The Art of the Book Deal (and How Much Money You Can Expect)
If you're interested in getting your book published by a major publishing house, you should know the ins and outs of how a book deal actually works. In this video, I walk you through the structure of a book deal, including its common terms and conditions, and answer common questions about how much money you can expect from a traditional publishing house. This is a key for anyone looking to publish traditionally or who wants to learn about how to make money from writing!
GETTING A BOOK DEAL:
03:16 - How are book deals structured?
09:57 - How do publishers value a book?
16:41 - Common terms and conditions in a book deal
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My name is Alyssa Matesic, and I’m a professional book editor with 7+ years of book publishing and editorial experience. Throughout my career, I’ve held editorial roles across both sides of the publishing industry: Big Five publishing houses and literary agencies. The goal of this channel is to help writers throughout the book writing journey-whether you're working on your manuscript or you're looking for publishing advice.
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There are so many monkeys in the jungle. Jungle called KZhead. Those who self published a few books and acting like a top literary agent, publisher, editor, best selling author all at once who spew imaginary "tips and tricks" on traditional publishing online. Your one video crushed them all in a few minutes in. Your video speaks volumes. Easy to tell how much "real experience" you have. I cannot thank you enough for sharing your expertise.
It's worth carefully checking what the publisher means by 'advance' and by 'royalties'. I was offered a publishing contract with advance and royalties for a western I'd written (following a request from the publisher), only to discover that their advance was tiny and it was in return for me waiving royalties on the first print run of the hardback and paperback versions of the book. I was only going to get royalties after that first print run was sold. I declined the contract. On the plus side, it was a useful piece of writing practice. I learnt a lot about plot structure, contrasting characters, emotional dynamics etc.
Excellent point about double checking the fine lines, thank you for sharing! I'm glad you're still able to take something positive out of the experience as well, and wish you the best with future endeavors!
Everyone knows what you said, it sounds like you wanted to brag
I works as a rights executive at a Vietnamese publisher and this video still enlightening me even though I worked in the publishing industry for nearly a year. Thanks a million for the useful comment, Alyssa!
Really interesting and clearly presented. Hopefully one day I'll have to come back to this for a refresher before a meeting with a publisher...
Thanks so much! I hope so too!
Best explanation of advance and graduated royalties I’ve heard. I can see the dynamics clearly now.
Thank you! So glad you found this helpful. Royalties can definitely be tricky to navigate.
I'm glad I found your channel. Very honest and straightforward.
Welcome aboard!
Thank you so much for the most comprehensive explanation. I just entered the last period on my first novel. Perfect timing!
Thank you for such a concise and helpful overview, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this background information! Just starting agent talks and it’s all new to me, so I feel a bit better now having some context.
Glad it was helpful! I wish you luck on the querying process :)
Very enlightening!!!! Thanks
Thank you for all this info! So helpful
I’m working on a novel that legitimately came to me in a dream 2 years ago and never left my head! Just in the last few months I’ve started actually writing it, and your videos really helped me clean some things up along the way :) I’ve always been great at English and loved writing. But never actually knew shit about writing 😂 with your guidance what was just a complication of loose ideas randomly flowing onto paper, are now properly structured and I feel like I really have a good foundation that will allow me to succeed! Well we shall see ;) i don’t knooow that first time author with a million dollar deal sounds pretty appetizing to meee fingers crossed 😎
Learning so much. Really appreciate the content and quality you supply in these videos!
Another amazing video! Thanks Alyssa 👍
Thank you so much for doing this
You are great! All golden information!
This was really helpful!
Great video! Thank you the information!!
You are a gem! Following you faithfully! ❤
Brilliant stuff-thanks!
Love the vid, some great info, thanks.
Great information, thanks.
Great videos. Huge help
Thank you so much for these educational videos!
Thank you for this information. It helped out a lot.
Thank you so much. You're one of the best in here. So clarifying. Stay safe! :D
Great information Alyssa, thank you so much for these videos.
Thank you for the very clear and authentic advice!
Thank you for the precise information. Excellent video.
Wow, you do a fantastic job both keeping it real AND hopeful! Thank you!
Great supportive video. Thank you so much Alyssa Matesic.
Great video, thank you for sharing these tips
Invaluable advice!! Thank you so much for taking the time to put your knowledge and experience out there for us!! So helpful and I’m very grateful🙏😇🤞💕📚
I absolutely LOVE this channel! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for demystifying this industry for me and other budding authors!!
