"Why aren't you rich yet?" -- reality and the single author.: seanan

"Why aren't you rich yet?" -- reality and the single author.

I get this question a lot lately. "Why aren't you rich yet?" It sometimes travels in a pack with its two kissing cousins, "Haven't you quit your day job?" and "What do you mean, you can't afford to ________?" I don't punch people who ask these questions, because let's face it, the authors most people think of when they hear the words "professional writer" are Stephen King and Tom Clancy and the like, and they are rich. They live in the country of rich people's problems.

I, as yet, do not. I live in a different zip code altogether. While I'd love to move to their country someday, the odds are very low; they don't issue many passports, and they're very particular about their citizenship applications. For now, I live where I've lived for most of my adult life, in the country of the lower middle class, where shopping runs to Target are a reality, you thank the Great Pumpkin for five-dollar generic prescriptions (and recognize how lucky you are to have medical insurance at all), fifty-percent-off "eat it before the flies come" meat is sometimes the best excuse for a barbecue, and used book stores are a fiscal necessity, rather than a fun form of antique shopping. I'm not dirt-poor. I've been dirt-poor, I didn't like it, I hope to never do that again...but that means I don't quit my day job, and I don't take day-trips to Peru, or whatever other crazy rich person thing people are proposing today.

Publishing is a business. Almost every author, myself included, works on the royalties system, which goes like this:

Person A writes a book. Person B agrees to give Person A five dollars for the right to publish that book, with the understanding that Person A will not need to return the five dollars unless they violate the terms of their contract. This is called an advance. A certain percentage of the cover price of every book sold will be applied against this advance. Let's say six percent, which comes to just shy of fifty cents on your average mass-market paperback. Now, until the cumulative percentages from books sold come to more than five dollars, Person A will not be getting any additional payment. This is called "earning out." If the cumulative percentages never come to more than five dollars, Person A is basically done.

Once the cumulative percentages exceed five dollars, royalties become an option. Awesome! But remember, Person A's agent will still get a percentage of that royalty payment, and Person A will also be taxed on that income. (Self-employment tax is a nasty beast. Seriously, it's the monster under my bed these days, because the taxation on book payments is terrifying.)

Selling a book doesn't automatically make you rich, and I highly recommend that the first thing any new author does after selling a book is contact an accountant who works with authors, because otherwise, the self-employment tax is going to eat their lunch. Selling a book doesn't mean you can automatically quit your day job, and doesn't magically create medical insurance out of the air. John Scalzi once said that a smart author would marry someone with a stable job. I continue to support this as a sensible, if mercenary, approach.

This post brought on by a) the questions above being asked, yet again, and b) a lengthy discussion with my dentist about the incredible amount of work we're about to have done in my mouth, none of which would be possible without my medical and dental insurance. Finances are fun. Self-employment tax is not.

angel_vixen

October 14 2009, 20:26:43 UTC 7 years ago

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and used book stores are a fiscal necessity, rather than a fun form of antique shopping

I had this conversation with

killernurd the other night when I realized that a foray into B&N with my best friend this weekend was the first time I'd been in a "real" bookstore in months.

AngelVixen :-)
(who was apparently quite amusing as she surfed said B&N, noting down intriguing titles to request at the library/pick up at the local secondhand)

seanan_mcguire

October 14 2009, 20:42:08 UTC 7 years ago

And even that becomes a counter-balance thing. If five thousand people request my books through the library, that's only fifty to five hundred copies sold, which may mean I can't find a publisher for my next book. With newer authors especially, it's important that we get people into the "real" bookstores to vote with their dollars.

badkarma_one

October 14 2009, 20:55:20 UTC 7 years ago

First of all, I read Rosemary and Rue, and the next one will magically leap into my basket of its own volition at B&N as soon as it hits the shelves. It was one fine book -- my compliments.

Second, I'm a retired civil servant (32 years of pretty much hell, dealing with municipal residents, who can be petty little creatures -- although I have to admit, some are very lovely people who don't treat municipal employees like dirt). I retired early because they were going to take away the lifetime medical benefits for member and spouse in the next contract (which, during the last round of contract negotiations, we'd given up two years worth of raises to get) -- so I retired under the terms of the contract that still offered it to us (with the proviso that the member have 25 years of service).

As a municipal employee, I never made big bucks -- in fact, if I'd worked in the private sector in a comparable job, I'd have made 50-100% more in salary. But, as they always explained to us, the benefits balanced the salary out (and yes, they did, until the last few years).

So I'm a poorly-recompensed (first salary, now pensioned -- and still too young for Social Security) book-junkie. I never got into the hardcover habit (unless it's a reference book, or a present for my husband, who is death to books -- for him, hardcovers hold up so much better; my books, OTOH, look unread when I'm done with them), but I can't leave the mass-market novels by my favorite authors on the shelf. Unfortunately, several of my favorite authors made the jump from paperback originals to the hardcover first/mass market a year later pattern, which is really annoying. So what I do is, get the hardcover from the library when it's released, and buy the mass-market when it hits the shelves the following year. It's a win-win situation.

October 14 2009, 20:58:55 UTC 7 years ago

Well, yay! I'm glad you liked Rosemary and Rue, and I agree with you on the hardcover habit—there are very few authors that I actually buy in hardcover, as much for reason of storage space as for reasons of finances (since reading is a business expense for me).

