How to Make a Living With Your Writing: Traditional publishing
“Play whatever game you want to play. Just make sure you’re clear about why you’re playing it.”
Mark McGuinness, 21 Insights for 21st Century Creatives
Traditional or trade publishing refers to the long-established system of getting a book deal through submission to agents, who will submit the manuscript to publishers with the hope of a book deal that eventually leads to publication.
There are many benefits to traditional publishing.
Prestige, kudos, and validation
For many authors, the goal of publication is critical acclaim, acceptance within the industry, and validation that their work is ‘good enough.’ There is a hierarchy of publishing houses and imprints, and certain literary prizes only accept traditionally published books.
Non-fiction authors may also want to pursue this route, as a traditional deal may open up new business opportunities, such as speaking events, that they might not be able to access through other routes.
If your definition of success includes a traditional deal because of these reasons, then nothing else will do. Embrace your need for validation and start pitching agents — but you’ll need a different book for that!
An established, professional team to manage the editorial and publication process
Your agent may have editorial comments on your manuscript before it’s submitted. If you get a book deal, you’ll work with an editor and proofreader at the publishing company and you may have input into the book cover design process.
Some authors specifically target agents and publishers based on editorial excellence, but you can’t always guarantee getting the editor of your choice.
Significant marketing help
Many authors just want to write and have no interest in marketing their work, but increasingly, authors have to do their own marketing or at least play a part in the publisher’s activities around book launch.
The level of marketing activity is usually determined by the publisher’s investment in the book, with more significant deals getting the most support.
There are some publishers who excel at marketing. Dean Koontz signed a five-book deal with Amazon Publishing’s Thomas and Mercer imprint in July 2019, saying in Publishers Weekly that Amazon “presented a marketing and publicity plan smarter and more ambitious than anything I’d ever seen before … The times are changing, and it’s invigorating to be where change is understood and embraced.”
Upfront payment (advance) and no financial cost to publish
Authors are usually paid an advance against royalties as part of a traditional publishing deal, although there are an increasing number of alternative models where authors take little or no upfront advance with higher royalty payments later. The amount will vary based on how much the publisher expects to make from the book, the sales history of the author, their platform, and many other factors.
In June 2020, 2800 authors anonymously shared their publishing deals on Twitter as part of #publishingpaidme which highlighted the disparities of payments to authors of color, as well as differences between genres, gender, and debut vs. established authors. The advances range from several hundred to several million dollars with everything in between. You can find the spreadsheet at TheCreativePenn.com/publishingpaidme
The advance is against royalties, which are usually 7-25% of the net book price. If you get an advance of $10,000, the book has to earn more than $10,000 in royalties before you receive any more money. When authors talk of a book ‘earning out,’ it has made back the advance and is now in profit, so the author will start receiving additional royalty payments.
There are no upfront costs in a traditional publishing deal. If you’re asked for money by a publisher, then it is an author services company or hybrid publisher where the costs and quality vary significantly. You can find more detail in the next chapter on self-publishing.
Print distribution to bookstores
Traditional publishing excels at print distribution with physical bookstores as their main channel for sales. Sales reps manage store relationships and make it easy for book buyers to select books and pay later minus any returns. Books are usually in store for a month or two and only remain if they are perennial sellers.
The global pandemic severely disrupted this model as physical bookstores closed and print purchases moved online where print-on-demand books have an advantage as they never go out of stock. Publishers Weekly reported 2020 as a record year for ebook and print sales, with backlist titles, which are easier to find online, accounting for 67% of print purchases.
Higher chance of subsidiary rights licensing
Many literary agencies also focus on licensing for subsidiary rights, including foreign territories, and film and TV. Authors can receive additional income from these licenses which range significantly in terms of deal income and timeline.
While some bestselling indie authors have attracted these kinds of deals, it’s certainly not as common.
A chance to play the ‘literary lottery’
There are only a few household name authors in the world — Stephen King, Dan Brown, J. K. Rowling, James Patterson, and Nora Roberts are a few examples. These are the superstar writers, most of whom have been writing for many years and have built their careers over decades.
Then there are the breakout authors and books whose names we know because of the significance of their deals, like Paula Hawkins for The Girl on the Train, or those turned into successful film or TV, like Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series.
Of course, we would all love this kind of breakout success, but you can’t build a sustainable living on the possibility of a winning lottery ticket or lightning strike. Yes, there is a chance that your book will be the next big thing, but the odds are most definitely against you, especially in an increasingly fragmented media world.
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So what are the downsides to the traditional route?
Slow process
Writing and editing your book will take the same amount of time regardless of how you choose to publish, but it may take months or even years to get an agent if you’re just starting out, then more time to get a publishing deal, and then still more time for the book to reach publication. For many authors, it may be several years between finishing a manuscript and seeing it on the shelves, although publishers can also get a book out quickly if it is time critical.
Loss of creative control
While your book will always be your book, many authors do not have control over aspects of packaging such as the title, description, and positioning in a genre.
If you are successful with a book, the publisher will probably want more in the same vein, so an author can feel trapped within one particular genre. Many authors change their names when switching genres or if their sales slump over time and they need to start again.
Novelist and poet Orna Ross describes the clash of expectations over her historical Irish novel, After The Rising. “Where I saw a page-turning drama that shattered silences and explored themes of freedom and belonging, my publisher saw what was then called ‘chick lit’.”
The book went to the top of the charts, but Orna describes it as a “bruising experience,” and as a result of short-sighted marketing, her next book launch didn’t go so well. She later found creative freedom through self-publishing and founded the Alliance of Independent Authors to help others on the same path.