Very helpful. Thank you
Alyssa! Great information and love that you are breaking this down! Going to check some of your other videos out 😀
Thank you 🤓
Thank you ❤❤❤
Excellent. Useful.
Useful and interesting. Thank you
VERY helpful, I am a fan of the guidance you're offering. New to the market, after a career in animation, and am fascinated and intrigued by all the possibilities in print. It is a labyrinth!
Thank you Alyissa, Your videos are very informative and well explained. I am currently working on my first Sci-fi novel and the process is going very well. 👌 I subscribed to your channel.
I love your content, especially when you smile and express your enthusiasm!
Honestly so helpful for someone who's curious and knows nothing about this world! Thank you!
Definitely added more pieces to the puzzle. Very informative, thanks
Thank you for the wonderful video. I'm working on my first fiction novel, and I'm about 18k words in so far! I appreciate the entire overview and look forward to learning more about this business. :)
I'm going for the sky high dream...* Thanks Alyssa, great video..,
Thanks
that's so interesting, that most authors don't usually earn out their advance! thank you for these insights
This is just the info I was looking for! Thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for your time, energy, and information. The Universe led me to you, I needed to hear this. Had to listen to this multiple times, so I could meditate on your wisdom! I AM the exception, can’t wait to tell you about my 7 figure deal!!! #FirstTimeAuthor
You’re marvelous Alyssa! Thank you for your service!
Thank you for this kind comment!
Great information! Thanks. How does this relate to non fiction business books?
These kinds of videos are very informative. Most of my knowledge of book deals come from the dialogue in TV and movie plots, so there's a lot of guesswork and incorrect conclusions that I came too.😅 Thanks for the clarification
I recently discovered your channel and appreciate all the advice. Keep 'em coming! Thanks!!
Glad you find my channel helpful! Thanks for commenting!
I'm so happy to have discovered your channel, you are so lovely and helpful. Thank you for this treasure trove of information!
I'm so glad!
Great video! 🙏 Is dividing the advance into four payments rather than three a relatively recent development? I'm curious why publishers wait a year after publication to make that final payment. This is such an informative channel--thank you! 🖋
Great information! I feel like I learned a lot
I'm so glad, thanks so much!
Just found your channel. Lots of valuable information here! Glad to see someone giving info on traditional publishing.
Thanks so much, happy to help! Let me know if there are any specific topics you'd like to hear more about, would love to hear your ideas.
This was helpful. Thank you 🙏🏾
Glad it was helpful!
great video
you're so awesome!! this stuff is so insightful
Glad it was helpful!
Hi Alyssa, this is very good info! I have handful of manuscripts that fit into the children’s picture book category. Do you recommend self publishing or traditional publishing?
Thank you so much for posting this video . I got a lot of valuable information about traditional publishing .
Happy to help!
this is great😢😢😢
Very informative, truly appreciate this page.
Glad it was helpful!
Hello Alyssa, I just found your channel and it's amazing, thank you so much for all the transparent information. I do have a couple questions about the book deal and the contract. I'm an artist as well as a writer and my art depicts the world in my books. Would I be able to put it in the contract that my art can be on the book cover and work with their in house designer as a team to design the cover? Also, can I as a writer maintain certain rights, for example movie or video game rights, etc? Or will the publishers not sign if I want to maintain those rights and have my art on the covers? These are a huge deal for me and make me want to look toward self-publishing if the traditional publishers won't work with me. I created a company for my world and my art and I'd like to be able to sell my books on my online store as well. I'm not sure if publishers would be open to such collaboration.
Your videos are so informative and helpful, thank you! I did have a quick question about literary agents. Does it matter which country your agent is from? I’ve been looking over a lot of agents lately and I think I’ve settled on a London-based agency. Is there any downside to going through them if I’m from the USA? Thank you!
Thanks Alyssa. Your knowledge is so helpful
So glad you find my content helpful. Thanks for commenting!
Great set of videos, I've only just found you so am likely your newest subscriber, your videos are informative and helpful, thanks for these.
Welcome, and thanks for subscribing! I'm so glad you find my content helpful!
I'm so grateful for the information you share. I love how you share real facts on what to expect, honest and not sugar coated.
I'm so glad you find it helpful! Thanks for the kind comment!
wow, so overwhelming--I definitely will stick to self-publishing.
