How book auctions really work...

And why you're not a failure if you didn't have one!

Hi everyone and especially to new subscribers! I hope nobody has melted in this heat…

I thought today I would write about book auctions - which always sound so glamorous, but in reality can be pretty stressful! When you’re trying to get published, it can feel as though every writer out there is being offered six figure deals in ten way auctions. I am here to tell you that this is the exception, not the rule, and also to explain how auctions work, as from the outside I imagine it can feel confusing.

To go back to basics - when an agent sends out a new script to editors, if the agent gets a good amount of interest (e.g. multiple editors saying they are enjoying it, getting wider team reads, taking it to acquisitions or considering making an offer), then the agent is likely to set a deadline. They then tell all interested parties (and those who might have received the script but not yet expressed interest) that there is a deadline of say, 5pm on Thursday to make them an offer. Cue publishers scrambling around, running costings and drafting letters to the agent in time for the deadline. (This is always stressful, as we do it around all existing meetings, and you have to gather together the senior team for sign-off before you can make an offer).

When books go to auction, it’s essentially because more than one publishing house is interested, and the agent does not want to accept a pre-emptive offer (known as a pre-empt). A pre-empt is when one publisher puts down an amount of money for a set period of time, for example, a pre-emptive offer of £50,000 which expires at 10am the next morning or by 5pm the same day (it’s usually a short window of time in which the agent and author have to decide whether to accept it or not. Sometimes, it is better to accept, because pre-empts can be high money and it closes the deal. On other occasions an agent might think that actually, they are more likely to get more money - and give the author more options - if they go to auction).

In that case, they would have to turn down the pre-empt and invite that publisher to enter the auction (which can only happen once the deadline the agent originally set for all publishers is up). The pre-empt is off the table, and it is likely that the publisher will enter the auction, but at a lower level.

The agent then sends all interested publishers a set of auction rules. These can vary slightly depending on the agency, but it might be things like: they are only open to UK and Commonwealth offers, they want 2 book deals, they would like all royalty terms and vision documents outlined in the first bid, there will be three round and then best bids, etc. They will also say that the author reserves the right to go with an underbidder (i.e. they do not have to take the highest offer, and sometimes you can win an auction as an underbidder if an author really loves the editor’s vision for publication, or wants to go with a particular house).

Each round of an auction will have a time frame, which tends to be a couple of days (sometimes faster), and agents can either run a knock-out auction, meaning someone or several people get eliminated in each round, or keep everyone in to the end and then go to ‘best and final bids,’ - after which the offers are final and cannot be changed, and the author needs to consider them all, then make a decision. Publishers often have meetings with authors and agents as part of an auction, either online or in person, and if it’s a highly competitive auction, a publisher might go all-out (i.e. props, the whole team there, decorated offices, etc… but this is RARE!! It happened for Richard Osman, and maybe a few others. But it is rare to have all the bells and whistles, I promise. Often, it’s just a meeting with the editor to see if you get on and if your visions align, and to give the author a chance to ask questions, and vice versa).

As the rounds go on, publishers do tend to up their bids if they want to remain in the auction, though it is also common for publishers to drop out along the way if the money is getting too high. An agent will tell all publishers at each round what the top bid is, to encourage them to match or beat it, but editors will not know who else is in the auction or who is offering what. (We do speak to literary scouts who can sometimes give us information about who our competitors might be, but not what they are offering financially).

As an author, your role in the auction is to listen, absorb, and think about what it is you really want. Of course, money matters. But so do royalties, advance splits, publication timings and formats, rights, the marketing and publicity teams, the publisher’s reputation, the editor’s vision for your book, the agent’s opinion… I could go on. Take the time to think about what it is you really want (both short and long term) and do not be afraid to ask questions. Your agent will be able to help you with this, as they will have experience of the publishing houses and editors and be able to give you their honest take.

As an editor, I have been in lots of auctions - some I win, some I lose. (Obviously, I hate losing!) It can be super nerve-wracking waiting to hear if you have made it through to the next round, or if you’ve won the book, and it can sometimes be a drawn-out process over a few weeks. Sometimes, auctions go really fast, but it depends on the time of year too (they can move faster around the book fairs). Sometimes, I have wanted to stay in an auction but been told by my MD to drop out because the money has got too high, and sometimes, I’ve stayed in and then lost in the final round. Over the course of my career, I’ve won as the top bidder, and occasionally as the underbidder too (that is a nice feeling!) We never want to short-change authors, but we do have to ensure books are profitable in an ideal world, so we run costings each time the money goes up and if it begins to feel unrealistically high (this happens quite regularly in auctions, as each publisher can end up pushing the others up and we can all get a bit competitive… then regret it later on!) - then it is better to walk away, even if it makes you sad on a personal editorial level!

In the vast majority of book deals, though, there is maybe one editor interested, or perhaps a handful. And that is totally fine! You do not need every editor to love your book - sometimes books are won in huge auctions and go on to flop. Sometimes, books are turned down by every editor in London aside from one, and then go on to be huge bestsellers. It really does happen! Try not to compare your journey to anyone else’s, and remember, auctions are not the be all and end all (to be honest, they are very stressful!) You are not a failure if you do not 'go to auction’ - remember, you really only do need one yes.

I hope this helps explain the process a little more, and please ask any questions or pop any comments below. Thank you as always for reading! And do feel free to email me and let me know what you’d like to see in this Substack.

Phoebe x