Authors to be paid £24k salary in new publishing model

[HareBrain]

Interesting item in Radio 4's "Open Book" programme yesterday.

BBC Radio 4 - Open Book, Lebanese writers, Nada Awar Jarrar and Hanan al-Shaykh; Ceridwen Dovey

(Click on the tab labelled "Changing the")

For those who can't access it, there are various articles online, such as this one. Search "de montfort literature".

This is a novel idea, and I'll be interested to see how it works out. My instinct is that it's unlikely to make financial sense, but with it being backed by a philanthropist banker's cash, that might not be be a problem initially. It's interesting that they're hoping to recruit born storytellers likely to produce a large number of novels, and then train them, rather than those who are already polished writers. In a way, this feels like a return to the old publishing model, where an agent/editor will work to develop a raw but promising author, something that seems to rarely happen these days. The potential downside of the model is that if an author has a massive hit, they get no more money than the salary unless they buy the rights, which in the case of a massive hit are likely to be beyond their means. But how many people is that going to apply to?

It does seem to be one possible answer to the problem that increasingly, only authors with independent wealth or patronage are able to write, and it might bring new types of voices into the arena.

 

[Venusian Broon]

It does seem a very interesting model HB.

On the positive side it looks very much like a grant - giving you the aspiring author time and money to just completely focus on writing the novel. Also viewing it positively there seems to be a great deal of interaction with the people in charge, so possible constant support and guidance.

But on the other hand I noted (my boldfont): "Jonathan believes it should be possible to write a novel within one to two years, and the selected writers will be required to hit certain targets. ‘They need to keep writing, going towards their goal.’ Writers contracted to DML will not be able to write novels for another publisher for two years if they leave. ‘It would work like an employee contract,’ he says."

What if you run into a barren patch and miss targets? Disciplinary actions and sacking? Or what if you think you've hit the target and they think actually 'not good enough' we should terminate? (Cue unable to contact any other publisher for two years)

The devil is in the detail of the contract you sign, I suppose. For all employee contracts I've signed, anything I produce on company time and equipment is officially theirs, so yes - perhaps you write the next Shades of Grey and you will get mentioned in Youtube "top 10" videos in the future as the writer that wrote a 200 million pound book...and received £48k for it.

However perhaps they have a more generous profit sharing system for such an eventuality.

I agree it may not make financial sense, it could just be a rich man's hobby venture, because we have no idea if they can successfully identify good, commercial writers and we have no idea if the company will know how to market and sell a good book if they got their hands on it.

Might be fun just to apply to experience what happens, I doubt very much I'd ever be picked...but I am on a bit of hiatus at the moment and have plenty of time

 

[The Big Peat]

The potential downside of the model is that if an author has a massive hit, they get no more money than the salary unless they buy the rights, which in the case of a massive hit are likely to be beyond their means. But how many people is that going to apply to?

And even if it does apply to you, you quit your job and sell your next (presumably) massive hit the old fashioned way for moniez.

Honestly, this seems to be a no brainer for writers, assuming that they want to write full time and don't have a more lucrative career elsewhere they want to keep. Maybe some fiddly parts around how many novels they expect out of you for it/how much freelancing they'd allow you to do in other jobs, but a half-decent wage for writing sounds great.

The big question seems to be whether it would make sense for a publisher (particularly since you've probably got other costs than the 24k given they're an employee i.e. pension contributions). I'd like to think it could do so with suitably productive and popular authors... but they're the people likely to skip out and earn more money the other way than stay and tentpole it for other people.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Wow, had a look at the website. They are looking for 5-10 writers....eventually up to 100!

Other interesting facts:

What percentage of the money from sales of their book will authors receive?
Authors will receive fifty per cent after all costs are taken into account i.e. salary, production costs and marketing.

Who owns the IP / Copyright?
DML owns the IP / Copyright on your ideas and novels.
You have the sole right to buy the IP / copyright from us if you leave DML. i.e. if we want to sell the IP, we can only sell it to you, unless you give us permission to sell it to someone else.
If you decide to buy the IP, the price set is based on a formula.

What about film rights etc?
We have the sole discretion on whether to sell film / TV / radio rights etc. and for how much or whether to implement such a format ourselves.
You are entitled to 50% of the profits after costs (e.g. rights sale price – rights agency fees).