Wow, this was so well explained! Thank you for this as I have not heard many of these things before, especially about how it is normal not to earn out an advance.
Glad it was helpful!
I just want to say: God bless you and THANK YOU for this information. This is incredible content, and I am so grateful for the value I find in your channel.
Glad it was helpful!
Yes this helps. Thanks Alyssa
Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for commenting!
This video was so helpful! You answered so many questions that I couldn't find a good answer to anywhere else! Thank you so much for sharing! I was wondering what that last point you made would look like for a series - would the publisher retain the rights to the story as a whole or would it technically be possible to indie-publish book 2 of a series if the publisher decides not to publish more than book 1 of the story? Or is that something that heavily depends on the situation?
Very helpful information! I've self-published a few simple works, but working on my first non-fiction, self-help book. Thanks for the videos.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for commenting and good luck with your book!
awesome video! 💯
Glad you liked it!
Watching this in advance of a first book publishing deal meeting on Monday. Thanks so much!
Good luck with your meeting!
Thank you for this helpful information and I do have a question, can you please recommend some good Christian publishing companies? Thank you so much!
Very informative. Does Dorrance Publishing offer an Advance?
I absolutely loved this video! If I’m ever so lucky to sell my book. If sold to the big 5 now big 4, as the author would I still be able to be part of that process to promote my book? What if I wanted to have it translated into another language and would like to promote it in another country? Could I make those suggestions? You’re the best!
Thank you for the very detailed description. I have owned 3 business in my life, two which were more service type, and my most recent which produces retail goods for sale in grocery channels. It is only this most recent business where I was introduced to using brokers and distributors. I'm assuming the book world is the same, that you won't get into a big publisher with out using a broker (agent). Would you agree with this?
One clause I'd hoped to hear regards movie rights. As I write my memoir, I envision a film potential. Would a book publisher handle this, or more likely the agent? Great video!
If you had a book deal and the publisher has first refusal rights on the next book, and you change agents, what happens then? Would the agent for the original book deal still be entitled to a percentage of the next book deal (as well the new agent), or it's a completely new deal with the same publisher, and the new agent?
Awesome- so helpful, so I need to find an agent now
Best of luck!
I am a Kurdish American and have worked as a Kurdish English translator and cultural advisor for the U.S. Military in Iraqi Kurdistan for more than ten years. I have finished writing a novel based on my experience with the U.S military in Iraqi Kurdistan and my life under Saddam Hussein's authoritarian regime. An editor is working on my manuscript, which will soon be finished. I need your advice regarding the publishing. Do you recommend self-publishing or traditional? I have good funds for advertising if I go with self-publishing. But few people recommend the traditional way. In 2004, I started working as a linguist with U.S. Military in my hometown, Kirkuk, in Iraqi Kurdistan, and then in 2008, I moved to The United States. In 2015, I became a U.S. citizen, and then I returned to Iraq again as a linguist and cultural advisor with the U.S. Military to fight against ISIS in Iraq. There is a good plot in the story. There are love, persecution, history, genocide, fighting against terrorists, and more in my story. Some of the stories are real, but the rest is fiction based on actual political events and situation.
I love that books get put it in the Risk Master. Let it rain! 😂
We are thankful for very best information it is highly appreciate who is the best publisher please recommend a Best English novel publisher for a new writer thanks
Great Video! Curious about Intellectual property rights. After selling the book to the publisher does the author still retain the IP rights to world, characters and the content in the manuscript or are they giving that up like in the Film world. Also, what about Film option rights. Can the author turn around and sell or write the rights for the screenplay adaptation of the novel without interference from the publisher after the book has been published? Thanks again.
Very good question! Following.
Exactly the question I have.
Everything is negotiable as they say. The publisher may get a split for some of the rights the author sells, since they did invest in the project and promote the initial release. I honestly think a publisher grabbing any rights outside of the American Printing is not fair to the author. With all the mergers, it would be hard like in the old days to get a super big deal for paperback rights. In the past, you sold the hardback rights, then had an avenue to earn more on PB. I understand a lot of times they try to grab those and audio and e-Book, and even foreign if they can for some low price. I would discuss the terms with your agent, then before I signed, I would even have my own show biz attorney look it over in my opinion.
