Percentage Of Sales In Lieu Of Payment
August 20, 2007 by Anne Wayman
Filed under Jobs
Every now and again a potential ghostwriting client will offer me a percentage of the book instead of payment. Although I’ve never taken a percentage with no payment, I have, in the past, reduced my fee for a percentage.
It’s never worked. That is, I’ve never received any additional payment. And I’ve been pretty careful.
The truth is these deals rarely work, unless there’s a trade publisher behind them… and even then, the results are far more likely to be dismal than truly rewarding.
Get your money up front. Don’t let the possibility of lots of money later trick you into reducing your fees. Of course, there are exceptions. If the client is truly famous and if a publisher is excited about the project, it may work, but get some money for your time under all circumstances.
Write well and often,
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Amen, Anne. I can’t stress enough to a starry-eyed client that royalties are slow in coming and often, depending on the subject matter, are nonexistent. I can see only one workaround – perhaps offering to work for a percentage of royalties (a specific dollar amount) to be delivered within six months of the book’s release date, or the writer gets that dollar amount at six months, no matter how that book’s done. Even then I’d not be willing to wait. Why should I?
I no longer try to change the client’s starry-eyed view… I just tell ‘em I can’t afford to work for free. I quote my usual fee. Often they go away, which is fine with me; once and awhile they buy from me which is even better.