On the plus side, by the time someone makes the jump to hardcover, it's generally because the market has proven capable of sustaining the trade-off of "slightly lower sales" vs. "slightly higher per-volume cost." And libraries are wonderful, amazing things, without which many hearts would be broken. I just ask that people keep in mind that authors like to eat, and pick up a few paperbacks now and then. :)

keristor

October 14 2009, 21:26:20 UTC 7 years ago

I admit that I was very glad that your books are out in p/b. Not particularly for financial reasons (although a p/b costs under half as much as a h/c) but for space reasons and in particular portability. I like to have h/c for permanence, but I like a p/b as well to stick in my backpack or briefcase, hardcovers are heavy. So I often buy both of books I like...

(I have your next one on order, through Amazon UK. I hope by the time that comes out they'l have the one after on pre-order as well. OBTW, I just got The Mermaid's Madness today as well, I loved The Stepsister Scheme and thanks for the recommendation...)

October 15 2009, 16:32:56 UTC 7 years ago

I'm thrilled to be in paperback. It's much, much better for a just-starting-out author, in terms of sales and accessibility.

Hope you enjoy The Mermaid's Madness!

October 14 2009, 21:38:11 UTC 7 years ago

Oh, I pick up more than a few -- most of my monthly allowance goes for books (and DVDs of my favorite television series). I track release dates very closely (Romantic Times Book Review - which is where I found out about Rosemary and Rue -- is fantastic for discovering the release dates of genre novels, not just romance), and am on a first-name basis with staff at the three closest Barnes and Noble stores closest to our house.

We're moving to Florida within the next few weeks (I scoped out the location of the B&N when I went down to look at houses in June), and I've packed at least 25 boxes of books -- and only stopped because I ran out of boxes. I need to hit the local printer tomorrow morning for more.

Retirement will be heaven -- I intend to sit and read, and read, and read. I may apply for a job at B&N -- primarily for their 30% employee discount, but also because I genuinely love books. I thank my mother for that -- she was a voracious reader and had me reading by the time I was three.

qnofhrt

October 14 2009, 22:44:14 UTC 7 years ago

I may apply for a job at B&N -- primarily for their 30% employee discount

Most people who work at bookstores do so to support their habit ;-)

bearhand

October 14 2009, 23:03:43 UTC 7 years ago

So it IS a drug habit.

Hello, my name is Bearhand and I read books.

October 15 2009, 11:00:48 UTC 7 years ago

Hello, my name is Chris and I read /anything/ (cereal packets, advertisements -- heck, I'll even read the sports section of a tabloid if there's nothing else around)...

October 14 2009, 23:42:57 UTC 7 years ago

As long as it gives me a little bit of spending money, I'll be happy.

October 15 2009, 02:27:05 UTC 7 years ago

Woeful, bleak, and dismal was the day when I realized that my employee discount was not enough to justify buying books there anymore. Additionally, they had wonky rules on what you could rent/borrow, which was annoying. On the other hand, that was the push that got me introduced to my favorite secondhand shop... ;-)

AngelVixen :-)

October 15 2009, 16:47:38 UTC 7 years ago

...that's a lot of books...

October 15 2009, 16:47:17 UTC 7 years ago

I think it's important to have people who genuinely love books working in bookstores. It makes the world better for everybody.

peachtess

October 15 2009, 01:09:34 UTC 7 years ago

2007 to 2008 Canada paid 9 mil to authors who had books in the public libraries. The Canada Council for the Arts pay whats known as a "public lending right" payment to authors who have books in the public libraries that have. Its Canadian only authors and you do have to registrar. At least its something though. The libraries are still as accessible here but its not as painful to authors that people barrow their books vs buying.

October 15 2009, 17:06:43 UTC 7 years ago

That's awesome!

October 15 2009, 17:21:38 UTC 7 years ago

That is awesome.

bardling

October 15 2009, 07:35:08 UTC 7 years ago

Same here, I don't usually buy hardcovers at all, for space/weight reasons (both on the shelves and in my bag while I'm reading it). And my reading style is such that a decent quality mass market paperback will last and will look unread if I've read it at home. What I dislike most, though, are the trade paperbacks, which IMO combine the *negatives* of both hardcovers and trade pbs.

So yes, I am *delighted* that Rosemary & Rue is out as a paperback I could buy immediately! (And I thoroughly enjoyed it, btw! Looking forward to the next one in the series... and the third, and... :) It's possibly my first or maybe second book I ever preordered (via Amazon), too.

October 15 2009, 17:07:29 UTC 7 years ago

I do hope to eventually make the jump to hardback, if only because that will mean the series is doing really well. But that's several volumes down the line.

October 15 2009, 17:19:26 UTC 7 years ago

Fair enough and I wouldn't begrudge it... I'd wait for the mass market pbs, though, especially if I've already got half a series in that format. :)

October 15 2009, 17:25:04 UTC 7 years ago

I'm not a huge fan of the trade paperback format either, for just that reason. It takes up too much space, but doesn't have the sturdiness of the hardcover to balance that out.

October 14 2009, 21:51:14 UTC 7 years ago

Indeed, very true. To be able to request books through the library that I found interesting at first blush, and then note and buy the ones I Want to Read Again and Again...it makes sense within the confines of my budget, but it's something different on you guys on the other side. I find myself wishing I could find a job that pays me to read, allowing me more frequent trips to the "real" stores and chances to support with my dollars.

On a lighter note, Rosemary and Rue, on the other hand, I ran right out and bought (so, unintentionally, I have fibbed; I was in my local "real" store for that). Compounding my joy was the fact that I got my paws on the last copy on the shelf.

AngelVixen :-)

October 15 2009, 17:08:19 UTC 7 years ago

I try to balance it out, and put my dollars where they matter most. So I run right out for first-day purchases of new authors and authors I really want to support, and take my time buying the "sure things" (like the new Pratchett).

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"Why aren't you rich yet?" -- reality and the single author.

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