Royalties!

[I. J. Parker]

For years now the most depressing mail has contained royalty statements from my American publishers. I keep them in a black folder and go into a long depression every time they arrive. They show negative dollar amounts. I owe thousands of dollars. And I hate owing money.

But behold: Here is mail with a fat royalty check! My first! And a very nice one it is in a year when I've earned all of $ 1,500 so far. The check is from my French publisher. Now why is it that the French can sell books so much better than Americans? After starting later? And after having to pay a translator?

I can only assume that this has a lot to do with marketing.

[I. J. Parker]

Benjamin, you're quite right (except about the $ 500,000 advance). I do get to keep my advances. But the royalty statements (which deduct royalties earned from advance owed and are headed by the depressing statement "Unearned Royalties) remind me every time that the publisher is holding the un-earned-out portion of the advance against me and my books. Besides, I absolutely hate even the psychological debt.

Thanks, all. It was my first substantial EARNED check, and I needed to celebrate.

[Donna Carrick]

WOW Congrats, I.J.! I'd be thrilled for sure!

[Benjamin Sobieck]

I'm either going to sound naive or, uh, really naive, but the fact you owe money puzzles me. I've been under the impression the publisher does not have to be reimbursed if the advance doesn't pay out. It's the publisher taking a risk with the advance, not the author. So if I.J.'s $500,000 advance is short by 25 cents, she gets to keep the quarter.

Am I wrong? Or does this vary publisher to publisher within fiction? The author contracts I've dealt with (non-fiction) determine a royalty schedule based on a pre-determined formula.

[B.R.Stateham]

I theink D.R. as the answer. From everything you read and hear about the American side of publishing--anything less than a mega-hit doesn't earn squat.

[Dana King]

Congratulations, I.J. This is well deserved and hard earned.

Not to be too cynical, but is it possible the French publishers have different accounting practices than do the Americans, which allows royalties to appear faster?

[D.R. MacMaster]

Congrats on the sales.

Checks arriving in the mail are a good thing. I enjoy seeing them in my mailbox. :D

Plus, I suspect European publishers are better equipped to shill their mid-list, while I notice a lot of American publishers seem to want NY Times Top 5 or forget about it.

May the checks keep coming.

[I. J. Parker]

Congratulations to you, Jon. My American novels haven't earned out yet. Perhaps the advances were a tad high. I don't know. I have a very determined agent.
And yes, it could be culture, but the British haven't shown any interest yet (though I'm told by a fan that I have a following at Cambridge University). Neither have the Italians.

[Jon Loomis]

I should add that one thing that hasn't happened for me so far is any sale of foreign rights--I'm thinking the co-agent may not be trying, really.

[Jon Loomis]

Congratulations, I.J. I'm due to get my first royalty check sometime next week--almost two years after earning out the advance for the first two books!

[John McFetridge]

Or culture. This is from Peter Rozovsky's blog today:

It was the Edgar Allan Poe scholar Shelley Costa Bloomfield who suggested that the French were ready and waiting for what Poe had to offer before Americans were: "Maybe it takes an older civilization to feel comfortable with the dark side and be able to enjoy it."

But wherever it's from, congratulations!