Personal Development Ezine
July 2008
The Art Of Negotiation
Krystal Waters
Presenting your free Personal Development Ezine.
Many new writers who sign on to a publisher have no idea how to negotiate a good royalty fee. The fee itself is from the sales of the book, which is split up and delegated to the agent, if you have one, the publisher and then to the author. The fees for an agent are standard around 15% for each book sold. They will get paid before you do. Ask yourself if you really are in need of an agent. Usually first time writers getting published do not have a lot of variances since they don’t have anything to back up their writing ability and an audience. My advice is to not get an agent and find a publisher yourself. Don’t expect to get into a big publisher. Starting with a small publisher will help you get your foot in the door and prove yourself as a writer. They are most likely to take you on as well because Stephen King is not going to ask a small press to represent him and print his books. Negotiations are just asking for a piece of the pie. Usually when you first get a contract you will be low balled. If they say they’ll give you say 15% you’ll know that it’s too low. Remember, it’s counting 100% of the sales. If you ask for too much, the publisher will pull out of the negotiations’, so getting that perfect number, knowing that you will not get rich on the first book, put down a figure you can be proud of. I suggest that a new writer start at 35% to 40% and go from there. The publisher is putting great faith in your book (I am talking about traditional presses) so they have a lot to lose if your book doesn’t sell well. There is nothing wrong with asking, and going over your contract, tightening it up where you feel it needs to be. Ask for clarification if you are unsure of what something means. You can ask that something be taken off, for an example. It can take a month to get a contract signed to the satisfaction of both parties so don’t think that you are going to get a contract and it’s going to be perfect. One thing to remember is don’t ask for too much. As I said before, the publisher is taking a risk on you so therefore you must respect the fact that they are taking your work. Don’t be a push-over either. You may not be completely satisfied with your first contract, but the experience you get will give you more knowledge for your next book. - - - - - Visit Krystal's MySpace page. Personal Development Forum
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