Self-Organizing Man

Authors as a Type of Sharecropper

August 25, 2005 – 10:43 am

I’ve learned much since I sang the praises of Publish and Be Damned awhile back.

To truly be considered a publisher by the industry, one needs to own the ISBN number, which can be purchased by R.R. Bowker.  Thusly, while Scott Turow may own the copyright to his works, his publisher (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux / Time Warner Books) owns the rights to said books.  The publisher determines when and how the book will be distributed, whether new editions will be published, and how much Turow receives in royalties.

In all but a few cases (Nora Roberts, J. K. Rowling), writers are tenants on the publishing plantations of the world.  Writers, like muscians, are intellectual sharecroppers.

The writers write the words the publishers then distribute.  In return, the publisher may offer money up front and percentage of profits after expenses.  Up-front money ranges from a few thousand dollars to a million.  Publishers expect a book or books in return for this money.  They may also offer royalties, a percentage of the book’s sales after expenses.

Royalties range (as of what I know today) from 1% to 10%.  And the 10% offering comes from small, liberal independent presses, not the big publishers.

Of course, this is all fine and well for Harry Potter.  But for every J. K. Rowling and Dan Brown, dozens and dozens of writers get published in obscurity, told by their publishers that sales of 2,000 books is a good run for a first time author.

They also tell the writer they expect to take a financial loss on the book, but “we believe in your work!”.

So maybe said Obscure Author gets good sales on the first book at 1% royalties.  Then signs a deal for three more books at 4%.  This means the Publisher gets 96% of all sales for printing and marketing the book.  And I’m coming to understand that publishers won’t publish edgy or unusual books without the author delivering a “market.”  That is a built-in customer base who will automatically buy the author’s book simply upon receiving notification that it has been published.

In an effort to cover all the salaries of all the people that work for them, publishers must sell many books.  Their business model revolves around bricks-and-mortar stores like Borders and Barnes and Noble and distributing through wholesalers like Ingrams at 30%-50% of the cover price. 

Now, the author isn’t making 4% of 24.95.  They’re making 4% of 30%-50% of 24.95 [or 14.95 if it is a softcover] after the publisher deducts printing, the cost of marketing materials, perhaps travel, etc.  The publisher may not say this out right.  They may use contractual language like “4% of net sales.”

This calculates out to about 51 cents per book.  By the time book hits the bookstores, the up-front money is probably gone.  For things like food, rent / mortgage, healthcare costs.  Stuff like that.

The author then must promote, promote, promote.  Market, market, market, since they promised the publisher they had a ready-made market for their book.  They need to sell alot of books to make a little bit of money.  At 51 cents per book, that first time Author I mentioned earlier will make about $1,000, if the book is a success.  But the publisher will make much more than that. Maybe like $7,000 to $8,000 dollars.  [The wholesale price - cost of printing books {use about a dollar for the bigger publishers 1-2 for the smaller ones} - expenses.]

The authors must then toil for hours and days and write multiple things for myriad sources, just to make ends meet.  In lieu of a living income, writers give their souls and life’s work and bet everything that their book will sell.

It probably won’t.  Sales in this particular business model rely on good reviews and good placement in bricks-and-mortar stores and negotiating better wholesale prices with the distributors.  Good placement is a crap shoot for unknown authors  [Harry Potter is very different, of course].  If the guys and gals who place books out for display don’t like the books cover, it gets shelved.  And those of us who have patronized Borders and Barnes and Noble know of their bizarre shelving systems -  difficult to understand, capricious and out-dated.

So the book doesn’t sell, but the author is hooked, because they are Published!

Now part of a system of Artistic Sharecropping also utilized by Hollywood and the Music Industry, the authors write and write and write and promote, promote, promote, hoping for the big seller so they can get more royalties.

A sad existence, I think, all so that my book can be published and get reviewed in the NY Times.  But the NY Times won’t review books by FtM authors (or Bi authors or MtF authors or Queers, etc) who discussmy life, my sexing, the complexities of my body, in an out and unapologetic manner.

Because, you know, the Publisher just can’t see a market for that type of book.

We need a new model.  One that pays writers a fair royalty (like 15% - 45% of sales net), markets using the blogosphere, and treats the reader like the intelligent person they are.  In this way, we can create a viable, vital culture of the word that really, really speaks to us and pays the artists who make our lives feel real, and worthwhile and loved.

Why should we settle for anything less?