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Originally Posted by DarkScribe
I agree with others, this seems extremely low for a commissioned work. We offer more than that when we commission technical books. Much more if the offer is to an established author. Also I have not heard of such a short lead time - something doesn't seem kosher. Why are you certain that they are not making multiple offers?
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I would imagine that the lead time is very short because the publisher is hoping to cash in on the
50 Shades of Gray phenomenon, which is hot, hot, hot right now. Everyone is jumping onto that craze. Black Lace Books closed down in 2009 (article
here) but will shortly relaunch again (Sept. 2012 according to their twitter account) based solely on the 50 Shades craze. They'll be republishing some of their past titles at that point. Sylvia Day had her self-published
Bared to You, which does bear similarities to 50 Shades, picked up by Berkley lately and it was rebranded so that the cover looks similar to James's trilogy.
Erotica and erotic romance for women are very hot right now. Publishers are jumping on board the craze in a big way. There's no way of knowing how long it will last, so I'm not surprised at all about the short lead time. It could go poof at any time. Remember chick lit?
And alas, $5000 is an average midlist advance. Have a look at Brenda Hiatt's
Show Me the Money report, which she keeps up to date with information authors report to her privately, for an idea of the range of advances for the various romance publishing imprints.