What Makes a Good Book Deal?

Literary agents Jessica Faust and James McGowan discuss what goes into a good book deal. Spoiler: it's not just the advance!
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Jessica Faust’s love for books is what first brought her to open BookEnds Literary Agency. It is her desire to be an advocate for all authors that pushed her to create her blog, the BookEnds KZbin channel and to maintain a vibrant presence on Twitter.
Jessica is proud to have grown BookEnds to an agency that represents authors of all genres for children and adults, allowing her to reach more readers and help more authors and illustrators achieve their dreams.
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James McGowan is a Literary Agent at BookEnds and writer for children. He began working with the agency as an intern in the summer of 2015, and basically never left. He represents a talented group of authors and illustrators working in everything from board books to middle grade graphic novels. He also works in adult nonfiction, and adult mystery and suspense projects. James is the author of GOOD NIGHT OPPY, which is available now.
Connect with BookEnds!
Twitter: bookendslit
Instagram: bookends_literary
Website: www.bookendsliterary.com
Connect with Jessica: bookendsjessica
Connect with James: jmcgowanbks

[@LoriKauldrin13]

I love this blog. Thanks for giving us a chance to learn about the industry as we pursue our dreams!

[@harrygibson7626]

I am currently on submission with my novel and would love to see a video about the submission process. It feels a bit like waiting for death--months of silence from editors etc. Could you go into some detail about that from the point of view of an agent? How often do you nudge editors, how do you manage editors who ghost etc. Thank you!

[@lisakaufman3029]

I'll second a video on this topic! TY 📚

[@BookEndsLiterary]

We'll mark this as an idea for a future video, thank you!

[@quenntisashby]

The Big 5-4-3-2-1! 😂 We have zero lift off…

[@marjoriedybec3450]

Super helpful. Choosing the right agent seems SOOO important (and difficult.)

[@giovannijacobs4496]

You two make these discussions so much fun

[@maggiepfob]

The concerns about how authors will be treated with the PRH/S&S merger are valid, but one thing I never hear anyone talk about is how this would be bad for EVERYONE, not just authors. Because, the fewer publishers there are, the more control a smaller handful of people will have over what everyone gets to read. Monopolies are always bad for everyman, but when the product is thought, and imagination, and information, it's especially dangerous to let an ever-shrinking handful of moguls have control over it. It's a slippery slope that leads straight to that Dystopian Future we love to read so much about, but which we really don't want to actually live!

[@panthorca]

Thank you so much for taking the time to discuss this subject. The way you share complex topics like this help them make sense to those of us who don’t have experience yet & your efforts are very much appreciated. 😊

[@hmnauthor]

Great stuff as usual 💕 Thank you two!

[@xorlacanj8051]

This is a scary place. Never been offered a contract like this before.

[@writebrobp]

Great Video, thank you for the clear, concise explanation! 🙂

[@anneboydston6443]

Thank you for your great insights.

[@ji6793]

Great information. Thanks!

[@lisakaufman3029]

Thank you for more insight on what unfolds after you get an agent! Even though y'all've, way Southern, said your audience is craving more and more about the querying process, I've been dying to know more about the marketing and publicity end of things and everything else after landing an editor! I'd like videos on the editor relationship too! I plead ignorant so have many, many questions and no answers! Although I've saturated myself in the publishing industry lately and always have been interested in everything to do with books, I was completely surprised, when I was in a local indie bookstore grabbing The Boys from Biloxi, that two people at the register had no idea Grisham 's book had come out that day! We were standing in a Biloxi, where I live part-time, bookstore which made it even crazier! I was wondering where the ball dropped to have people interested in books and living in Biloxi not even aware of the book release! Craziness! I'm great at promotions and have gathered from one of your videos that it's allowed, maybe expected, for me to be involved in that area! What am I allowed to engage in if it's not duplicating other efforts? I'm almost embarrassed to ask a specific question but know that's the way people learn! Am I allowed to take a friend up on an offer to hold a book signing? Since it would be a private affair, do I buy tons of my own books and eat what doesn't sell? I've got so many questions that my mom's said I'll have to temper what I ask those in the publishing industry! Thank y'all for everything! I appreciate y'all's help!📚📚📚

[@BookEndsLiterary]

Thank you for the questions! We will jot this down as a video to film in the future! :)

[@jwalker6187]

Thanks for another insightful video! The anecdotes really help convey ideas. Speaking of first hand experiences . . .Wouldn't it be amazing if James did a breakdown of his creation process and design strategies for Good Night Oppy? Certain viewers would be super excited if he was able to share his query letter and comp titles too. (Hint hint, winkity wink wink.)

