P&Ls and how books make (or don't) money

[alg]

Profit & Loss/Profitability & Liability: How Books Make (or Don't Make!) Money

A basic outline of what happens when an editor buys a book and wants to publish it. This is very much a basic look at publishing and publishing finance, with some explanation of terms commonly used by the marketing and sales departments.

Comments

Wow, this is amazing.

[sandycou.livejournal.com]

Thank you for going into so much detail! All I can think, as an aspiring writer is, "Well, I guess I'm not going to quit my day job any time soon!" I'm also eagerly awaiting Part 2 for the "good news". Also, if I write a single title romance, I'm going to get myself an experienced agent who knows how to negotiate the contract for me!

experienced agent??

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know, I think getting an agent is harder than getting published. How do you go about getting an experienced agent? Surely they're not going to tell you they're inexperienced. Hey, maybe Anna will share with us some of her more professional agents that she likes to deal with? And you know, she's just controversial enough that she may even name those to stay away from...those agents the publishing houses shudder when they hear the name. What do you say, Anna?

Re: experienced agent??

[alg.livejournal.com]

My thought is that everyone should have an advocate who is either an agent or an entertainment lawyer. My next thought is that you should make sure your agent *is* a good agent by doing your research. And to remember that finding a good agent is like finding your spouse or therapist or GP -- it will take some time and some "dating". You probably won't get it right on the first try.

Re: Wow, this is amazing.

[alg.livejournal.com]

Writers should never quit their day jobs. Hello, HEALTH INSURANCE!!!!!!