For those of you who missed this a few weeks back, Barry Eisler turned down a half million dollar advance to self-publish. Why? Because he thought he could make more money on his own. There more to it than that, of course, but that's the basics.
Now, those of you who are loyal readers of this blog know that I am a big self-publishing fan, but even I was blown away by this development.
I've often wondered where I would draw the line between traditional and self-publishing. At this point it's a foregone conclusion that I would turn down the standard 5-10K advance for a genre first-time author. But what if they offered me more than that? If I'm honest with myself, I don't think I would have turned away a half-million. But that was before I read this. Now I'm not so sure.
Go ahead and check out that link. It's the full 13,000+ word discussion between Joe Konrath and Barry Eisler. Both are well established legacy authors. There is some fascinating stuff in there (and a bit of silly fluff as well).
So, loyal reader, how much would a publishing house have to offer you to buy the rights to your book?
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Interesting stuff. By coincidence I'm reading a book by Joe Konrath right now (Draculas).
What's my price for a manuscript? I won't know 'til that day comes. As I've worked on my first book part time for years for nothing, ten grand sounds OK. On the other hand I hear about authors who go back years and years later trying to sue to get more money when the book/script they sold for practically nothing becomes a hit.
An agent I met at the writer's conference I went to last month said she is doing more and more with e-publishing/self-publishing for her clients. Her opinion was that for many authors it is a way to try to build an audience, but I got the impression she still viewed it as the second best choice.
A half million for my book today? Hell ya. That would help finance the next couple books in progress which will clearly do better ;)
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