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Re: Question from a lurker

Title: Re: [GWL] Question from a lurker
As you consider the person who has asked you to contribute to his book a good friend, cannot you simply open a discussion with him? Explain that you feel you should get paid for your work, ask him how much advance he's getting and what his royalty is going to be. Then perhaps suggest that you simply receive a proportion of the income equivalent to the proportion of the book you actually supply - less, perhaps, a modest element to allow for it being 'his' book that he's 'managing' it.

He may well have a contract which covers both text and pictures, this is quite common with specialist books. Given that the advance is likely to be low or non-existent, the implication is that the author supplies his/her own pictures for nothing, or at a big discount. The $25 minimum Lon suggests is FAR less than the minimum we at GardenPhotos.com would charge a book publisher. When I, as an author, have accepted a book deal in which I'm required to supply all the pictures and have sourced some from friends or picture libraries, I always pay for them, sometimes at full market rates - which gives the other photographers a far higher rate per picture than I receive myself. But it only seems fair.

And, although it's an exception, I know one Timber Press book has sold 100,000 copies... And this, perhaps, is a lesson to us all. If the book really is truly wonderful and appears at just the right time... it will sell.

Graham Rice

http://GrahamRice.com

Hi all,
 
Melanie Vassallo, Long Island NY, where I have to admit to being a lurker. I probably joined this group fairly early on but haven't been doing much garden writing in the past year and a half. At one time I was the "ask the expert" writer for www.ligardening.com but due to funding problems, that site's been next to non-existent.
 
The only other experience I've had in writing has been many articles published in various newsletters and journals for the American Hemerocallis Society. The past two years I've been lecturing extensively on several topics such as perennials, daylilies, garden design and my favorite topic of garden accessories (junk).
 
2002 was a disaster year for our family, my 8 year old was in a horrible accident, my husband was ill for many months and my father died. Thoughts of writing anything were put on the back burner.
 
Last week I received a phone call from a man in Canada. He's had a book published by Timber Press in the past few years and is currently working on a new one. He asked me if I'd be interested in writing a chapter and I replied that I'd be thrilled.
 
Yesterday the contract arrived in the mail. 3500 words and 8 photographs (I love to do photography but have never submitted anything for printing) but the sentance that  caught my eye immediately stated that as sole remuneration I would receive 2 copies of the book.
 
On one hand I feel like this could be my ticket, my chance to get my foot firmly wedged in the door as a garden writer. On the other hand my husband tells me I'm crazy :-)    He suggested I get some advice asap. The few people I've spoken to have agreed that it's a shame there's no money involved BUT this could be a great opportunity.
 
So now I'm appealing to the experts. What say you?
 
Thanks all,
Melanie Vassallo

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