Inside Simon & Schuster: A Publishing
Story and its related articles,
Submitting the
Manuscript,
Acquiring the Manuscript,
Editing the Manuscript, and
Marketing and
Sales, were published in their original form in Writer's Digest in 1998 and later reprinted in the
1998 Writer's Yearbook Extra. I revised and significantly expanded the story
for online publication.
Doing the Deal
As Ben and the other editors make offers, Sarah discusses with them matters
such as:
- the amount of the advance
- how that money will be paid out
- the royalty rates
- the territory (US and Canada, English rights throughout the world, global rights in all languages,
etc.)
- whether they're offering extra for movie and television rights
This information helps Sarah weigh the different offers beyond the simple consideration of who's offering the highest advance.
If SHATTERED Were a Novel
The negotiation wouldn't change but Ben and the other editors might have to guess more about the size and nature of the potential audience and therefore how much they can afford to offer. There's more risk and uncertainty in publishing fiction because outside of category novels, it's difficult to assess how large the national readership is for a novel, especially a first novel, as in this case. With nonfiction, the specifics of the subject matter make audience identification much easier. It's partly for this reason that fiction is a far smaller percentage of all the books published annually.
How You Can Contribute
Your agent will discuss the final best offer with you before accepting it, but if there are any terms, conditions, or requests that you want the publisher to make part of the deal, be sure to let your agent know about them ahead of time so she can include them in her negotiations.
See all the other Publishing Hints or the Writing
Secrets
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