Book Publishing

[alfred1418 10]

I have just been offered the following offer to have my book published:-

 

'A contract of 10% royalties throughout. So I would receive 10% on net sales for every book sold'

 

Given the current market is this a good deal or not?

[Ron Blanco 10]

Hi alfred,

 

That sounds encouraging. Is it fiction or non-fiction? And how did you manage this without an agent? Has any advance been offered?

 

Although 10% sounds like a fairly standard figure, contracts can be a minefield, so it might be worth contacting The Society of Authors in case they can advise. Please let us know how you get on.

[alfred1418 10]

The book is an Autobiography and I sent out letters to all agents that accepted e-mail approaches, I got the list from a website UK Agents A - L and M - Z.

 

I must have sent out approx 35 covering letters some with sample chapters and some with not, I kept a list and updated the list as i got answers, some answered quickly with rejections some asked for more information some even asked for the whole manuscript, and then one offered me the contract.

 

I have not received the contract and no advance has been offered, but until i get the contract and i will consult a lawyer about it, I don't know what the full offer will be.

[Ian Rivedon 10]

The book is an Autobiography and I sent out letters to all agents that accepted e-mail approaches, I got the list from a website UK Agents A - L and M - Z.

 

I must have sent out approx 35 covering letters some with sample chapters and some with not, I kept a list and updated the list as i got answers, some answered quickly with rejections some asked for more information some even asked for the whole manuscript, and then one offered me the contract.

 

I have not received the contract and no advance has been offered, but until i get the contract and i will consult a lawyer about it, I don't know what the full offer will be.

 

Alfred,

Did you receive the offer from an agent, or from a publisher? If it was from an agent, which seems likely, you should check them out in the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook. This provides details on virtually all reputable literary agents in Britain. If the agent from whom you received the offer is not listed, I would advise some very close scrutiny before signing anything.

 

If the offer is from a publisher, I would be even more wary. The research that I have done over the last couple of years tells me that it is highly unusual to receive an offer like this from a 'reputable' publisher. If it is from a reputable firm (and they too should be in the W&AY) then I would try to find an agent to handle the commercial details. That is, of course, if you don't happen to be well versed in literary contract law.

 

On the face of it, 10% for a first book doesn't seem too bad, but there are a lot of other details other than percentage that need to be taken into consideration. A good agent would handle all this for you, for a fee, of course. However, as far as I am aware, virtually all successful writers have literary agents, on the basis, I suppose, that it is more profitable to be writing than spending countless hours negotiating with publishers.

 

As I understand it, the usual percentage charged by an agent is 15%.

 

Best of luck. I hope it comes to fruition.

 

IR

[alfred1418 10]

I have been in contact with Apex Publishers, they are the company that have made the offer, however for some reason I cannot look them up on the writers and artist website for some reason my laptop will not load the relevant page.

 

I am hoping to hear from Apex soon. But before proceeding I will have any contracts looked at by my legal representatives.

 

Many thanks for your input

[sauerkraut 10]

Hi Alfred; there's a review of your potential publishers which you may find useful here:

 

http://mickrooney.blogspot.com/2009/07/apex-publishing-uk-reviewed.html

 

As to the 10% royalties, note that little word "net." Net of what, exactly? That's something you'll want to know in detail!

 

Make sure any lawyer you consult is well versed in the law of literary contracts.

 

All the best.

[alfred1418 10]

Hi thanks for the information and link which I have read with interest.

 

I have not yet received a contract but was assured that there was no requirement for money up front and that was part of the reason I was interested in going with this publisher.

 

The other reason is that they do seem to specialise in the genre I have written about, so I thought they would have better distribution contacts, but after reading the review I am really confused as to what is the best way forward now.

 

Do I go with the offer or continue to tout my book around and hope for securing either a literary agent or other publisher. I really don't know

[sauerkraut 10]

Sorry, the sum total of my publishing “experience” is a couple of short stories so I’m not in much of a position to offer advice on getting an autobiography published.

 

One suggestion, though: if you want to check out their distribution, how about going to a bookshop or two and looking in the autobiography section. How many of those books are published by Apex? And if there are any, are they only by local authors? Whilst you’re there, you could see which publishers of books like yours DO get their books in the shops.

 

Out of interest, I had a look on Amazon and searched for sport biographies since I gather that seems to be one of Apex’s specialities. The first three pages of results were almost exclusively celebrity biographies, none of them published by Apex. So I then called up a random Apex book. It looked OK, but the write-up/blurb was a bit pedestrian and there was no LookInside so I’d never have bought it, unless I’d already known about it from somewhere else. It did, however, have eight reviews, ALL of them 5-star. That gave me pause. I checked out the first reviewer. Of the 15 books she’d reviewed, all but one were Apex books and she’d given them all 5 stars. Make of that what you will.

 

Sorry if that all sounds rather negative. I have no axe to grind and indeed had never come across this company before; I’m just a natural born sceptic I’m afraid.

[alfred1418 10]

Thanks again for your input and no it does not sound negative, like you I am a sceptic, but also a realist and as I have not had any other offers to publish (I have been sending off manuscripts since September 2010), I am beginning to think that any published work is better than none, particularly as I have two further ideas for books to write.

 

I actually know of an author of another book published by Apex, he too was an ex prison officer and his book was absolutely slated by the staff at nearly all the prison I worked at. He has now gone on to have go publicised a few book about the prison service (none of which I feel is wholly accurate but very sensationalistic, unlike most staff's experience. He has also been on a few TV programmes. This was why I sent my manuscript to Apex.

 

I will study very carefully any contract they offer me and will keep the forum informed.

[Ron Blanco 10]

Good detective-work, SK.