Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
Trade pubbing's big remaining benefit is advances; that's it.
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Right on the money.
Not much to add, except that:
1- Typical midlist advances these days run in the low 4 figures. I've seem reports of offers in the $1500 range. Which might have been reasonable in the early '70's but these days it won't pay the bills for a month (after taxes, agent fees, etc) much less the 12-18 months it takes for a tradpub title to come out.
2- Even the fabled "six-figure" advances breathlessly discussed by the traditionalist apologists come with so many caveats and accounting tricks that no midlist writer can actually make a living off tradpub contracts.
About the hate spew, I've recently discovered that while there is a concerted anti-Amazon campaign going on, there is a deeper root to the hate. The root is, as pointed out repeatedly, elitist class warfare of which Amazon is merely the latest target. In fact, most of the FUD being dished at Amazon now has been flying around for over a hundred years. Every last one of the "Amazon is going to bring on the bookopolypse"charges is recycled and has been leveled at mass market book retailers for the last hundred years, from Dept Stores like Macys, to newstands, pharmacies, mall bookstores, and even the big box stores.
And I do mean it literally: the exact same accusations in the exact same words.
"Devaluing books"? Check.
"Books aren't products"? Check.
"They're trying to monopolize bookselling"? Check.
There is a whole century of that crap coming from the exact same circles.
The names change, but the blather is 100% the same.
I'm currently reading RELUCTANT CAPITALISTS by Laura J. Miller and laughing my head off at the carbon copy arguments from the teens, 30's, 50's and 60's... Practically every single decade.
The book is old, up to 2006, so Amazon barely rates a mention.
Amusibgly, Special snowflakes have a long history of failure behind them; every single target of their hate spew has gone on to prosper and succeed despite the apoplectic sputtering.
Worth a read. Very educational.
(But buy it used: the ebook and pbook prices are (ironically) too high.
http://www.amazon.com/Reluctant-Capi...=UTF8&sr=&qid=