From the Editor's Desk
Hi and
welcome once again to Fiction Factor! And, as always,
welcome to our new subscribers.
It's our birthday! This month, Fiction Factor turned 8
years old. We launched the original old site back on
January 1st, 2000 (so we could remember the date easily,
of course). So our baby is getting older, yet it seems
like only a couple of short years ago that Tina and I had
a vague idea about finding some great resources to help
out some writer-friends we knew. Who would have figured 8
years later we'd have a thriving website (or ten) and
busy ezine on our hands that continues to grow steadily
every month?
In the midst of planning for a birthday present from us
to you, my conputer decided to die a slow, painful death,
dragging my poor broadband connection down with it. So
I"ve been without a computer or an internet
connection for most of this month. I never realized until
this month how lost without I am without either. It
certainly makes it hard to get any online work done. It
also means I couldn't get a nice birthday present
arranged for you - our valued subscribers - so I'll work
on a belated little something from us to you for next
issue.
Let's get into the writing stuff!
This issue Adriann Ranta looks at book advances and
royalty payments, Carol Heightshoe looks at things you
can do to avoid your work landing in the editor's trash
and Alan To looks at the top ten tips for writing good
horror.
It's time now to grab a beverage of choice, sit back, and
enjoy this issue of Fiction Factor!
Lee Masterson
Editor-in-Chief
http://www.fictionfactor.com
"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't
quit."
-- Richard Bach
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Book Advances, Royalty Checks, And Making A Living As A
Writer
By Adriann Ranta
Few writers
know what kind of payment to expect once a novel has gone
under contract at a publishing house. Money is a
frustratingly taboo subject and the sources for authors
trying to get educated on book advances and royalties are
scant. Though for many writers the whole issue of money
is secondary to the satisfaction of having a book
actually published (bestselling author Matt Richtel joked
that he would have sold his novel for a six-pack of
beer), compensation is nonetheless a topic worthy of
exploration.
The percentage of writers make a living off of their
writing is pitifully small, and that's one reason so many
fiction writers keep their day jobs. Brent Ghelfi, author
of VOLK'S GAME, has been in law and business for years.
Michael Loyd Gray, author of CONFEDERATE NATION and
DECEMBER'S CHILDREN, has been a college professor for
thirteen years. Matt Richtel, author of HOOKED, is a
veteran reporter for The New York Times as well as a
comic strip writer. These jobs double as novel fodder as
well as an additional way to pay the rent.
The situation of these authors matches the experiences of
Jessica Faust, one of the founding literary agents of
Bookends, Inc. When asked what percentage of her literary
clients make enough to live off of, she estimated fewer
than 10%.
"If you want to make your living off your writing,
you need to do more than write books, at least
initially," says Faust. "There are a lot of
great ways with magazines and newspapers. Authors I have
that really want to make a living often write more than
just books. Then over time as their careers grow,
hopefully they can survive just on what they make on
their books. Don't expect to pay off your house with your
first book deal."
While Richtel, Gray, and Ghelfi all have hopes of one day
making a comfortable living as a writer, this simply
isn't possible yet. All three authors had varying advance
amounts, some in the six-figure category, but even the
most encouraging of advances doesn't guarantee dependable
income over the long run, which is what making a living
is all about.
In some cases, a big advance can actually hurt a writer's
potential long-term earnings because if the first book
doesn't earn out its advance, the odds of contracts for
future books diminish considerably. Three of our clients
at The Editorial Department have found themselves in this
position-a six-figure advance from a major publisher that
didn't earn out and thus made their next book difficult
or impossible to sell. This is far too common in
publishing when it comes to first novels, no matter how
talented the writer. The challenge of being a small fish
in a big pond-particularly with the majority of
advertising and promotion dollars going to established
bestsellers-is very real. Earning out an advance is part
of the reason new writers must work so hard on their own,
regardless of what their publisher is or is not doing for
them on the promotion front.
"Over the long term, it does interest me," says
Richtel on the subject of making a living as a writer,
"but I'm very skeptical. I'm not even to the point
of cautious optimism because I have a wife, we want to
have a family-I think it's possible to eke out a living
as a fiction writer when your expenses aren't those of a
mid-career person. For me, making a living means paying
my bills and not living in terror."
