Archives for November 2022

Since the Penguin Random House antitrust trial hinged on author advances, witnesses explained publishing contracts, advances, royalties—and when the author sees that money. Agents also broke down how they’re paid. Author Compensation Hachette Book Group ceo Michael Pietsch explained that an author’s contract “includes a grant of rights of the ability to sell it in a particular territory, often North America, sometimes around the world, including translation rights,” plus a royalty to the author for every copy sold. There are also royalty rates for licensing or translating the book, or for excerpts being published in magazines (called “first serial” rights). […]

In the Penguin Random house antitrust trial, agents testified about what happens after the submission process: receiving offers, sometimes in heated auctions for top dollar. Here, we’ve compiled their thoughts on pre-empts and auctions. Ayesha Pande at Ayesha Pande Literary said that her methodology to sell a book “depends on how many editors at different publishing houses have expressed interest. The preferred scenario is if there are several interested publishers so that I can move toward a competitive closing. If there’s just interest from one publisher, then I have to try and negotiate in good faith with that publisher.” Pre-empts […]