Social media, SEO, marketing and writingAdvance Against Book Royalties & Other Author Revenue Streams
There are several ways you can build a second income from the books you write and place with publishers. Advances and royalties add to your yearly total as an author. There are also subsidiary rights sales (also called ancillary right sales) to magazines, newspapers, book-clubs, audio book companies, and/or film companies. Other subsidiary rights include electronic rights, speaking engagements, and foreign rights fees. All of these fees can add up to a hefty sum, assuming your book carves a respectable place for itself in the marketplace.
An advance is not a handout from a publisher to an author; it’s your own money you receive on the future earnings (royalties) of your book. An advance means just that—an advance against the royalties to be earned by your book. When your book is published and selling, you won’t get any more money until it has earned back the amount paid as an advance. So the publisher gets back the money advanced to an author when the book starts to sell. Many books, unfortunately, never earn back their advances. A number of others just break even. What every author shoots for, and publishers, too, are books that earn back their advances and then go on to earn a profitable return (or much better).
Newcomer authors should realize that an advance can help you financially while you complete your manuscript. Many small publishers do not offer advances, but the major companies work this way, with half the advance paid when you sign a contract and the balance when a completed, and acceptable manuscript, is delivered to the publisher.
Once the book is published and selling, an author will receive royalty reports twice a year with any amount due enclosed. Most publishers send these royalty statements in the spring and fall along with any subsidiary rights payments.
Agent Margot Maley says, “Writers can make a lot of money on ancillary deals. I have a few authors who make more money on speaking engagements relating to their books than they do on the books. Film and audio rights can be huge if you have the right book. Foreign rights can bring in as much or more income as the original English rights deal. Electronic rights, though still kept by most publishers, are not exercised all that often.”