The
Advance Itself
Exact numbers of book advances are frustratingly hard to
come by. Perhaps reluctance to talk dollars and cents
when it comes to book advances is a by-product of either
embarrassment or a sort of survivor's guilt while other
writers continue to struggle or starve. Regardless, an
advance is perceived as an indicator of value rather than
an educated guess about a cut of future earnings.
Faust describes the advance this way:
"With most publishers an advance usually reflects
your book's earning potential the first year it's on
sale, less costs to the publisher. What does that mean?
Traditionally when publishers run those elusive numbers
they try to estimate how many copies a book will sell its
first year in print, then they try to figure out how much
it's going to cost them to make that book-design the
cover, pay for paper, printing, binding, and shipping
costs-and then they will figure out how much you might
make on the book based on your royalty percentage. And
that's your advance. It's your share of the book's profit
its first year in print. Of course the publisher (and
you) hopes you far exceed that number and that first
royalty statement blows the advance out of the
water."
Manuscripts are printed in hardcover, trade paper, or
mass market editions, determined by comparison books,
review potential, high concept, and quality writing.
Rick Horgan, Executive Editor of Crown, an imprint of
Random House, was kind enough to break down those
"elusive numbers," which end up sounding like a
complicated high school math problem. Horgan estimated a
distribution of 25,000 copies on an average commercial
fiction launch for an author's debut novel in hardcover.
The publishing house might announce 50,000 copies, but
this is a "gross exaggeration because publishers
always over-announce," Horgan says. Of those 25,000
copies, 65% will sell through with the remaining 35% in
returns. To put it simply, if the publisher ended up
selling roughly 15,000 copies, with the author making 15%
in royalties on a $25 hardcover ($3.75 per book), that
equates to about $50,000 in author earnings on a
hardcover printing.
Many novels also have a paperback life. The formula Crown
uses is half-half the distribution, half the author's
royalty rate, at half the book's selling price. If the
hardcover had a sell-through of 15,000 copies, the
paperback run would be 7,500 to 10,000 paperbacks, either
trade paper or mass market. The typical sell-through rate
of trade paper is 70%. The typical royalty rate is 7.5%
of $13.95 ($1 per book), making about $7,000 in profit
for the author on the paperback run.
You can read the rest
of this article here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/advancesroyalties.html
Create-A-Character
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Straight from the Editor's Desk
(How to Avoid Landing in the Editor's Trashcan)
by Carol Hightshoe
As a writer, hoping an editor will decide
you are the next J.K. Rowling, there are some things you
should never do and especially don't do these all at
once.
I edit a couple of online magazines - The
Lorelei Signal (www.loreleisignal.com) and Sorcerous
Signals (www.sorceroussignals.com) and while most of
the time, I really can't complain that much about the
submissions I receive I did have a really interesting one
recently, as well as another that I hope will never send
me anything again - unless they both take the time to
read and follow my guidelines:
So here are some things you should never
do when submitting to an editor:
10) Submit a Science Fiction story to a
straight Fantasy magazine - just because you have a ghost
in the story doesn't necessarily make it Fantasy.
09) Submit something that has absolutely
nothing to do with the genre of the magazine - multiple
times - particularly after the editor points this out.
08) Submit something that is nothing more
than a religious or political statement and not a story
to a magazine that publishes short stories and not
essays.
07) Submit a poem that is full of obscene
language when the editor specifically states in her
guidelines to keep obscene language to a bare minimum.
06) Submit as an attachment when the
guidelines say to submit in the body of the email
05) Email the editor after they have
rejected your story offering alternatives - such as
writing a story that meets their guidelines and theme of
their magazine if the editor will work with them to
polish it and guarantee publication.
04) Have someone else, like a relative,
email the editor that they make mistakes in editing your
story. Hey, we are only human and do make mistakes, but
you need to be the one to point what you think are
mistakes in your story - not someone else.
03) Tell the editor upfront that you didn't
follow their guidelines by stating in your cover letter
you followed them as closely as you could - and the only
thing you did was cut and paste into the body of the
email - without following a single formatting requirement
or even the correct genre.
02) Submit to an editor who's a member of an
organization were you have spammed members looking for
blurbs for a book and are now known for being rude when
people declined.
