Agents warn of publishers 'moving the goalposts' on author payments

Agents have warned of an “extremely disturbing trend” which has seen some publishers, mainly in the US, staggering more payments to authors later in the publishing schedule.

The Bookseller spoke to several agents who had experienced this “moving of the goalposts” in the US, although many believe it is part of a wider issue with multi-book contracts. This involves some publishers asking authors to submit an outline for a novel as a contractual stage and reducing upfront payments.

One author was recently offered a third of their advance for a first book in a multi-book deal. Previously, across a £45,000 deal for three books, that author would have received a £15,000 signature advance for each title. However, under a new pay-out schedule some agents have seen, that up-front figure has been reduced to £5,000, with the rest of the money coming in staggered payments.

Isobel Dixon (pictured), m.d. of Blake Friedmann Literary Agency and president of the Association of Authors' Agents, said: “There is an extremely disturbing trend in parts of the industry, locally and internationally, that devalues the work of writers - both in the approach to authors, and in the way writers are paid for their creative labours. One of the recent manifestations of this has been with publishers trying to move the goalposts on advance payment stages, already representing slow remuneration phased well into the future for many years of already completed work.”

Julie Crisp, who is a literary agent at her eponymous agency, revealed several instances of this. “We first encountered this phasing when offered a repeat contract for an author,” she told The Bookseller. “After discussions with the author, it was apparent that a few other contacts had encountered this recently when offered deals. So we realised it was a bigger issue than just one contract and one author. And, while our own experience shows that some publishers are happy to negotiate, how many authors would feel pressurised into signing a deal accepting these terms?”

Meg Davis, agent at the Ki Agency Ltd, told The Bookseller she has seen this happening in the US recently but thinks it is part of a wider issue and has particular concerns over authors having to give detailed outlines of follow-up novels. She said “I’ve noticed this happening over the last couple of years, it is part of a general trend and now I’ve thought, ‘This is it, a line has been crossed’. It seems to me to be an increasing impulse from publishers over what writers are writing. I know they have these departments doing consumer research, which is good, but it is also a creative business and you can’t be too prescriptive about what people will write.”

Dixon believes that authors were made to feel that they should comply with new contractual terms because of pandemic pressures. “The pressure from some quarters was particularly sharp on authors ‘to share the pain’ during the onset of the pandemic last year, despite the fact that they are unsalaried freelances, who rely on book-by-book income, with no recourse to furlough and in many cases no other government support, the likes of which publishers could rely on to ensure their cashflow in difficult times," she said. "We have long known what the recent survey by The Bookseller and the applications to the Society of Authors’ Hardship Fund showed - that more authors are struggling financially, especially mid-career writers who haven’t hit the bestseller lists, the ones who also feel the least supported by publishers in being able to continue their work.”

Along with several other agents who talked to The Bookseller, Dixon is concerned this will further impact on diversity in publishing. “In an industry that admits it needs to become more equal, diverse and inclusive, and is working towards this, paying people properly is key,” she said. “Being a writer is a career not a hobby, and authors need to receive fair remuneration for that work. Agents are constantly putting out fires that threaten to scorch the fabric of writers’ careers; it feels like there are cumulative, almost constant threats to closing sustainable deals for a wide variety of talented authors, at the very moment when publishers say they want to publish more varied voices.”

Crisp (pictured left) agreed. “It could make it a lot less encouraging for authors to come into the writing arena because many writers may not get the financial support upfront to give them the time needed to write a book. For so many authors, it could have quite a big impact on many levels, the majority of writers already have full-time jobs; how will this further affect low-income writers from across the whole spectrum of society?”

Hachette and PRH in the UK both confirmed they have not made changes to their publishing contracts, when contacted by The Bookseller about the issue.

The Bookseller understands that Penguin Random House in the US temporarily modified its pay-out policy regarding US author-contract signing payments for all deals, due to business uncertainties arising from Covid-19.

On multi-book deals, one aspect of those temporary measures was a stricter self-compliance with the publisher’s long-standing policy to stretch out the signing payments for the subsequent books, by paying a bit less upfront and instead include a "commencement of writing" payment. The publisher has since relaxed that deal point, and as in pre-Covid times, only focusing on negotiating mutually agreeable stretched signing payments for subsequent books in multi-book contracts for authors who command a significant advance and with whom the company does not have a previous publishing track record.

Hachette in the US does not comment on its contract terms but it is understood the publisher has spoken to agents to clarify its payout terms and believes their concerns have been satisfied.