Recently, I saw this on the
Authors Guild blog:
Quote:
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Foer also pointed out that a loss of publishers could mean a loss of the nonfiction works requiring “deep reporting,” work which is time-consuming and expensive, and which can only be sustained by an advance from a publisher.
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This isn't the first time I've seen people say that publishers, and their advances, are necessary for non-fiction. What I haven't seen is much evidence of what sort of advances are paid. Does anyone have any evidence regarding the size of advances for non-fiction? Are they shrinking? Or growing? Or staying steady? Are they large enough to sustain an author while they write their book?
Googling has been some help, but I'm hoping to find more. I've found a
2012 article that says "
I saw an article in a trade journal recently that reported that the average advance for a nonfiction book was less than $80,000." and a
2011 survey of 105 authors, of which 30% wrote non-fiction, which seems to agree with the 2012 article. Neither of these are great sources, though - one refers to an unnamed other source, the other is based on a very small sample. Both are a few years old.
Does anyone have any solid information on what sort of advances are paid for non-fiction books nowadays?