To recontract or not to recontract...

What really happens when the decision is made? How do you balance head vs heart?

Hello! The topic of recontracting authors is one that has come up a lot in my messages, so I thought I’d do a general post explaining the different scenarios that can occur when an author reaches the end of their current contract with a publishing house. All of the below is fairly general, and of course circumstances may vary from house to house, but hopefully it provides a useful overview…I’ve used an image of head versus heart in this post, and that’s because that’s often what it can feel like for editors as well as for authors!

In any publishing house, there will be a list of authors under contract, and either every year or every couple of years, those authors will either need to be recontracted, or otherwise. When the time comes to recontract, there are a couple of different outcomes. If as an editor I am keen to keep the author on my list, I will discuss it with the wider editorial team, and then if they are in agreement I will take it to an acquisitions meeting, along with the data I need (sales figures, new book idea (s), possible sample of the next book, and my vision for how we will continue to publish them, which could include publication schedules (when they will deliver the manuscripts, and when we will publish them), a jacket approach, and the start of a strategy for reaching readers.

If it is an author I don’t think we can keep (for a variety of reasons which I will go into below) then I will usually write to their agent and explain our reasons, whilst of course wishing the author all the absolute best in a future writing career. To be honest, this is never a nice thing to have to do – it feels sad and hard and disappointing, but ultimately, it is necessary at times (for reasons I will go into below). After that decision has been made, in the vast majority of cases, the publisher continues to own the backlist, but the author is no longer contractually with the publisher for any new frontlist. A good publisher will still try to make the most of your backlist, by putting it into ebook promotions, occasionally changing the jackets, and looking for opportunities to find readers even if the frontlist has gone elsewhere.

Sometimes, the publisher does want to keep an author, but the author might want to leave – in those cases, if the author is under contract, they are legally obliged to show their existing publisher (called the option publisher; each publishing contract has an option clause in) the new material first, have that conversation, and then they are free to go elsewhere if they make the decision not to continue with publisher number one. Authors do move publishers from time to time, whether because they are offered more money elsewhere, because they want to follow an editor, because they want access to something the existing publisher cannot provide, because they want to try another genre, or because they are unhappy in their current publishing house (those are the primary reasons, anyway).

So, how do publishers make the decisions around recontracting? For me personally, at each company I have worked for, I have had to think about a) the space on our list b) the author’s sales figures (a profit and loss report), c) timings (do they publish regularly, or are they often late delivery wise?) d) how much I like working with them, what our relationship is like e) what vision we as a publisher have for reaching more readers with their books, and f) the market. I am sure there are other considerations too, but I’d say those are the main ones. Most of the time, I do want to recontract – I love my authors and it’s genuinely saddening if we cannot find ways to make their books successful. Sometimes, though, an editor might be put in a hard position where they do want to continue working with the author, but for financial reasons they need to reduce the advance (i.e. offer a lower advance than they might have done for the first contract). This would usually be because the publisher is currently making a loss from the author’s books (this can happen if we have paid a lot for a novel and it has not ‘earned out’ and this often happens because the market is challenging or has moved on, because the campaign didn’t connect with readers in the way we had hoped, or because of any numbers of reasons, most of which are not the author’s fault at all! Often with pre-empts or large auction situations, a publisher can end up paying a lot in a first deal and have to revise it going forwards in order to make the situation sustainable. Not always, of course – some authors are paid and continue to be paid a lot of money, but those tend to be the brand authors who consistently write bestsellers). As I’ve said in previous posts, publishing remains a business, so practically speaking, a publishing house would not sustain itself with a whole list of books that were not making enough money to justify the printing and production costs. I wish this was different, but I think it’s important to be honest here about this reality.

Head versus heart…

So that scenario (where a publisher does recontract but for a more modest advance) is, I would say, fairly common, and sometimes in those cases an agent chooses to go back out to market to see if they can get a higher deal (this is of course a risk and something a good agent will weigh up and talk through with you as a writer before doing!)