01) Email the editor, who shouldn't have
replied to #5 and never will again, that if they don't
have time to rewrite the submissions they receive, and
hand hold the writers; maybe they shouldn't be in the
business.
Since The Lorelei Signal and Sorcerous
Signals have gone on line all of these have occurred.
Approximately half of the above list came from the same
person with the same submission.
I must say that do enjoy reviewing the
stories I receive and the problems, such as those listed
above, are in the vast minority - and I doubt anything
will ever make me cringe like one poem I received that
would have been more appropriate in the pages of an
S&M magazine. Yes, Lorelei and Sorcerous are fantasy
magazines - just not that kind of fantasy - thank you.
Good luck in all your writing endeavors
© Copyright Carol Hightshoe
Editor/Publisher - The Lorelei Signal & Sorcerous Signals
You can see
the online version of this article here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/editorstrash.html
Book Review
On Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers
Association
by Tamara Kaye Sellman
For me, the
sections on crafting horror and on genre and subgenre
were immensely illuminating as well.
Yes, I’ll admit it: I have since revised my idea of
what writing horror is all about. No, I still don’t
go in for splatter and I will probably never write a
piece of so-called redneck horror. (Question: Might that
be what literary author Flannery O’Connor birthed
when she wrote “A Good Man is Hard to Find?”)
What I will do is assign more respect for genres outside
my typical purview.
And once I’m done with my fast-food massacre essay,
I think I’ll take a look at both romance and mystery
writing for ways to inform other projects. All good
storytelling employs elements of mystery, right? As for
romance, I have a feeling that, just as I have learned
from the horror category, there’s far more to
explore than the simple rip of a bodice.
It never hurts to look beyond what you imagine. What we
understand about genre is always in flux, but it's from
that amorphous territory that we, as writers, can expand
our abilities, if only we are willing to learn.
You can
read the full review here: http://horror.fictionfactor.com/articles/writinghorror.html
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Top Ten Tips For Writing Good Horror Fiction
By Alan To
Want to write the perfect horror story? Here
are ten useful tips for you.
1. Try to be original
The more different you make your story, the more it will
appeal to publishers and readers.
2. Plan your story in advance
There is nothing worse than coming to a dead end halfway
through your story due to a sudden writer's block.
3. Create strong, identifiable characters
Give them a goal and throw obstacle after obstacle at
them. If you don't care about your characters, your
readers certainly won't, and will discard your story with
a weary yawn! There is nothing worse than shallow,
cardboard characters in a story.
4. Read the masters of horror fiction to gain a good,
broad idea of what works and what doesn't
There are many outstanding horror writers you can study,
artists who have mastered the craft, especially Stephen
King, James Herbert and H.P. Lovecraft.
5. Study the classic horror novels
Bram Stoker's DRACULA and Mary Shelly's FRANKENSTEIN are
perfect examples of how good horror novels should be
constructed.
6. Do your research thoroughly
If you are writing a vampire story, read EVERYTHING about
them. If you are writing a ghost story, familiarise
yourself with the work of paranormal investigators.
You can see more tips for writing horror
here: http://horror.fictionfactor.com/articles/tentips.html
(this
link will take you to Horror Factor)
 Did
you know
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 Create A Plot
Clinic
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pages from the start and not know how to get it
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Writer's Announcements
If you have any writing news or
announcements about your successes with writing, we'd
love to hear about it! Post your publishing announcements
on our forum and we'll get them in the newsletter for
everyone to see!
You can add your Woo-Hoo to our Announcement Forum Board
here:
Writer's
Announcements - http://fictionfactor.1.forumer.com/index.php?showforum=6
This week's news:
Teresa
Reasor of www.teresareasor.com writes: "I had two books come out this summer. Highland
Moonlight was released by The Wild Rose Press. Captive
Hearts was also released by the same publisher.
"
Gene Alvin of www.aelfbooks.com writes: "Just got word that my Short story,
"Anasazi Moon", will be published in
the second edition of The Creative Writer series by
J.D.Vine Publishing"
Terry W. Ervin II of www.ervin-author.com writes: MindFlights today released my speculative
fiction short story "Vegetable
Matters".
