Thursday, October 11, 2012

On big advances and publishing math.

The always thoughtful Jason Pinter on why a big advance, like the rumored $3.7 million Lena Dunham will receive for her book with Random House, is often a good bet for a publisher. (Hint: if the book sells reasonably well, the publisher can make money even if the advance will never, ever be earned out.)

You guys are a sharp bunch, I know, but are there any publishing terms (like "earn out") you'd like to see me explain in a future post? Let me know...

1 comment:

G.M. said...

A few comments. Two literary agents on Twitter posted a few times against the high advance for Lena Dunham and they posted negative articles to support their position. Hence, it's nice to get a positive article in your blog today. It seems that the book has to sell 400,000+ copies for the publisher to be okay. Some people say that Lena Dunham is the voice of her generation and many young women will buy her book. We have to wait and see. Congrats to her and her agent for a great deal.
The article mentions Mindy Kaling and finally this week I watched her TV show. I like her in her TV sitcom, but it's not strong enough for high ratings.
Finally, a great prize for a contest (for those who aren't your clients) is for you giving comments on the first 3-5 pages of an author's manuscript.