A ‘nice deal’ is from $1.00 to $49,000    (where most authors fit in)

            A ‘very nice deal’ is $50,000 to $99,000

            A ‘good deal’ is $100,000 to $250,000

            A ‘significant deal is $251,000 to $499,000

            A ‘major deal’ is $500,000 and up

There are so many different aspects that go into a publisher offering the various deal makers that it’s almost impossible to tell authors why.  The bottom line for any publisher is how much will this book make for them.  There are exceptions that make no sense, but when they offer the huge bucks they can usually assume they will lose on the deal.  But that one big deal is where they will put their money in advertising, promotion and author visibility.

Let’s start at the beginning.

An author has an idea for a story.  A smart author will take the time to know who his/her reader is and in which category they write.  When they finish the novel they put it aside for a while before going back to edit, edit, edit.  In the meantime they write a top-notch query letter and send it to as many editors (not in the same publishing house) that take his/her kind of book.  The query letter is so concise as to what the book is, the plot, the premise and goal of the novel that it catches the attention of one or more editor.  The editor then calls, e-mails or simply writes on the query letter to send him/her the manuscript.

Ah, your foot is in the door of one or more publishing houses.  The author sits back and waits…and starts another book while they are waiting. 

The editor reads the manuscript and likes the idea, even though there may be a few technical problems with the writing.  She/he takes the manuscript to their regular editorial board meeting and presents the manuscript to the board.  She/he pitches the story idea to the board and why she/he thinks they should buy it.  In steps the sales team to determine if they can make money on the book or not and who is the competition in that field.

If the author is lucky the editor will make an offer on the manuscript and contact the author.  Here’s where the tricky part comes in.  I’ve found that the committee has a dollar figure in mind but they don’t tell the author how much they have really decided on, they go low and to see if the author accepts.  They do the same with agents.  The only reason an agent gets a higher amount is because the agent get 15% of everything the book earns and has to ask for more.  If an agent has taken on your book, that agent will have spent a lot of time and some money on getting that manuscript noticed.

New authors are not offered much more than $1.00 to $5,000.  Then, if the book makes the sales and goes to reprint the author’s next book (provided the publisher will buy the next book) will be given a higher advance, maybe $7,000.

Now there are exceptions to the rules but the reality is that a ‘major deal’ means the author has something explosive to divulge to the reading public that will make the book fly off the bookstore shelves or perhaps the publishing house needed to take a loss on a book. 

My advice is to print out the ‘deal’ list, tape it to the computer so that you can see the amount of money that is actually out there and available and as you write…keep the figures within sight of your goal.  Who knows maybe someday you too will be reported on as just signing a ‘major