Re: the advance question

**Tom Ogren t*@earthlink.net**

Marty,

 Unless you have another publisher already interested in the next book, I
don't think you have a lot of leverage right now. If the publisher already
knows you're unhappy with the offered advance, you might try and get a
better deal on some other aspect of the deal. For example, how many free
authors' copies are you two getting? This number can often be negotiated far
higher than the publisher's original offer.
  If you have an agent involved, the agent might want to shop the proposal
around somewhere else. Nonetheless, there is always the possibility that you
can irritate your publisher to the point where he just says, "forget it."
  My advice is: make your money on sales and on the actual royalties. The
advance money is kind of a headtrip for many of us writers, and I think we
can easily lose track of the fact that the advance is going to come out of
our royalties anyhow.
Others may disagree with me, but that's how I'd deal with it. Take the 12
and make the book sell like mad.
Tom Ogren
tloallergyfree@earthlink.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Marty Wingate" <martywin@earthlink.net>
To: <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2003 6:24 PM
Subject: [GWL] 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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For GWL website and Wiki, go to
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