Publishers are listening...

[Redfox]

Originally Posted by afa

WOAH!
That is one heck of an advance. Who the heck is Janet Evanovich and why is she getting such obscene sums? Perhaps I'm an ignoramus, but I've never even heard of her.

She writes the Stephanie Plum series, about a female private eye. At least, so I am led to believe. Never read her, since I seldom read mainstream fiction.

And yes, I agree that is an obscene demand for an advance. Obviously getting a bit big for her boots...

[Redfox]

Originally Posted by mknopp

So, what do publishers do for authors now-a-days, that a little leg work on an author's part can't also do, and put a lot more money in the author's pocket? Is it all about the up front cost? It cost money to pay an editor; it cost money to pay an artist. Do so many authors not have that sort of money that they have to sell the rights to their labor to a publisher to see it available to customers?

I am honestly asking by the way.

For starters, they help you stand out from the crowd. Self-publishing and small presses are all very well, but the quality of the former is extremely variable and the latter cannot easily get their books into the bricks'n'mortar stores (the former, not at all). As I know to my cost - a contact at my local bookshop, Heffers', offered to stock the anthology I'm published in, but it's POD-only so there's no trade discount and no thus money in it for them

I know that physical bookshops are going down the toilet (Border's in the UK has gone bust, and Waterstones is struggling), but big publishers still have the clout to distribute your books on a scale that will get them to readers.

Maybe in the future the balance of power will shift, but books will have to either be much cheaper (to justify the risk that they're not worth the money), or some equivalent of the publishing houses must act as quality controllers.

[abookreader]

It was announced yesterday that Evanovich signed with Random House for 2 Stephanie Plum books plus 2 books in her new series which is an off-shoot of the Plum series - although no financial details on the contracts. I think personally think St. Martins was pretty smart to refuse the $50 mill demand, even with the movie hype.

Her sales are declining and her fans seems to be getting quite disgruntled with the decreasing quality of the writing. Maybe Random House can revive it somehow.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by abookreader

I think personally think St. Martins was pretty smart to refuse the $50 mill demand, even with the movie hype.

They'll likely reap the benefits anyway as it's often the back list that gets an extra push from any movie buzz not her latest titles.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

She is a popular romance (often called trash novel) writer. Her books (the few I've read so far; I have a stack from used from book stores) concentrate more on humor than steaminess. Her current books are the Stephanie Plum series although some of her earlier works are being republished.