Lower royalty rates and lack of transparency in reporting
Royalty rates are usually a percentage of the net sale of the book, not the cover price. All the discounts, returns, marketing costs, and overheads are taken off the total before your percentage is calculated.
Royalty rates for traditional publishing usually range between 7% and 25%, although some may be higher if there is a smaller advance, and all vary by contract terms.
Reports on sales and royalties usually arrive every six months, and many authors report how difficult they are to understand and reconcile with payments. As more publishers move into digital sales, some are developing author portals with more up-to-date information, similar to the dashboards that independent authors can access with almost real-time sales and revenue.
Lack of significant marketing help
I included marketing in the positive side of traditional publishing above because some publishers do an incredible job.
On the flip side, you will often hear complaints from authors that their publisher does not do enough marketing for them, especially after the initial launch. It will depend on the book and the publisher, so be sure to ask for a marketing plan as part of contract negotiations.
Beware of potentially prohibitive contract clauses
You license your copyright by signing a contract and even if you have an agent to help you, it is still your responsibility to understand the terms and only sign what you consider to be the right deal for you.
Even before you reach the publishing stage, you might sign an agency agreement, which also differ in their terms.
I was once offered a contract that included a clause where the agency would receive 15% of everything I published, regardless of whether or not they sold the work, including my self-published books.
I didn’t sign that contract.
In terms of your publishing contract, it is generally better to limit the terms as much as possible, as discussed in the previous chapter.
Contracts are for negotiation, so discuss the following with your agent and/or publisher:
• What countries or territories will the book be published in? If it won’t be available everywhere, then why license World English?
• What formats are specified? For example, if audiobook rights are included, how long will it be before the audiobook is published and in which territories?
• What subsidiary rights are included, and how will these be exploited? Many publishers will sub-license foreign languages and may license for film/TV and other media.
• How long is the contract for? Is it term-limited, for example, five years for foreign language rights? When and how will the rights revert? For example, if the audiobook is not produced within three years, the rights revert to the author.
• Is there a ‘do not compete’ clause which may prevent you publishing during the term of the contract under the same name, in the same world or with the same characters?
You do not need to be a lawyer to understand contract terms, although some authors do engage legal professionals to help. Many author organizations like The Authors Guild (US) and the Society of Authors (UK), as well as the Alliance of Independent Authors, have resources and help for understanding contract clauses and negotiation.
I also recommend Closing the Deal on Your Terms … Agents, Contracts and Other Considerations by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
The money side of traditional publishing
This book is about making a living, so it’s important to consider how the money works for traditional publishing.
In May 2019, the UK Authors’ Earnings and Contracts Report noted that the average earnings were £16,096 (approximately $20,000). Only 69% of authors received an advance, with publishers citing the need to split the risk of publication with the author.
They also describe a ‘winner takes all’ situation where the top 10% of writers earn around 70% of total earnings. The publishing press, especially around book fair time, focus on the big six- and seven-figure deals, skewing the perception of author income, whereas most writers receive nowhere near this.
The Financial Times reported in June 2019 that, “A senior independent literary publisher in the UK told me she offers advances of £3000-£5000, only occasionally going up to £10,000.”
This payment is usually split, with a percentage on signing, a further amount on acceptance of the manuscript, and a final payment on publication, plus royalties later if the book earns out.
Some authors make additional revenue from subsidiary rights licensing, with foreign rights, TV and film adaptations, and audiobook deals. But the reality is that most traditionally published authors need multiple streams of income just as much as anyone else. Most have a day job, or teach writing, or work as editors, as covered in Part 2.
Would I take a traditional publishing deal?
Absolutely.
In fact, I have several publishing deals for books in foreign languages and different territories, and I am always open to licensing my intellectual property assets — if the conditions and contract terms are right for a project.
You must make your own decision on how to publish, but make sure that you empower yourself with the knowledge you need to understand your contract and the impact any choice will have on your author career.
Questions:
• What are the benefits of traditional publishing?
• What are the downsides of traditional publishing?
• How does the money work?
• Are you considering this route to publication? What are your reasons for this? What is your definition of success?
• How could you take the next step?
Resources:
• Closing the Deal … on Your Terms: Agents, Contracts and Other Considerations — Kristine Katherine Rusch
• Selective Rights Licensing: Sell Your Book Rights At Home and Abroad — Orna A. Ross and Helen Sedwick
• Creative Self-Publishing: Make and Sell Your Books Your Way — Orna A. Ross and the Alliance of Independent Authors
• The Book Business: What Everyone Needs to Know — Mike Shatzkin and Robert Paris Riger
• Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook — Published annually by Bloomsbury in the UK. Listing of agents, publishers, awards and much more within the traditional publishing industry. They also have an online portal www.writersandartists.co.uk
• #PublishingPaidMe list of advances — TheCreativePenn.com/publishingpaidme
• Writer’s Ink Podcast with hybrid author J.D. Barker and indie authors J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon. Conversations with traditional and indie authors around the publishing industry — WritersInkPodcast.com
• How publishing has changed, the importance of reading your contracts, changing pen names and more with psychological thriller author, Ruth Ware — TheCreativePenn.com/ruthware
• How to find and pitch a literary agent. Interview with Barbara Poelle — TheCreativePenn.com/barbarapoelle
• The Authors Guild (US) — AuthorsGuild.org
• The Society of Authors (UK) — SocietyOfAuthors.org
• Alliance of Independent Authors — TheCreativePenn.com/alliance
• CREATe UK Authors’ Earnings and Contracts 2018: A Survey of 50,000 Writers — Create.ac.uk/uk-authors-earnings-and-contracts-2018-a-survey-of-50000-writers
