[BookCat]

I think that article was just whingeing. Surely all authors understand that an advance is an advance on royalties, not a gift. It's a bit like when I used to let rooms and took a month's advance rent plus deposit. The rent allowed them to live there for a month, then they'd pay me again to live there for another month. Likewise, advances on royalties, if £5,000 covers the first £5k of the royalties an author makes on the book, when that figure is exceeded, the author begins receiving royalty payments.

This is nothing new to anyone who has an interest in writing, so I felt she was just having a bit of a moan. Unless the piece was written for non-writers who have the mistaken impression that writers make lots of money when only a few do.