Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
It was a deal for three books, with five-sixths payable 18 months to three years in the future. All she was going to see for 18 months was $17k. That is less than $1000 a month. Afterwards, she would get another $17k at launch and wait to earn out the advance and then wait another six months for whatever royalty the publisher reports.
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No, she was going to see $51K (85% of 60,000) on signing. Then she would get six equal payments of $8,500 as each book was turned in and released. Those are her figures, not mine.
It's also important to remember that there were other factors in play. The non-compete clause seems to have been the biggest sticking point, as she wrote her first draft in 12 days, and was ready for publication in a month and a half.
The commercial publishers only really had enough slots for 1 book a year from her, but she can easily produce 6 or more books a year if her first's an example of her average production rate.
Essentially, she's betting that the additional 5 books a year she can publish on her own will make her enough money to offset the security of an advance. In her position, I think many authors would make a similar choice, but that decision is based in part on her productivity.
This is looking like a good decision for her, but it might not have been as good for someone who needs 12-18 months to finish a novel.