Captain's Blog

Ahoy, Critterfolk!
New entry May 03

Critter Notices

New Book from a Critter Member

Awesome new book, HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPECULATIVE FICTION OPENINGS, from a Critter member whose unearthed a shard of The Secret to becoming a pro writer. Really good piece of work. "...if you're at all concerned about story openings, you'd be nuts not to read what Qualkinbush has to say." —Wil McCarthy, author of BLOOM and THE COLLAPSIUM

Stayin' Alive

If you want to make a career of SF writing, STAYING ALIVE - A WRITER'S GUIDE by three-time SFWA President Norman Spinrad, published by your Critter Captain's ReAnimus Press, is an indispensable guide to the SF publishing industry by an expert.

How to Write SF

Hot off the presses from ReAnimus Press! The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Ben Bova, best-selling author and six-time Hugo Award winner for Best Editor. (This is one of the books your ol' Critter Captain learned from himself, and I highly recommend it.)

Book Recommendation

It's like discovering a new Heinlein book: POINT ULTIMATE by Star Trek writer Jerry Sohl.

Announcing ReAnimus Press

If you need help making ebooks from manuscripts or print copies—or finding great stuff to read—look no further! An ebook publisher started by your very own Critter Captain. (And with a 12% Affiliate program.) [More]

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Book Earnings Survey

Background

Several years ago Tobias Buckell did a survey on first novel sales and how much people earned. It was really interesting and useful. The publishing landscape is rapidly changing, so this survey is geared to measure current trends in publishing: How much are authors earning for books they've sold in the last year. Not limited to first novels -- any book sold in the last 12 months. Whether sold to a major publisher, small press, or self-published. Whether in print or electronic forms. It's also geared to track the effect of prior sales -- e.g., how large an advance are first authors getting vs. midlist authors.

This survey is open to all authors who've signed a contract for a book within the last 12 months. This includes contracts from major publishers, small presses, or self-publishing agreements.

If you're an author, you'll probably want to know this. Knowledge is power. All entries are anonymous. So help us out and enter your data!

Please spread the word so we can collect as much data as possible.

Thanks!

—Andrew Burt

Survey Questions

    For each book you've signed a contract for within the last 12 months, please answer the following questions:

    (That is, you signed the contract within the last 12 months. This isn't about books published years ago, just ones newly published or maybe not even published yet. Do the form again for each book if you have more than one.)

  1. When did you sign the contract?

      Month: (1..12)
      Year: (2010 or 2011)

  2. What was the size of the publisher?

      Large, major publisher (e.g. Random House)
      Small press
      Self Published

      (Large publishers pay a large advance and do large print runs so that copies are on shelves in thousands of bookstores. Select "Self Published" if you did not receive an advance payment or published through e.g. Smashwords, Amazon.com, Lulu, PublishAmerica, etc.)

  3. How much advance against royalties did you receive?

      Advance: $
      (Not applicable to self-published works)

  4. What royalty rates does your contract provide you?

      Hardback: % of cover price net
      Paperback: % of cover price net
      Ebook: % of cover price net

      (If your contract has multiple sales tiers, enter for the first tier. If there are multiple channels with different rates, choose the one from which you think most sales will come.)

  5. If this book has made it to publication, what price points is it sold at?

      Hardback: $ (enter numeric dollars and cents, e.g. "26.99")
      Paperback: $ (trade paper or mass market, assuming it isn't in both)
      Ebook: $

  6. If this book has made it to publication, how many copies have sold so far (to the best of your knowledge)?

      Hardback: copies
      Paperback: copies
      Ebook: copies

  7. Is this the first release for this book?

      Yes (that is, readers have never been able to read this book before)
      No (reprint: that is, readers could have read this before, perhaps in a different format)

  8. How many previous books do you have published?

      Books from major publishers (Random House, etc.)
      Books from small presses
      Books self-published

      (Enter 0 if this is your first published book, 2 if this is your third book, etc.)

  9. What Genre was this book?

    If you want to elaborate on your thoughts or have other comments to make, please share them here. (Opens in new window)

To prevent automated responses, please enter the two words below:

[View Survey Results]

[Discussion Forum]

See Also:

Axioms in the Future of Publishing

Poll: What's the best price point for ebooks?

Poll: What's the best book ever written?

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Very Happy minion   Very Happy minion — last donation was today. A big Thank You! to Camille Griep, Wenonah Lyon, Morgen Marshall, and lots of other Critterfolk for their contributions!

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CRITTERS DIPLOMACY

Fundamental to Critters' success is how people deliver criticisms. Start by reading Critiquing the Wild Writer: It's Not What You Say, But How You Say It. and The Diplomatic Critiquer.

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HOW TO SUBMIT

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WHAT'S IN THE QUEUE

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