How a book deal really works...

The ins and outs, and some FAQs!

When I was trying to get my first book published, I spent HOURS trawling the internet for information about the publishing process (before I was working in it as closely as I am now) and so part of launching this newsletter is to help those who are in a similar position, as I think so much of it can be confusing from the outside. I thought I’d go back to basics on this one and write about how the contractual side of things works, whilst incorporating some great queries I have had from readers of this Substack (thank you!) So, what is a book deal, and how does it work?

A book deal is, in itself, a contract between you (the writer) and the publishing house (the publisher). It is legally binding, and it ties both you and your publisher into a deal which means they will publish your book, and in return, you will meet their deadlines and stipulations and you will receive either a) royalties and an advance or b) just royalties, no advance. A deal will be agreed usually by your literary agent, and there may be some wrangling between an agent and a commissioning editor or publisher before the deal is finalised – at which point, the paperwork will be sent to you as an author to sign.

Most book contracts look pretty similar, but there will be small variations between publishers so it’s always important that you read through yours as carefully as possible. Your agent can help with this, if you have one. A key part of a book contract is what rights you give to the publisher – the most common types of rights sold are UK & Commonwealth, World English Language or World All Languages. This means that if you give your publisher World English Language rights, for example, they are allowed to print your book in English only – so it can be printed and sold in Australia, America, New Zealand, etc. but it cannot be translated. You or your agent will retain the rest of the language rights, and your agent can then choose to sell the rights to another publisher. If a publisher takes World All Languages, they are allowed to translate your book into as many different languages as possible - that is then done by the publisher’s rights team, not the agency rights team.

Another key part and one which interests many people is the financial side of things. The two most traditional types of contracts are with and without an advance, an advance being a lump sum of money that is given to you up front, often in stages – for example you might receive part of it when you sign your contract, another part when you deliver your book, and another part when your book actually publishes. You will also receive royalties, which vary between publishers. Royalties are an amount of money you will receive from every copy sold, so for example you might receive 10% of every paperback sold and 25% of every ebook sold. Different imprints will handle royalties differently – sometimes, you might get an amount after retailer discounting, sometimes, you might get an amount before discounting. Your agent will be able to ensure you get the best deal.

Lots of digital-first publishers offer a no-advance, high royalty contract, and this has some great advantages as well. It means you do not have to ‘earn out’ your advance, so essentially you can start receiving royalties sooner than someone with a high advance, but of course it does mean you do not get a sum of money up front. I know authors who prefer both contract models, so it is really whichever one works best for you.

Financially, it REALLY varies. I have negotiated book deals from £0-£multi-millions! Individual publishing houses value books differently, and sometimes one publisher might pay way more than any other publisher was expecting, and sometimes everyone might come in around the same level. Value comes from a variety of factors (I can do another post about this, but it is obviously all linked to how strong the idea and the writing is, and how well we think that it will connect with the readership in the current market; how many copies we think we could sell, and how many we’ve sold already if it’s an existing author; and the author themselves i.e. do they have longevity/consistency). So it is very hard to say what level of advance you can expect to be offered - it could be £5,000, it could be £50,000. I know some books which sold for £5,000 that are now huge bestsellers, and some bought for hundreds of thousands that have really not worked. It is a gambling business, and it’s your agents job to get you the very best deal (and that does not always mean the most money, it really doesn’t!) You have to also think about the editorial fit, the way they want to position you in the market, where you might be in two years’ time, what the royalties are like, etc. Some authors prefer to have modest advances but know they will earn out and gain royalties soon, and that their publisher will consistently re-contract them at a decent level. Some people worry about getting a big money deal and then not earning out and never being able to sell a book again. It is a personal thing really in terms of what matters to you (of course, we all need money and writers should be paid fairly) and that’s why it’s so important to think it all through carefully and discuss with an agent before signing a contract!

There are other important clauses within a book contract, for example an ‘option’ clause which states whether or not your current publisher gets the first look at the next piece of work you write. I wrote about how publishers make those recontracting decisions here. The contract will also include basic things such as your word count (usually 85-100,000 words for commercial fiction), how many books the publisher is buying from you at this stage (usually one or two for a first deal; more on this below), your delivery dates and planned publication dates, your responsibilities if there are any (such as being available for publicity) and your reversion rights – meaning at what point the rights to your work come back to you (if at all - these are usually difficult to get back). Always make sure any book contract is checked over by an agent or a legal professional before you sign it, and remember – no legitimate book deal should ever ask you to pay any money in order for your book to be published! Some publishers might say you need to cover your own travel costs to events or similar, and it’s pretty common to pay for your own launch parties, but no respected house will ever ask you for money in return for them publishing your book – that is NOT how it works! There are some vanity presses out there who try to con writers in this way so please do be careful.

So that is the essentials of a contract. In terms of what happens before you sign on the dotted line, the process is as follows. Yourself or your literary agent will send in a submission (your manuscript) to an editor (or editors) at a publishing house. It is always worth doing the research and finding editors who specialise in or are looking for the type of book you’ve written – and your agent should have relationships with those editors and know what they are looking for. Different editors like different things, but you can look at what an editor has published in the past to give you an idea and like I say, your agent should have a good idea of who to target already. Submissions will often be with several publishing houses at once, and the agent will be awaiting emails or calls from editors to express interest or reject the book. In some situations, the agent might receive multiple offers at once, in which case the book will likely go to auction – and the highest or most attractive bidder will ‘win’ the manuscript.

