How to Help Authors Succeed
A few newsletters ago I shared about how traditionally published authors can get an advance from their publisher, but that they won't earn royalties from sales until they "earn out" the amount of the advance. I also mentioned that royalties are much smaller than you'd expect and vary based on digital, soft cover, or hardcover editions.
I have since done further investigations on how authors are paid after seeing a post from one of my favorite Instagram educators in the literary world. I was shocked to see how she broke down what typically happens to the advance the author gets. She personally got a 100k advance for her debut novel, We Ship It, and detailed how that money ended up in her hands.
I learned that it does NOT mean you’re about to have a $100K pay-day drop into your bank account, and what to actually expect.
First come the deductions: a percentage (likely around 15%) will go to your agent for getting you the deal, and then you have to pay taxes of around 30%, which would leave you with just under 60K.
I thought that didn't seem too bad, but then she mentioned that most advances are paid in thirds over several years.
In year one, the signing year, you may see $20k. In year 2 you will get another $20k as your book is being polished and perfected to the desires of the publishing house and will get its final acceptance before printing. In year 3, the year it finally comes out, you'd get the last $20k.
So, what can you do to best support new authors?
The obvious answer is to purchase their book, but what you maybe didn't know is that if you are given the option to pre-order it, do that. First-week sales have a huge impact on their rankings on the best-sellers lists, and this helps retailers and authors know how many books to stock. If a book sells well they are more likely to continue to restock it.
Another thing you can do is request the book from your local library. If you've purchased your own copy you obviously don't need to get it from your library, but if it helps get it on the shelf then other people can check it out and spread the word about it!
Leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon. It's one of the biggest factors in visibility for a new book. Also post your review to social media sites.
Follow the author on social media/engage with their content. The more interactions they get, the more the algorithm will push their page out.
These actions can have a big impact on the success of the author! Even established authors still need this type of support to keep their momentum going.