{"id":165,"date":"2008-11-22T17:06:32","date_gmt":"2008-11-22T22:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisatener.com\/blog\/?p=165"},"modified":"2024-09-30T09:01:03","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T13:01:03","slug":"answers-to-kathis-questions-about-agents-and-publicity-expenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/2008\/11\/answers-to-kathis-questions-about-agents-and-publicity-expenses\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers to Kathi’s Questions about Agents and Publicity Expenses"},"content":{"rendered":"

I often hear questions about literary agents’ fees and book promotion expenses, such as those asked by Kathi McKnight in response to my last post. I’m sure many of my readers, students and writing coaching clients are burning to know the answers; so, rather than answer them in a comment, I decided to write a new post and address them in detail:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Do you pay literay agents up front if they say they want to represent you?<\/strong> No. A literary agent receives a percentage of your royalties. Usually that’s 15%, but in some cases, such as if you already have a publisher interested and the agent just negotiates the contract,\u00a0 you can sometimes negotiate something lower, like 10%.<\/p>\n

However, are there literary agents out there who will charge an up front fee?<\/strong> Yes. Be wary of them. It’s not an acceptable practice. They may even claim to have been in on the biggest successes out there, but they just can’t give you references because all their work is confidential. I recently met someone who plunked down $50,000 for such a scam, and is still waiting, a year later, for anything to happen. A bona fide agent will not charge you such up front fees. If you need an editor for your book proposal, hire a separate editor, not an “agent” who charges up front and promises to make you big. These are two separate jobs, for good reason.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Are many of the expenses that come in the publishing of the book, usually covered in the advance if you are fortunate enough to get one as a first time author? <\/strong>This is another excellent question, Kathi. A first time author can generally expect an advance of $3,000 – $5,000. That probably won’t even cover your publicity expenses. Let me break your question down into two areas: Your author’s advance<\/strong> and your expenses<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Do some authors get more than $5,000? Yes. Some things that might take you over the top:<\/p>\n