter on a book project.
The tips come from author Gini Graham Scott’s experience in selling 10 books to five publishers in the last 6 months and in packaging projects and pitching them for a half-dozen recent clients during this time. The complete list is at https://publishersagentsfilms.com/marketing-tips
The latest articles cover these topics:
– What to Do About Advance Purchase Commitments and Payments from Established Companies
– Should You Work as a Co-Writer and Take a Percentage?
– Should You Begin Writing Anything Before a Payment or Contact?
The question about advance purchase commitments has come up, because a growing number of mainstream companies are not only paying smaller advances compared to four or five years ago, but they have added purchase requirements, such as for buying 2000 to 10,000 books, which can turn into an investment of $30,000 to $100,000, depending on the cost of the books. Do the math. A typical author’s purchase commitment for a book will be $10 to $15 times the required number to buy, which will normally dwarf any advance. So will you as an author ever make that back, even if you can claim bragging rights for having a major house publish your book? As the article discusses, more and more writers are asking that question and saying no.
The co-writer/work-for-hire issue comes up when ghostwriters work on a topic in their field and they have a choice of getting paid more as a work for hire or taking less to get co-writer credit and a share of the royalties. But if advances are lower and most books don’t earn out their advance, why do it? The article discusses the pros and cons of what to do.
Finally, the third article deals with whether a writer should risk working on a project for a publisher or individual client, when there is just a verbal promise and the contract and payment are in the works. Sometimes it’s worth it, especially when there’s a tight deadline and you are working with a publisher or client you trust. But at other times, writers can find they have done much of the work when the contract doesn’t arrive or gets cancelled and they don’t get paid. The article discusses how to decide whether to take the risk.
Other past articles deals with the ins and outs of how to find and pitch publishers and agents. The articles are provided as a public service for writers by Publishers, Agents & Films, which is devoted to helping writers find publishers, agents, film producers, and distributors, or successfully self-publishing their own books. The company has a unique way of making connections by sending out emails from the writer’s own email, using a special software to send out a personalized query to editors, agents, and producers interested in that type of project. So far, the company has over 260 testimonials from clients on its website, and commonly over half of its clients get deals with publishers or agents. The published books of several dozen successful authors are featured on the Publishers, Agents and Films’ website.
For more details, please visit the website at www.publishersagentsandfilms.com, and you can call (925) 385-0608.
Nancy Parker
Changemakers Publishing and Writing
Publishers Agents and Films
Lafayette, California
(925) 385-0608
changemakerspublishing@gmail.com