I have also had scenarios in which an author is making a loss, but the editor and publishing team believe so strongly that the author will go on to have a huge hit (Hilary Mantel is a good example of this!) that they continue to contract based on the strength of their writing, knowing that the right book will come along eventually and be a game-changer. Having an editor who will fight for you in house and go into battle on your behalf in this way is important, I think, and that’s partly why when you are on submission and choosing a publishing home, it’s not all about the up-front money, it’s also about the relationship with your team and how that might pan out in the longer term. (Though I totally understand everyone needs money and it is of course tempting to go with the highest bidder).

There are also circumstances in which a publishing house simply cannot continue with a writer, because perhaps their ideas for an author’s future publishing do not align with those of the author and agent – e.g. perhaps they see the author as being more commercial and the author wants to sit on a more literary list, or the writer doesn’t like the way the covers are approached, or the author wants to switch to romance and the publishing house has always published their crime. In those cases, it can genuinely be better for author and publisher to part ways and for a new home to be found. Publishing is a small industry, and there should be no hard feelings (in most cases!)

Thinking about the market and the list as a whole are also important factors when it comes to making these decisions. In general, publishers do their best to be loyal to authors and to give their books a good chance (I usually do two book deals for this reason – if you do a one book deal, the author is out of contract pretty quickly) but there are times when the market simply does change in the intervening years, and what seemed very sellable one year might be very hard five years on. This is, of course, extremely frustrating for all parties, and it really depends on how willing the publisher is to keep continuing with the writer (and that depends on all of the reasons above!) Sometimes an author and editor relationship isn’t a good fit. Sometimes an author might have had several editors within a short time frame, and decide that actually the lack of continuity is too destabilising. Leaving a publisher or moving to a new publisher is a big decision, and not one to be taken lightly – it’s always worth weighing up your options carefully and talking them through with your agent if you have one.

Sometimes, if a publisher is planning to recontract an author, they will show them a presentation for how the next few years and books could look. This might focus on (for example) growth in Australia, or in audio. It might outline new marketing plans, and strategies for reaching a wider readership than they have previously had (we sometimes conduct consumer insight with our brilliant CI team, and this allows us to do a deep-dive into an author’s audience and find out who their readers are, and how to find them). Often, this isn’t needed, and we simply offer a new contract on the same terms (it is quite unlikely that you can re-negotiate many royalties and deal terms aside from the advance in a recontract, though of course there are exceptions).

Timing wise, it tends to be a balance as to who brings up the recontract conversation. I have had a few different scenarios – an agent might email or call me and ask to open the conversation, or vice versa. If it’s an author I am very excited about and keen to keep, I might do this sooner rather than later, but if it’s a scenario where the sales feel a bit shakier and I need to wait to see how a second book performs, I might wait until the agent gets in touch. It’s pretty common for a publisher to ask for more time, in order to see how a second format book performs (i.e. the paperback after a hardback) or to see if more translation deals come through for example – it’s all about risk and ultimately, both parties want to minimise risk. Whenever an editor buys a new writer, they are taking a risk and placing a bet, and of course the author is doing the same. I really believe that we all have to trust one another and that we make the best decisions we can at the time – but that is why sometimes waiting and gathering more information can be helpful. I do understand though that for writers, it’s disconcerting to be ‘out of contract’ and it can be hard to start writing a new book without knowing if your publisher will want to buy it. (On the flip side of that though, some people find writing out of contract quite freeing because you don’t have a deadline and can perhaps take more time over it before regrouping). Anyway – the point is that if your editor asks for more time and says they would like to discuss re-contracting a bit further down the line, do take them at their word; this isn’t necessarily bad news at all. And remember, the decision is also yours as a writer. If you are not happy, you don’t HAVE to recontract; you can move publishers, you can take a break, you can ask for what you need (I’m not saying you will always get it but you can ask!) - it works both ways.

I hope the above all makes sense and shines a bit of light on this topic! Please do feel free to add any comments or queries in the comments below, and remember – just because one publisher decides not to recontract you does NOT mean another house won’t snap you up! It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and I know many authors who have changed houses and had huge success (or simply long, sustained careers!) Some authors these days write for multiple houses at once, and many self-publish and traditionally publish at the same time – it has all become a lot more fluid even in the last few years. The key is to keep writing!

Thank you for reading, and please share with your networks if you are enjoying The Honest Editor. I really appreciate it!

Phoebe x