Re: Fees for extraordinary expenses

On Mar 22, 2008, at 1:11 AM, Jon Jermey wrote:

> It seems to me that this is only an issue because publishers are
> prepared to pay in advance for work that the author has not yet done,
> But why is this so? Nearly every other commercial arrangement that I
> know of doesn't deliver payment until the goods are received in a
> satisfactory condition.

Non-fiction is sold on proposal because the publisher wants to have  
input (if not outright control) over the book during the process, not  
just after the fact.

> If an author won't write a book without receiving an advance, it
> presumably means that they have reasonable doubts about the  
> publisher's
> probity and/or the book's commercial potential -- in which case the  
> book
> probably shouldn't be written anyway.

It has ZERO to do with that. What it has to do with is that a non- 
fiction book has a HUGE opportunity cost. A tech book usually takes 3  
to 6 months of 40 hour weeks to write. During that time, you can't  
take on other work, because you're writing the book. You get paid in  
chunks because they want the good before they pay, but they pay in  
chunks so that the author can... oh, EAT while they are writing.

> Everything I learn about fiction publishing makes it look less and  
> less
> like a serious business and more and more like buying lottery tickets.


Most fiction isn't sold on proposal, It's sold as a finished work.

dej

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn to use Google Analytics to make your web site more effective.
Buy my book! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/047017501X/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"I loathe writing. On the other hand I'm a great believer in money."  
-- S.J. Perelman
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In the midst of winter, I finally realized that deep within me there  
lay an invincible summer.
--Albert Camus
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I am Writer, hear me Pontificate!




------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------
Post a message:   ebook-community [[at]] *
Unsubscribe:      ebook-community-unsubscribe [[at]] *
Switch to digest: ebook-community-digest [[at]] *
Switch to normal: ebook-community-normal [[at]] *
Put mail on hold: ebook-community-nomail [[at]] *
Administrator:    ebook-community-owner [[at]] *

(* == yahoogroups.com)
-------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebook-community/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebook-community/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:[email protected] 
    mailto:ebook-community-fullfeatured-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    ebook-community-unsubscribe-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@public.gmane.org

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/