[@Floridameerkat93]

Do you have any advice on finding an agent when you're querying a chapter book? That's what I'm doing now, and I'm not having any luck. It's hard to find agents who even accept chapter books, as most seem to be looking for PB and/or MG.

[@cruella8955]

I would love to hear more about how to increase chances of getting accepted as an illustrator with your agency. I’ve watched your illustrator video (which was great, thanks for that!), but I would like some more concrete tips on what I can do to make my submissions better. How do you work with trends? Should I try to create art like what I see in the book shop, or should I stick with what I do and hope that it works? Would you be able to show us some samples that would immediately catch your interest, vs ones that would not? As an illustrator I feel I’m grappling in the dark, and the rejections I get from agents don’t tell me much about why my art was rejected ( I’ve seen your form rejection vid, so I understand why), so I’m really hungry for content on how to make a successful submission. Thanks a bunch, and keep up the good work!

[@ashforceone]

Thank you for continuing to put out wonderfully informative and honest education. Would absolutely love to see a video on subsidiary rights.

[@lisakaufman3029]

Yes, that'd be a most helpful video!📚

[@BookEndsLiterary]

Hi there! We have a video with our Subrights manager, Jenissa Graham! You can find it in our Conversations With BookEnds Agents playlist :)

[@ashforceone]

@@BookEndsLiterary Much appreciated!

[@bluebandit0]

Very interesting video. I won't quit my day job...🤣

[@DevinBryantfilms]

Great video. Question-say you were to accept the lower advance but then you hit new times. Meaning you would more than likely exceed the advance. What is the payout or royalty system look like then?

[@BookEndsLiterary]

Great question! The royalty rates are negotiated up front during the contract stage, so regardless of the book's performance, those are typically set in stone. The royalty rates are typically broken down by format of book (paperback vs. hardcover vs. ebook vs. mass market, etc.), territory sold in, AND number of copies sold (often the royalty rate scales up in increments depending on the number of books sold). These are all negotiated as percentages of the cover price during the contract stage of the deal (often, several pages of the contract are dedicated to this breakdown!). The advance is the advance against these royalties, so after the book's release, once the combination of all of these royalties earns the publisher the same amount of money that they paid you as an advance, you start receiving these royalties. They are still based on the same percentages initially negotiated! Some publishers also offer bonus clauses for hitting milestones-# of copies, bestselling statuses, etc.-which is just a chunk of money you receive and don't have to earn out.

[@DevinBryantfilms]

@@BookEndsLiterary Great response, thank you 😊

[@atlantistwo5620]

I love your videos, and I have some questions. I have heard that in the music industry, an advance on a contract is a lot like a high-interest payday loan that can cost the artist up to three times the amount of the advance to pay back in royalties. Does a similar situation exist in the publishing industry, and if so what kind of interest rate does the author pay for an advance? Is it better to not take an advance in favor of a larger rate of royalty? Thank you.

[@BookEndsLiterary]

Hi there! The advance in the publishing industry is not a loan, so there is no interest! The advance is an advance AGAINST royalties. The publisher pays the advance to the author that they calculate based on how much they assume the book might make in royalties (royalty rates are negotiated separately). Then, once the book is released, the publisher keeps all of the royalties earned up to the amount of the advance; after the advance is "earned out" the author starts receiving the royalties they earned past the amount of the original advance. If the author never earns out (their royalties never cover their initial advance), they do NOT have to pay back the advance. Example: a $10,000 advance means that, once a book is published, the publisher will keep all of the royalties up through $10,000 (recouping their advance costs). Then, after that, all royalties earned past $10,000 go to the author.

[@Beachwriter]

How common is a work for hire contract for a first contract?

[@ConstantGardener-q9q]

Super interesting. I wonder if their is a formula that publishers use to calculate in real numbers the advance, rights, costs etc balanced against the likelihood the book will sell😅

[@starbright6579]

I have a question, I want to be an author. I'm writing a book a fiction and nonfiction, I will be writing lots of books, but do authors really have to do all that word counting? Just thinking about all that word counting makes me exhausted.

[@BookEndsLiterary]

Hi there! Whatever word processor you use (Microsoft Word, Google Docs, etc.) will have a way to view the word count. You can Google how to check the word count for your document! :) If you are writing by hand, I would recommend that you digitize your work (type it into a word processor). This will allow you to use the word count feature, and will also be helpful in the long run, as publishing handles digital files!