Will,
If you look closely at these figures, you'll see that quite a few publishers are now paying five figures for a first novel.  That's an enormous boost from first advances for some of the other genres.  The most dismal payments are from nominal publishers.  A few of the giants are low, Harlequin for instance.  However, consider the short lengths of some of those books and the fact that some of them go automatically into the Harlequin book club which means a certain number of sales for authors.  A lot of romance authors, especially those writing in the short "category" lines, will produce two-three books per year.  Whatever the first advance might be, everything hinges on how that first novel performs.  If its sales are high, or it wins an award, then romance authors can quickly climb to 150,000-copy sell through.  Calculate those royalties and see what you think.

DC

Deborah Chester
John Crain Presidential Professor
Professional Writing
Gaylord College of Journalism & Mass Communication
University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK  73019-2051
Ph: (405) 325-4192
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----- Original Message -----
From: William Prescott <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, June 5, 2007 10:12 am
Subject: What (Romance) Writers Make
To: [log in to unmask]


> Brenda Hiatt, a romance author, has a detailed breakdown of what each
> romance publishing house pays its writers.
>
>
>
>  Those in the know, does this seem accurate? Given that romance
> dominates the fiction market, are these rates as good as it gets? Or
> are rates lower because of a glut of projects?
>
>  Will
>
>
>
>  William D. Prescott
>
>  University of Oklahoma
>
>  office no. 405-325-2710
>
>  [log in to unmask]