No Advance? Not necessarily a problem

Oh, the internet is a twitter with yet another debate. Here’s the short of it; word got out that some Random House ebook imprints have a really bad-for-writers contract. They were declared SFWA non-qualifying. FOR GOOD REASON. Got that bit? The contract as John Scalzi explains it is really bad. Add me to the list of people who would never sign it. My personal line is that a publisher has to do something for me that I can’t do for myself, and this contract actually charges the writer for many things they can do for themselves just for slapping Random House on the spine.

But in the process this has spawned a debate about publishers that don’t pay advances, which would include Samhain, Carina Press, and my own publisher KHP, among others. Scalzi says that no advance indicates that the publisher thinks you’re low on the totem pole, and indicates they’ll treat you unfairly. It’s completely possible that it’s been his experience.

It just hasn’t been mine.

An advance is supposed to be, well, payment in advance to cover the cost of living and such for the artist to create the work. It’s also, as Scalzi points out, what the publisher expects your share of the profit from the work to be. You hear about insanely high advances (um, that often don’t earn out) regularly. It’s a normal thing that authors complain about. Snookie gets a million dollars for a book that doesn’t even sell a million copies, but your average author is lucky to get $15k (paid in parts, very often over 1-2 years.) (Also, I don’t really know how many copies Snookie sold, but I know in 8 months as a bookseller I didn’t sell any. Not even during liquidation.)

To the best of my knowledge writers, unless employed for salary/hourly rate, function as self-employed contractors. The same as many people in the construction field, engineering field and adult entertainment fields. You’re not an employee, you’re being paid a specific rate for a specific job. Yeah, working like this, without someone automatically taking out taxes, paying half your unemployment and insurance costs etc, yeah, you want more money to pay those things and still have some in your pocket.

It’s my firm belief that we are not in a time where artists can live off their art. I mean, some can, and some do a great job at it. Some find other things to branch off into, public speaking, movies, tv, whatnot. Most of us keep day jobs or have a partner to help support us, or both. It’s easier to “make it” that way. Personally I use the day job for the things writing doesn’t give me; regular checks, instant personal satisfaction, benefits, tax balance.

At my day job we have 2 kinds of employees. Those that work for a flat pay (hourly or salary) and those who work on commission. The business covers some cost for us, from part of insurance and such to utilities, uniform shirts and basic supplies from soap and toilet paper to shampoo and ear cleaner. We cover other costs, gas to work, shoes, lunch, etc. Same for the commission folks. Dayjob covers some supplies, not to mention covers advertising, computer systems, building maintenance, etc. They have to provide their own shears, clippers, etc and maintain them.

No one at Dayjob is paid upfront for work. We are paid quicker and more regularly than I am paid through my publisher. But cost for living and supplies we have to provide are just our responsibility. We don’t get an advance for lunches for the week or gas.

I’m not sure how a good, reliable no-advance contract is different than this kind of work. Commission is paid after. Hourly rates are paid after. I get that it’s a little different when you’re living off royalties and advances.

But I also think big imbalances in what is actually earned and what is paid out (in advertising and over printing as much as advances) is a big factor in the razor thin and failing profit margin of publishers. I suspect that more balance between money out and money in, and a fairer divide between publisher and artist could significantly help the current state of publishing.

Because part of the problem is writer and consumer are both losing faith with publishers (for many good reasons, but that is another blog) and part is business practices that simply can’t continue to be supported.

Then again, I don’t have the experience other people do. What I do know is that KHP always sends me statements and royalties before they’re contractually due. They don’t charge me for editing, cover art, formatting, etc. They switched to ebook only because it’s shown to be significantly more profitable than print books. They are picky with their tastes and refuse to throw a bunch of stuff at the wall to see what sticks (except, of course, for actual pasta. They would totally do that.) They’re writers themselves, but none of them has used the press to self publish their own work (even though they’re all great writers). They don’t (as far as I know) pay themselves salaries period, much less before they pay their authors. The business has to be profitable FIRST, and they maintain their own day jobs to allow profit to go back into the press (to publish more books they love. Yay!)

It’s, sadly, also my suspicion that they aren’t a typical small press. I have been published by a few other presses that left me with a sour taste. (Including one that still hasn’t paid me and one which the last issue never came out, and that was after I never got an acceptance, just edits!) I will hold onto the wonderful treatment, the on time, fair payment, the wonderful editing and cover art, over an advance. That’s just my experience.