Advance

Definition

An advance is an amount paid to an author before their book is published.

Basic Facts

Advances, or their full name, “advances against royalties,” are paid to authors before they are able to make royalties. Publishers negotiate with authors to determine how generous their advance should be, and if an author fulfills their contract, they succeed in earning the advance. Advances usually come in installments at various important points throughout the publishing process, with some money from the paycheck being extracted as a fee for having an agent. This form of payment is a guaranteed way for authors to make money from writing a book, however, less promising writers are usually paid less in advances, meaning these authors have a more difficult time earning what they see as a fair amount of money for their books.

Difficulty to make money as a writer in traditional publishing often stems from authors not being able to pay back their advances. Once the publisher earns back the amount given to an author as advance payment, the author begins to make royalties on their book. Royalties are the money earned by an author by the sale of their book, not just the money they were paid in advance. If an author fails to pay back their advances through book sales, they will not make any royalties, which is especially problematic for the author if the advance was a small amount.

Effects on Publishing

Negotiating advances brings together various parties within the publishing world. Authors must be paid to write books, agents must be paid to suggest that book to a publisher, and publishers must be paid to follow through and publish the book in the end. The process of doling out advances and knowing how much money to give as an advance to each author is an important task for publishers because many authors do not pay back their advances, leading to negative earnings for the publishing company. However, some authors not only pay back their advances, but open up a goldmine of sales for the company. These promising authors are subsequently paid more in advances for their following books.