Friday, August 21, 2009

Literary Agent Nathan Bransford's Publishing Glossary

Forecast for St. Peters, MO: Chance of thunderstorms, high 80 degrees.

Last week, Curtis Brown Literary Agent Nathan Bransford posted a thoughtful glossary of book publishing terms (The photo of Nathan on the left is from his blog.)

Bransford's list starts with:

"Advance - The money a publisher pays an author to publish their book. This money is an advance against royalties. This means that the author does not receive additional money from the publisher until the book earns an amount of money equal to the advance (see "earn out"). As long as the book is published the author does not have to pay the advance back, even if the book does not earn out. Large advances are typically paid in installments, such as a portion on signing, a portion on delivery and acceptance, and a portion on publication. Advances range from $1 to $1,000,000 or more.

and wraps-up with:

"Wholesaler - Companies that get books to bookstores, libraries, etc. Unlike distributors, which fill orders for one or a few publishers, wholesalers fill orders for basically everything under the sun. Prominent wholesalers include Baker & Taylor and Ingram."

In the middle of it all he gives an example to a link of a good query letter. To read the complete glossary, visit Nathan Bransford's blog. I visit his blog several times a week because of all the helpful information he generously shares with writers. The glossary is just one gem you will discover on his "gold mine" of information site.

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