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the advance question

It's time — for me at least — to go over all the advance/royalties amounts for garden writers. I need feedback, and I want real numbers!

My first book has been out for 2 1/2 months. It's a regional topic (Big Ideas for Northwest Small Gardens), although it has received notice outside the Northwest. It's selling really well (six weeks on the local bestseller list so far). I am hot on the book tour trail (albeit in a regional manner).

The same publisher has asked me to do another book on a topic well acknowledged to be missing from our regional bookshelf. He does so because he knows I write well, I know my stuff, and I'm not afraid of speaking in public; in other words, I already have a good track record. For our first book (my photographer and I split everything in half), we received (see how honest I'm being?) $11,000 for an advance (so, in other words, $5,500 each) and 6% royalties on the first 10,000 and 7 1/2% on 10 to 12,000 (also split).

And now, he's offering $12,000 for an advance, and the same royalties. Fair? I think not. Negotiable? He tells me he can't go much higher than that (for an advance). This was in the first conversation mentioning numbers; we will get back to him with our offer.

What is our offer? I want to know what I can reasonably ask for — not some pie-in-the-sky advance. I look forward to your feedback.
Marty Wingate

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