I don't know if one can call a situation that's been on going
for 20 years a "crisis" anymore. It's a fact that publishers
have largely become corporate machines run by corporate rules
were the middle of the product pack is always ridden the
hardest and treated the worst.
With respect to the original question, the Mode (most common)
advance for new authors is currently $3,500 or $5,000
depending on the niche the book will be marketed to and the
format the book will come out in.
For the author whose books sell well enough to keep the
contracts coming but doesn't break out to the bestseller
list, the Median price per book will be 10-20k (same factors
apply). That's really not enough to live on in the US. When
an author "breaks out" or moves close to doing so, advances
go up. A lot. The high end of the midlist pays about what a
secretary makes on annual salary but without benefits or job
security. These numbers are courtesy of Tobias Buckell's
annual poll and pestering my published writer friends for
their numbers so I could compare SF to Mystery. It's about
the same pay off, with Fantasy paying best, Mystery in the
middle, and SF the worst.
-- Kat Richardson http://katrichardson.com/
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, jxshannon2@... wrote: > > Publishing is in a crisis, as we all know, and many midlist writers have > found themselves pushed out or relegated to trade paperback originals or small > presses. With the exception of a handful of the very well known writers, I don't > think many of us are ready to give up the day job. > >
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