first novel payment?

Question

how much of an advance would you realistically expect to get paid for your first juvenille novel (say 15,000-20,000 words)? i've heard loads of figures, from a pityful £2500 up to a whooping six figure sum. anyone please help!

Answer 1

You won't get much for a first novel unless the publishers are expecting miracle sales. Your best option is to take an advance but choose royalties as well so if the book does sell well then you're covered. You could get a bigger advance if you choose not to have royalties, but most people are willing to take the royalty gamble. Advances only tend to be a lot of money if you are a big name author who is guaranteed huge sales. I heard J.K Rowling accepted a £1500 advance for the Philosopher's Stone. Also you can get money from Public Lending Right as well- any time your book is borrowed from a library you get a small fee. I think this is paid annually.

Answer 2

I think 15-20,000 words is little more than a long short story; novels start at around 75,000 words for a shortish one.
And few publishers will take on a"juvenile novel" unless you're already famous for something else or your juvenilia is of historic literary value (like that of Jane Austen). Like another answerer, I am also surprised that you think £2500 pitiful.
The truth is first time authors, however brilliant they are, are an unknown risk and publishers like certainty. So you have to be better than the herd by a long long way to impress them enough to risk money on getting you into print without giving you any money at all up front. Sad but true.

Answer 3

Like anything, it depends if it's worth an advance at all, and if so, what it's worth. It's up to your ability and the agent's/publisher's assessment of the market. I'm interested that you think £2500 pitiful. If you have that much to spare I'll happily take it off your hands and cheer it up. 20,000 words; how long to write? variable again according to the individual, but let's say 2000 words a day; that's modest. (3000 should be pretty straightforward) Then a second draft , say.. £2,500 for a month's work isn't bad to start with. Especially for doing what you love best. When that is happening money is ipso facto secondary; the primary satisfaction available in life being to do what you really love.

Answer 4

Depends on the publisher and the author. Some publishers are going to pay more for a book than others, some will pay based on the number of words. Also, a first time author, someone who is a total unknown, would be less likely at first to bring in much of a profit for the publisher (unless the publisher absolutely thinks they've got a best seller on their hands) compared with an established, well known author. And an author who is known for regulary making the best seller list is one who publishers will pay more to as they can expect to make more of a profit off of.

Answer 5

Unless you are a successful writer all ready (as in on the best seller list), don't expect to receive anything as an advance. Usually, just getting your first book published is difficult enough but no publisher will be likely to offer an advance to a complete unknown. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Answer 6

Its been awhile since I did any research into this but from what I remember it can be a very small number and don't expect a big number. Your best bet is to get an agent or at least don't sign anything until you've had an expert go over it with you.

Answer 7

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