Who are your distributors?
We have two of the world’s largest distributors providing us with global distribution access. An exciting announcement is coming soon.

Will I receive royalties if I leave DML?
Yes.

What is the notice / tie-in period?
One month.

They also state:

"Here’s the rub. In return for all of this we are going to ask you to do some work. This will be largely dependent upon your experience and will vary from taking courses in writing, reading books, doing writing exercises and, of course, actually writing your novels. We will have an expectation about what you should submit to us on a weekly basis."

 

[Toby Frost]

I don't think this would be for me, but I think that it's a pretty good idea. As VB says, the devil would (potentially) be in the detail.

 

[HareBrain]

What if you run into a barren patch and miss targets?

The radio article mentions that part of the recruitment process will be psychometric testing, and I assume an important part of this will be to assess the candidate's ability to apply bum to chair no matter how inspired they're feeling. As to what happens if you do miss targets, I guess that might constitute a breach of your employment contract in the same way as not turning up to the office.

 

[Venusian Broon]

The radio article mentions that part of the recruitment process will be psychometric testing, and I assume an important part of this will be to assess the candidate's ability to apply bum to chair no matter how inspired they're feeling. As to what happens if you do miss targets, I guess that might constitute a breach of your employment contract in the same way as not turning up to the office.

Yeah, I think it's the sort of thing that could suit certain people.

I note from them that if you fail the psychometric test, that's it, you can't reapply.

 

[Guillermo Stitch]

At least it is an idea. The publishing world doesn't seem to have had many of those for a while.

As an artyfarty type I'm skeptical about the idea of a production line, but maybe I should have an open mind. This story will be more interesting still, about two years from now.

 

[Ursa major]

the recruitment process will be psychometric testing

Will they look unkindly on those who have gaps in their history of entering the Writing Challenges...?

 

[Venusian Broon]

As an artyfarty type I'm skeptical about the idea of a production line, but maybe I should have an open mind. This story will be more interesting still, about two years from now.

Well, to give another arts example, pop music is generally run as a production line...and although I don't like some of the stuff, they do come up with gems that I will hum and nod my head along with.

 

[reiver33]

24k is more than I earn at present!

 

[Guillermo Stitch]

Well, to give another arts example, pop music is generally run as a production line...and although I don't like some of the stuff, they do come up with gems that I will hum and nod my head along with.

Yeah point taken - maybe I'm too attached to the idea that a writer's proper place is draped over a chaise longue, hammered on laudanum and losing consciousness, a half eaten chicken leg about to fall from a drooping hand. All at someone else's expence.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Yeah point taken - maybe I'm too attached to the idea that a writer's proper place is draped over a chaise longue, hammered on laudanum and losing consciousness, a half eaten chicken leg about to fall from a drooping hand. All at someone else's expence.

Your other hand with a quill, dispatching messages to t' interweb; the landlady banging hard on your door saying something about rent...

Every time you post, I am sure this image will pop into my mind

 

[The Big Peat]

The radio article mentions that part of the recruitment process will be psychometric testing, and I assume an important part of this will be to assess the candidate's ability to apply bum to chair no matter how inspired they're feeling. As to what happens if you do miss targets, I guess that might constitute a breach of your employment contract in the same way as not turning up to the office.

Do the rights revert back to you if fired? Because if they do, I kinda feel big whoop... you've still been getting paid, you still have writing that you've done.

If they don't, that kinda sucks, but even then, I'm guessing you're only getting fired if you haven't really got enough of your own stuff to make it worthwhile to take it anyway.



I wonder who they'll get with this. I imagine there's some full time writers out there making less than 24k - or good part time writers who make less than 24k in their day job and would love to switch. I can see them getting some established authors with this.

If I was 23, I'd be all over this. I'd apply and if I got it, I'd piss off to Thailand/Bali/where ever, write in pleasant incredibly cheap isolation. But now that I'm 32, and counting down the months until me and the wife try for children, I'd want my next job to pay more not less, no matter my writing dreams...


From the publisher's point of view. Lets say one book a year. That one book costs you 24k, plus any additional employer expenses (I'm guessing they'll try to wriggle out of them though), plus editing/production (3k?), plus presumably you're employing someone for constant oversight, marketing, etc.etc.

