Money Misperceptions

I came across a thread on The Passive Voice where some folks were lamenting that, in their perception, some writers weren’t getting the same advances that others were getting.  I understand that, but the underlying supposition throughout the article was that an advance is just money in pocket, and once you get that, you’ll then earn from the sales of the book.

Folks, advances are just that – advances.  They are money the publisher thinks your book may make.  If you get an advance, then you won’t get paid again until that advance earns out, meaning that revenue from sales have to out-earn the advance.  Then, and only then, will you make more money.

Then there is the great misperception about advances and who gets them.  No matter what I think of traditional publishers, they exist to make money, and they don’t just hand out advances out of the goodness of their hearts.  If you are a proven author with a history of making them money, they’re more likely to give an advance as an incentive to keep you around.  On the other hand, if you’re a newbie with no record of sales, any advance is going to be commiserate with their feelings on the book.

Basically, don’t get bent out of shape over the size of an advance.  Most books fail to earn out their advance, so publishers don’t give big ones most of the time.  If you have something great, count on your sales.  Until then, please figure out how advances work so you don’t look a) stupid, and b) whiny.