There are essentially two types of rights when it comes to a creative work : Attribution and exploitation rights. Exploitation rights can be sold and are what you make money off as an author. They're the rights to sell the creative work, to expose it, to use it to make money. Attribution represent your status as the creator of the work. It means that your name can never be taken off the work and that you will always be mentioned as the creator. Regarding film rights and the such, they're a type of exploitation rights that is untouched by the publisher, in the sense that, as the holder of the attribution rights, you possess all exploitation rights de facto until you specifically sell them. And you sell to the publisher the exploitation rights regarding the book and only the book. Meaning that the film company will need to reach out to you to make a movie out of your work. They cannot go directly to the publisher for that, however the publisher can be involved in the negociations given that an adaptation will often change a few things in the story and the publisher needs to know if those changes can impact the image of the book and therefore, their image.
Very informative. Thank you
great video! do you have to pay an agent on top of the commission?
No, you shouldn't have to pay an agent in addition to the commission--if you're being asked to, the agent you're working with is likely a scam agent.
I did the math for fun and, in the case of a 40 000$ advance, you would retain 34 000$. Granted that you would score maybe a 10 000$ advance on your own if you're lucky, I'd say that's a pretty fair deal to have the agent give you a hand. (The 10 000$ are based on the advances I've heard off, in France where I'm living, with people who went on their own. While we do have literary agents, the occupation is not as spread out as in North America and a lot of author go through self-publishing or negociating on their own.)
Thank you so much for this information. Your videos are really helpful. I however do have a question, if you write a trilogy and let’s say a publisher publishes the first book, but they don’t like the second one. How does that work, do they want to switch from publishers or do they want a complete outline of the entire series before publishing anything at al?
They’ll want an entire series outline. Also-this is why serialized books can be a hard sell for a debut author.
Usually you are supposed to just put out the first book, and it has to be a stand-alone book, but you give a brief mention of the others in the series. After publication, If they don’t want your second book, your agent will send it to other publishers, treating it like a new book (but now you have the first in the series published and if it did well, then it will be a lot easier to sell this one.) But also if the publisher does not like the second book, maybe there are adjustments required.
This is super helpful . What happens with movie / streaming rights
Meaning by default to publishers ask for / expect them , or does it retain with the author . I have written a full novel which has been professionally edited ; the feedback is that the novel is very visual and I might consider turning it into a script . So more interested in the movie side of the business
Great information Alyssa thanks so much for making it so clear! One question I have is that I actually paid my publisher a sum of £2,500 before I found out they were a hybrid type of publisher. It's been a long road but my book is out online already and I think it's selling OK so far. But I am curious as to what my percentage is that they will work out my royalties after listening to your guidance. My first lot of royalties are predicted for 31st December so not long now, and I continue to write the sequel to the first book in the meantime. I don't understand how the publisher can take the lions share of the royalties when I contributed to the publication because I was a new author. Unless I have read the percentages the wrong way round 📖😁
Intriguing! I'm wondering now how did it go?
Great video!! Thank you. Currently writing a novel, similar to, but not mimicking Joe Abercrombie's "Best Served Cold." It seems that so far editing is nearly eternal. I did my best to turn off my internal editor and just write, and that's extremely hard for me. I'm ADD, a perfectionist, specifically with things I take interest in, and my attention to detail is higher than most because of my background and being exposed to many elements of abnormal and unique life experiences in the Marine Corps. As a retired Marine, I've seen some things the vast majority of people in the United States do not see in a lifetime. I'm more motivated than ever to write, and have some decent help with editing by those that give me honest feedback, not all applause and affirmations.
That's great man do you bro.
What about the reversion of rights clause? I hear horror stories of certain publishing houses retaining rights to books without even putting them in print (Harlequin etc) and authors often forewarn other aspiring writers to always ensure that there's some sort of reversion of rights if the book stops selling, to enable the author to buy back the rights to their book and distribute it through a different publisher. What does this usually look like in a book contract?
Nice informative video about traditional book deals, any info about co-finance deals? I sent my book to like 20 different swedish publishers and one of them answered back with a co-finance deal. Basically they want me to pay for everything so this whole 'advance' you talk about is instead me paying them (RIP), and the royalties were tiny. Is this normal or are every publisher in sweden scams? I declined the offer. Basically I would pay them 80K Swedish Crowns for publishing my book with next to nothing in return.
Just curious if you plan on making a video about how to find beta readers or critique partners/the process overall? Would love your insight there!
That's a great topic! I've put it on my list, thanks!
yes!
Need to know: is this comment box the place to ask questions or is there a different avenue? (I’ve a question that defies shortening enough to fit here.)