The Grim Economics of Publishing

Imagine the situation. Either you’re a first-time writer who’s recently acquired an agent thanks to a brilliant idea, or you’re a seasoned pro, about to tackle your umpteenth project. You’ve moved over to a new publisher and editor in either case, the first ‘get to know you’ coffee’s gone splendidly, and they’ve been sufficiently enraptured by your pizzazz to be able to get the proposal through the Scylla and Charybdis that are otherwise known as ‘sales and marketing’. Your card comes back marked, metaphorically anyway, ‘offer’. Next thing you know, your agent’s ringing you up excitedly, saying “Good news! They want it, and they’ll offer £10,000 for the privilege.” The champagne is no longer on ice, and you celebrate hard into the night.