Should You Work For Royalties?
March 9, 2007 by Anne Wayman
Filed under Jobs
Lori Widmer rants nicely and accurately about the people who want to hire freelance writers on the basis of royalties only. I’m definitely in her camp. I won’t accept a royalty contract only. In fact a current client just suggested I do his second book for 50%. I explained I can’t afford to work for free; he was gracious and we negotiated pay for me.
I have on occasion reduced my rate to get a piece of the action, and you know what? I’ve never won. So my rule now is, no, I won’t reduce my fee unless you’ve got a big name, a big trade publisher and a big advance – then I will consider it. I have won on one of those contracts – earned both ongoing pay while I wrote and royalty checks for years afterward – nice!
I’ve also had one client offer me royalties in addition to my regular pay… I said yes… he promised a contract which hasn’t shown up, but who knows.
There are several problems with collecting royalties from individuals. First of all, you have absolutely no control over how well and how successfully they will market the book or other product. Your pay should not depend on their marketing; you should be paid for your writing, period.
And, even if they are successful, unless you have access to their books, you have no way to know if you’re being paid properly. Deciphering royalty payment statements is difficult enough when you’re dealing with a trade publisher; it’s near to impossible when you’re working with an individual.
Take care of yourself and skip the royalty deals, just like Lori says.
Write well and often,
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Amen, alleluia and hear hear! It always sounds like such a sweet deal to the untrained ear. But if you break down the numbers, oy, what a royal “flush” you’re about to get!
Good comments! On the rare occasion that this subject comes up, I always remember that royalties are too dependent on the work of one or more other parties. Sure, they want to make a profit but the pressure on them to deliver money to me is “off” if they know that I’ll settle for a percentage of what likely could be a very small pie.
Very good points about having no control over the marketing, etc. You could write the best piece of work you’ve ever written, and get virtually nothing for it because, hey, these things have to SELL to get royalties.