Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
We don't know, of course, how much the author was paid as an advance (I suspect quite a lot!). That amount would be deducted from any royalty payments. It's certainly conceivable that the author and agent didn't realise that royalty payments in excess of the advance had become due.
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What complicates matters is that the author's deal is with Hachette, not Hesperus. The money was supposed to go from Hesperus to Hachette to the agent to the author. The author saw a bit of money in 2012, presumably from the contract signing but saw nothing from the UK english rights since.
It is doubtful Hachette got much upfront money because if they thought it would be a big UK seller they would've published it themselves. They were effectively betting against their own book and when it won the jackpot they not only missed out on what Hesperus earned honestly but on the unpaid royalties.
Bad bets for everybody except the missing execs.