So, what, you'd need to sell 40k worth of each book to make it worthwhile? 30k? I don't know what a publisher's profit margin is on a book to work it out from there, but it feels like we're not talking more than 10k copies... maybe as little as 3k copies... the average US book sells less than 3k copies in its lifetime.

Maybe if you squeeze 3 books every 2 years? 2 books a year is doable for the right author working full time mind.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Do the rights revert back to you if fired? Because if they do, I kinda feel big whoop... you've still been getting paid, you still have writing that you've done.

If they don't, that kinda sucks, but even then, I'm guessing you're only getting fired if you haven't really got enough of your own stuff to make it worthwhile to take it anyway.



I wonder who they'll get with this. I imagine there's some full time writers out there making less than 24k - or good part time writers who make less than 24k in their day job and would love to switch. I can see them getting some established authors with this.

If I was 23, I'd be all over this. I'd apply and if I got it, I'd piss off to Thailand/Bali/where ever, write in pleasant incredibly cheap isolation. But now that I'm 32, and counting down the months until me and the wife try for children, I'd want my next job to pay more not less, no matter my writing dreams...


From the publisher's point of view. Lets say one book a year. That one book costs you 24k, plus any additional employer expenses (I'm guessing they'll try to wriggle out of them though), plus editing/production (3k?), plus presumably you're employing someone for constant oversight, marketing, etc.etc.

So, what, you'd need to sell 40k worth of each book to make it worthwhile? 30k? I don't know what a publisher's profit margin is on a book to work it out from there, but it feels like we're not talking more than 10k copies... maybe as little as 3k copies... the average US book sells less than 3k copies in its lifetime.

Maybe if you squeeze 3 books every 2 years? 2 books a year is doable for the right author working full time mind.

You have to buy the rights off them, if I read their website right.

I'm pretty sure that happens in trad publishing if you want to end a contract prematurely also.

The difference might be, reading between the lines, it may be that they hold the rights in perpetuity if you do nothing...but we'd have to have a peeked at the contract to be sure.

 

[The Big Peat]

You have to buy the rights off them, if I read their website right.

I'm pretty sure that happens in trad publishing if you want to end a contract prematurely also.

The difference might be, reading between the lines, it may be that they hold the rights in perpetuity if you do nothing...but we'd have to have a peeked at the contract to be sure.

Pretty fair sounding tbh.

The real issue arises if you finish a book and you like it and they don't I guess.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Pretty fair sounding tbh.

The real issue arises if you finish a book and you like it and they don't I guess.

One assumes they shouldn't value the rights highly in that case???

 

[Guillermo Stitch]

Your other hand with a quill, dispatching messages to t' interweb; the landlady banging hard on your door saying something about rent...

Every time you post, I am sure this image will pop into my mind

The silly woman should know by now, I never answer the door on Fridays.

 

[Joshua Jones]

One assumes they shouldn't value the rights highly in that case???

They may, however, value the money they can get from the author to buy the rights.

Maybe I am just a cynic, but something about this whole thing just doesn't sound right. Yeah, it isn't a huge payroll (here in the states, you typically plan 18% for taxes and such on payroll, then insurance), but I have a feeling that the income made from the salary will be inadequate to buy the rights back from them, and the "formula" used to calculate the expense for doing so will make buying rights back perpetually impossible.

Now, all of that is irrelevant if they know their end well and it becomes a good partnership. But what if they have no idea how to actually market a book? One could be stuck with no possibility of getting their work out there effectively, no possibility of making more than the base, and no real possibility of getting the rights back. Oh, and what happens when the backer decides he/she isn't getting ROI and pulls out before the first novel is done?

As I said, it could just be my cynicism, but it could also be my business experience smelling something off. I would encourage someone considering this to do an absolutely monstrous amount of research into the company to make sure they have a solid track record, and read through that contract, preferably with the help of an attorney, with a comb of the finest of fine teeth.

 

[Venusian Broon]

They may, however, value the money they can get from the author to buy the rights.

Surely identical to a trad publishing house when a long term relationship with an author breaks down.

However, I agree totally to take a cynical and thorough approach. Something that applies to taking any contract.

I note that they themselves state you should get a lawyer look over the contract!