Hi everyone, I'm new here so please be gentle! I have a question about publishing contracts. Brief backstory first though; I wrote and illustrated a children's book called The Panda bear who came to stay... for my own children last Christmas and they loved it. I decided to self publish on Amazon and have received great feedback but now want to get it out to a wider audience. All good so far but I thought publishing contracts always worked by giving the author an advance, and then royalties on units sold.
However, I've been offered a contributory publishing contract for £1,900 with 25% royalties on net profit and I was wondering if this is normal nowadays and if it sounds good??
My initial thoughts are; how much is 25% net profit of a book that may retail for say, £5.99? Obviously actual sales numbers would be very difficult to predict, but on average, how many copies do children's books sell by first time authors??
I'd love to get my book into bookshops, and ultimately children's bookshelves, but just need to know if I'm likely to recoup my £1,900 outlay.
Any help would be very gratefully received.
Many thanks,
David Howlett
Thanks everyone. The publisher is Austin Macauley and I've been reading a few things on the net which aren't massively complimentary about them.
As a new writer, we seem to be a bit stuck; the big publishers won't accept unsolicited manuscripts, and from what I can gather, it seems difficult to get an agent.
Does anyone know any good agents who specialise in children's books??
Many thanks
David
Hi David,
The Oxford Editors have people specialising in children's books. They are always very generous with their advice, so I'm sure they would be able to give you some advice or point you in the right direction.
I'm trying to write some stories as a present for my nieces and nephews. Great challenge!
All the best.
Could be another vanity publisher, where you pay a good chunk of money but get very little in return. Which publisher is it? There are some that are best to avoid.