When the manuscript is submitted to an editor, the editor will read it as quickly as possible, although bear in mind this can take a little while as editors receive a great deal of manuscripts per week. If the editor likes the book, it will usually be passed around the other editors in the team for second and third opinions, and it might be shown to the sales team to get their take as to whether it is commercial or is likely to do well with their retailers. If everyone or the majority are in agreement, the book will be taken to an acquisitions meeting. Whenever I buy a book, I take it to a meeting with a document detailing my ‘vision’ for the book – who I think would like to read it, what other authors I can compare it to, what sort of jacket or title I think it ought to have. I also ask the financial department to run a profit and loss report (P&L) which will show me how much of a contribution to my company the book will make, depending on how well I think it might sell, and how much the book will cost to print and bind. If our managing director and several other people in the business agree with me that the book would be a good addition to our list, I will go back to the agent and make a formal offer. The agent will then either accept, decline, or negotiate and hopefully, we will reach a deal. The agent will then let the writer know, and boom – there’s your book deal moment! All of that is covered in more detail in my post about the acquisitions meeting.

When it comes to the number of books on offer, I tend to often buy two books at once, because otherwise an author can become out of contract pretty quickly, and I want to give them a sense of security and for us as a publisher to have the time to build up their publishing profile and their brand. On some occasions, I do do one book deals, and this is often when it is a book I am buying from the US, (we call these ‘US buy-ins’) wherein the US editor is the primary contact and editor, and I am secondary. In these cases, often the book cover is already done and we’re buying US files, so it makes sense to buy a one-off novel based on the strength of the proposition etc, especially if America have only bought one, too (they tend to buy one book at a time more often than UK editors). The other reason I might only do a one book deal is if I am a bit unsure about a second idea, or if there isn’t one, or if the author has multiple different projects on the go and I’m unsure whether I can build them up in one area of the market. Sometimes, authors prefer one book deals because then you can see how it goes and not feel tied in to one publishing house - remember it has to work for you too! An agent can help decide on this - obviously, two book deals mean more money, though there is an argument to be made that if you did a one book deal and were wildly successful, you would then be in a better position to negotiate more money for a second book. But most people tend to prefer the security and longer-term vision of two books, in my experience.

Another query I had from a reader of this Substack was whether we ever do book deals where one book is fiction and one non-fiction - the answer is not really, but occasionally. It is usually separate teams working on these genres, and I do have authors who write fiction for me but non-fiction for the non-fiction team - but those are on separate contracts. In the past I have very occasionally bundled contracts together whereby we buy three works, two of fiction and one of non-fiction for example. But it doesn’t happen that often. If you are a writer doing both then it’s likely your agent can suggest the best approach - if there is a brilliant non-fic editor and a brilliant fiction editor both in the same house, then great, but you might prefer to keep your options open and have separate deals.

I’ve also been asked about whether a publisher minds if you have had a gap between books (i.e. if you published your first book years ago and have yet to sell your second). This all depends on the quality of your writing, the previous book sales, and what you want to do next. Profit-wise, yes it is better for us as publishers to have authors who can deliver a book a year (sometimes more) but of course not everyone can or should do this. But building momentum can be a good route to success, because you’re connecting with readers more regularly, you stay on radar, and the internal momentum inside a publishing house works well, too. But if you have had a big gap from writing and then go on to write something brilliant there is no real reason this shouldn’t sell - you just need an editor with a great vision for how to re-launch you or re-engage your book 1 readers, and then grow your readership. I know tons of authors who have had big gaps, so while it’s something to think about, it doesn’t need to be a major problem. It’s really all about finding a publisher who can see a way to break you into the market - who understands who your readership would be and, crucially, how to reach them (e.g. the routes to market!)

The book deal process is actually not as complex as it can seem to those outside the industry, and it is always a combination of a) an editor’s passion and b) the company’s business logic that allows a deal to be pushed through. An editor might LOVE a book but the P&L may not work, which is sad but unfortunately does happen. Remember that publishing is a business, and that books are subjective – just because one publisher says no to your novel does not necessarily mean another publisher won’t snap it up!

Another quick thing to add about the publishing process is that it can be s-l-o-w. It can take time for a book to reach an acquisitions meeting, and I know how difficult it can be when you are sitting refreshing your emails wondering what on earth can be taking so long – but there are lots of factors that do slow things down and silence is not always bad news. Realistically, a key person from the acquisitions meeting could be on holiday and the meeting might be postponed, or an editor might be waiting for someone else to finish reading the novel before taking things forward. Try to remain calm while you wait, and remember, you only need one publisher to give you a yes.

I hope all of this is useful and thank you for reading. Please do share The Honest Editor with others in your networks, and help make publishing more transparent for everyone.

As always, I would love any comments below about what more you would like to see, or any questions you might have.

Phoebe x