It's available online in two versions: "Vegetable
Matters" HTML format , "Vegetable
Matters" PDF Format It will be released in print as part of MindFlight's
first quarterly publication. If you've got the time,
click on over and give it a read. It was fun and
interesting to write. Hope you enjoy it.
Congratulations everyone! Keep the great news coming!
~ "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used
by mankind." -- Rudyard Kipling ~
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you name it, if it’s Fantasy related, we’ll be
looking at it, in depth, up close and personal.
http://fantasy.fictionfactor.com/course.html - (this link will take you to Fantasy Factor)
Thriller Writing Course
Learn how some of the masters of the modern thriller get
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Brown
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Romance Writing Course
Increase your chances of writing a great romance
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career!
http://romance.fictionfactor.com/course.html - (this link will take you to Romance Factor)
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in Under 28 Days
Best Selling Author Nick Daws has written 30
books in 3 years. He can show you how too!
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 How
To Beat Writer's Block
and Have Fun Writing From Now On
Learn how to connect to your Muse and
get back to creating. No more procrastinating. No
more pesky Inner Critic. Jut the pure creativity
and fun or writing. Want to know how?
Click here for more details: http://tinyurl.com/26uy95
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Paying Market Listings
You can find the complete
Market Index here: http://www.fictionfactor.com/markets.html
Happy Market Hunting!
(Disclaimer: Mention of a market/ contest in Fiction
Factor is not necessarily an endorsement. Check all
guidelines in full before submitting)
Eclipse Two
http://www.ralan.com/antho/listings/eclipse2.htm
Seeking strong science fiction/fantasy stories between
2,000 and 5,000 words for annual print anthology. Pay is
6 cents per word. No reprints. Reading period opens
February 1st 2008. Deadline is February 29th 2008. Please
read guidelines for submission details.
Romance
and Beyond Magazine
http://members.aol.com/rbeyond/romance.html
Seeking fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, and other
speculative fiction (up to 10,000 words) in which a
romantic relationship develops between the hero and
heroine. We pay ½ (one-half) cent per word, two free
copies of the magazine in which your work appears, and a
discount on future orders.
** Currently altering format to annual anthology
collection. Please see site for more deatails.
Submission Guidelines: http://members.aol.com/RBeyond/Guidelines.html
CONE ZERO: Scriptus Innominatus (Nemonymous 8)
http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/cone_zero_guidelines.htm
Seeking themed short fiction between 2,500 and 12,000
words. Your story should reflect 'Cone Zero'. Keep in
mind that 'Cone Zero' means what it means to you. Payment
is £65 (UK pounds). Deadline is 31 March 2008.
Far Far Away
http://susurruspress.com/FFAgls.htm
Far Far Away (tenative title) will be a
themed print anthology about the worlds
that exist alongside our own, unseen, be they on the
other side of the looking-glass, in virtual reality, or
in the sewers under the city. We especially like
slipstream or cross-genre. Also: humor, SF/Fantasy,
experimental, and/or surreal. Stories without any element
of genre may be considered if they do a fantastic job of
making Mundania seem like a foreign world. Show us what
exists just outside of the everyday, and turn what's
under our noses into a land far, far away.
Deadline: February 29, 2008.
Heliotrope
http://www.heliotropemag.com
Heliotrope Magazine is looking for exceptional fiction
that does not exceed 5,000 words. We are most interested
in Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery and Horror. If your
story is somewhere in between or is something you
can’t label – we are interested in that as
well. We pay 10 cents a word for fiction. Payment will be
made upon publication and in U.S. currency.
Submission Guidelines: http://www.heliotropemag.com/node/2
Brio
Magazine
http://www.briomag.com/
Seeking
short fiction up to 2,000 words to suit teenaged girls.
Romance stories, sibling rivalry and situations faced
daily by teen girls are especially welcomed. Brio’s
target audience is teenaged girls from 12-15 and Brio
& Beyond’s target audience is older teenaged
girls from 16-19.
Both Brio and Brio & Beyond pay between 15 and 35
cents per word on acceptance.
Submission Guidelines: (downloadable) http://www.family.org/sharedassets/correspondence/pdfs/GeneralInformation/Brio_Writers_Guidelines.pdf
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