Tom Clavin

You’re only looking at dollars; there’s also the author’s career to consider. With work-for-hire, the author has no ownership of the work and absolutely no say in how it is promoted and marketed, nor in subsidiary, ancillary & sequel rights. The marketing/promo is going to be done by the same people inhouse, no matter how the author is paid. But if the author retains ownership of the work, she can hire a publicist and/or market and publicize the book on her own–and thus build her career. She doesn’t have that option with work-for-hire.

It’s against an editor’s interest to break away from the boilerplate contract, which of course favors the publisher–the editor’s employer, remember? It takes a savvy author–or better yet, a savvy agent–to negotiate a better contract.

Of course editors have faith in their marketing departments; they’re not going to acquire books that marketing can’t sell. In fact, sometimes marketing nixes mss that editors want.

Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing ™: Good heavens, Bella! Most books die a painful death of ”failure to thrive” due to “failure to market.” And how many authors do you know who can part with $2500 to $3000 a month for a publicist to work part-time promoting the book! 

A big advance usually–but definitely not always–signals a publisher’s commitment to a book. I know of several authors who received decent advances, yet whose books didn’t get much attention from their publishers’ publicity departments.

Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing ™: Which would you rather have? A $40,000 work-for-hire contract for a first book or a $10,000 advance against royalties and then rely on the marketing expertise of people who have, as you said, too many books with which to deal? Also, there is nothing to prevent including a clause in a work-for-hire contract that specifies “should the book sell xxx number of copies, author will receive a lumpsum of xxx in addition to the $40,000.” If editors believe in your book, you CAN negotiate, though it would take an editor with some authority and courage to break away from the  boilerplate contract.  Trouble is, editors don’t have any faith in their own marketing departments.

My book did alright, made it as high as [the top 10] on the NYT list. Stayed on the list for… weeks. That was in spite of my publisher’s very best efforts to botch the release. I had [almost 400] newspapers, magazines, and radio shows contact me for a review copy of my book, and about 5 of them received copies. I was so pissed. I couldn’t get any copies of my own book. I literally had to buy 20 from Amazon to send out to people.

I took an [under $10,000) advance, and didn’t really care because I wanted to work with my editor. I’ll take the bigger advance check.  It’s too frustrating otherwise.

Im a newbie to the professional writing business, but I’ve always been into writing. I’ve just finished my first children’s book and my first novel which is a vampire novel….yeah. I am at a loss right now, but really encouraged at some of the agents i’ve communicated with regarding the novel. Im at the “query” stage still, but though I would step back and research this business a little more before I move forward. The last agent I spoke with thought the novel was very exciting but would not undertake because he wasn’t representing horror/suspense/thrillers any longer, but very strongly encouraged me to keep writing to agents.

Humm…Im wondering, do I really need an agent, and if so or no, what are the pros and cons and also, since this is my first novel, would work-for-hire be that absolute best choice for me. Of course I want to get paid, and I believe the book would be a hot seller, but obviously I would think that of my own work. But I also don’t want to lose complete rights to my own work also. Any suggestions?

Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing ™: Chad, if you can place your book with a literary agent or directly with an editor, do so. You can always sign with a literary agent after you place the book yourself. (Rather easily, I might add.) You also have the right not to sign a contract you don’t like. Remember that the amount of advance offered is an indication of marketing support your book will get. If the advance is small, that’s when I would think about work-for-hire. Of course, work-for-hire contracts should result in a bigger check than the traditional advance. 

I’d love a $20,000 payment, free and clear, but I also want to own my own characters and concept, which I don’t think would happen in a work for hire case.

Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing ™ If you did a 100% work for hire, the publisher would own the copyright which would, I believe, include all the characters. I don’t think you can copyright a concept. These are legal questions best answered by an intellectual property attorney.

Pat

Note from the Wicked Witch of Publishing ™: Hi, Pat. Thanks for coming by for the first time. I think the amount of the advance offered is an indication of the strength of the commitment an editor has toward your book or series of books. Low advance = low interest, low commitment, low effort to promote. High advance = high interest and a vested interest in the success of the book. Low advance and I would recommend work for hire at perhaps a figure that reflects the amount of work involved in a series. Which would you rather have? A $10,000 advance AGAINST royalties (meaning you don’t see another dime unless the book earns out that $10,000 in the teeny percentages of revenue that accrue to your ledger over the years as each book is sold, less the amount held in reserve for returns, of course, or a $20,000 payment, free and clear.  Good luck with L.A. Heat. I see it is being published in a few days by Alyson Books.

Work-for-hire, yes! Work-for-hire, no! Doesn’t anyone sleep?

I also dropped by Galley Cat and found a comment by a publisher that I’d like to excerpt here: “The business transaction is very, very simple: a work-for-hire deal would have to be larger than the advance….” Thank you! YES. Obviously.

If an editor likes your book and smells revenue, he or she will weigh the advantages of a work-for-hire contract. These advantages would include:

• The right to acquire the book from you in the first place.
• Freedom to market at-will.
• Simplified accounting. 
• Not having to deal with those pesky calls from the author.

Might the editor put a little extra effort into making your book a success because it was written as a work-for-hire? If that happens, that’s just terrific for the publishing house and you–short-term and long-term.