Dr. Marcia Layton Turner on LinkedIn: Do ghostwriters get royalties? I'm frequently asked whether book… | 10 comments (2024)

Writers And Money (From my blog "Boobytrap")Being an author leads to many weird situations that involves the critical or just curious eye of people who might consider buying your work. Some of it we, the writers, do a lot to direct as we want it to be seen: Entertaining, ingenious or "something new to this planet". We go from our solitary workplace by the computer, struggling to give life to fictional characters and plots of our own making to go craving for some kind of publicity. Without publicity the book will still be there, but only for our own personal enjoyment and without the stamp of success: Sales that prove that we were right in calling this, our work, our bosom baby.A lot of people know that this makes us vulnerable to scams that tear into our finances, robbing us without giving us what we were told that we were buying: Publicity, contracts with good and legitimate publishers or, for instance, screen writers, etc., etc.. A lot of disappointments may be waiting for the hopeful writer and it's not fair to us or the trade as such.However, the publicity part of the game may be less burdensome moneywise if we involve ourselves in certain measures that we perform ourselves:1. I don't believe in listing people who might review our books for free, using emails to incite them to buy the book. To me that's looking unfair to those we approach as writers. However, honest reviews on platforms like e.g. Amazon and Goodreads are a wonderful boost to the sale process. Some writers may build a business partnership with other authors for cross-promotions or guest posts on each other's blogs.2. Attend book conventions: OK, but that's not cheap. I's been invited to two conventions in Europe, but did not feel tempted to attend ....3. a) Be a blogger or b) get someone who has a blog to read and review your book.4. One may utilize platforms like e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to engage with readers. Maybe that strategy may even lead to the building of a community of followers, but that may be pushing one's luck too far ....5. Some writers participate in book club discussions of various art.And what have I done up till now? Not much, even though I, who have a long list of self published works, ought to do something about the actual promotion of my works. Well, sometimes I do sell something, but I wouldn't be able to make a living by writing books which also goes for many other authors: This is not an industry for most of the people who are out to get riches. Some do, but not most of us ....

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you find there’s another way for people to attempt to exploit would-be writers. One of my soon to be ex-connections asked me to get involved in a scheme - I can only call it a scheme - which sounded like vanity press meets MLM. He said I’d be a featured author and all I had to do was persuade 10 more people to write a chapter in a co-authored book. I’d get my spot for free; they’d have to pay $1300 apiece. And we were guaranteed bestseller status.I’m internet old, and my spidey senses tingle at anything that seems too good to be true. And this did, big-time, on many fronts. In addition to being outraged that he’d think I’d invite anyone to this “nopertunity”, I’m concerned that some people might fall for this, but it's definitely a case of "buyer beware". As far as I can tell:- The person who offered the nopertunity will be getting $13,000 per book - the writers get nothing up front- There’s a promise of an unspecified revenue share (not sure for what) plus 30% of online sales royalties (for comparison, I get 70% of the royalties on my self-published print on demand books)- My friend Jenn, who’s a whiz at these things, has detected a whiff of the link farm in how his site is set up (which will result in Google penalties)- It looks like after the book is published, you’re encouraged to buy more tools and services to boost sales (so more revenue for his company and less for the writers)That’s without even digging into who owns the book and the material in it, and other pertinent questions. For example, what if his company stops promoting the book? Because 30% of nothing is nothing. In short, the people contributing chapters would be getting the very short end of a particularly crappy stick, in my opinion. As a writer, if you decide to go the self-publishing route, it’s best to have your own platform. And while it makes sense to pay for some services, like professional editing and cover design, there’s a lot you can do yourself. No, you probably won’t become an instant bestseller (though you never know), but you will get all your royalties, and you’ll be able to sleep at night, too.cc Jennifer Mattern#publishing #selfpublishing

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How much should a freelance ghostwriter charge?During the Gathering of the Ghosts Conference on January 22nd, our CEO, Kevin Anderson, moderated a conversation called The Money Dance, where the panelists–including notable authors and ghosts Dr. Marcia Layton Turner, Michael Levin, and Catherine Whitney–tackled the fundamentals of the ghostwriting business: building your brand, contract essentials, and, most significantly, how much to charge.You can find a summary of what was discussed in that panel here: https://lnkd.in/gsSy5Bn9

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What measures must authors take to secure their stake in the field of book publishing?A Book Publishing Agreement is the blueprint that defines the terms of publishing, protecting the interests of both parties. One key aspect is the 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲, a critical element for authors seeking financial recognition for their literary creations.Royalty Payments:Royalty payments are the lifeblood of authors i.e. payments that are derived from book sales and are usually expressed as a percentage of the book's price.However, here's where it gets interesting: authors can negotiate the terms to maximize their earnings.Royalty percentage:While industry standards can provide a benchmark, don't be afraid to negotiate for a higher rate, especially if you have a strong bargaining position or a proven track record.Consider tying royalty rates to specific sales milestones. If the book sells a certain number of copies or becomes a best-seller, you can negotiate a higher percentage, promoting shared success.Digital and Audiobook:With the rise of digital books and audiobooks, it's essential to clarify how royalties will be calculated for these formats. Negotiate fair rates for digital and audiobook sales, keeping in mind that production costs for these formats are often lower, which could warrant a higher royalty percentage.Territory and Language Rights:Authors can explore negotiating territorial and language rights separately. This can open up additional revenue streams.Subsidiary Rights:Beyond translation and adaptation rights, consider negotiating subsidiary rights such as merchandising, video game adaptations, or educational use. These rights can significantly boost your earnings if your book becomes a hit in various media.Audit Provisions:To ensure transparency and accuracy in royalty calculations, negotiate the right to audit the publisher's records periodically. This gives you peace of mind that you're receiving the correct payments.6. Cross-Collateralization Clauses:Beware of cross-collateralization clauses that allow the publisher to offset losses from one book against royalties from another. Try to limit or eliminate these clauses to protect your earnings.Duration and Reversion Clauses:Negotiate the duration of the agreement. It's common for authors to seek a reversion clause that allows them to reclaim their rights if the book goes out of print or sales drop below a certain threshold.Competitive Works Clause:Consider adding a clause that restricts the publisher from releasing competing works by other authors that might divert attention from your book during the same period.The publishing contract is an author's lifeline, and the Royalty Clause is its heartbeat.#authors #contractdrafting #authorsrights #royaltyclause #bookpublishers #contractnegotiation

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A measly RM1.75 royalty why not take the self-publish route and earn much more?Besides this, you’re also doing lots of your own promotion and some sales too. Why not earn more for your efforts?Before we go down that route, how much can you earn by self-publishing and selling your own book?From what I’ve heard, RM10/unit is the norm. So, assume RM10/unit profit and with my book having sold more than 3000 copies to date and it’s a cool RM30,000 in profits.It does make more sense and profitable to go the self-publish route from the information above right? Actually, here’s what you don’t see; 1. You bear no riskPublisher comes out with everything from the cost, design, proofreader, authority registration, distribution, promotion, and etc. I mean EVERYTHING. All I did was focused on writing and sent the manuscript. Imagine printing 500 copies of your own book and you can’t sell because you don’t have the capacity or audience to sell to? Your capital is going to be stuck with the books unless you take steps and sell it. 2. You don’t have the network A publisher will have a network of not only of bookstores but also printers, proofreaders, agencies, events, and more. Publisher can also open doors for you to have meet and greet sessions or even speak on stage. 3. You don’t know the market How can you tell if your book is able to sell especially if you haven’t spent the time to build an audience for it? If you propose the idea to the right publisher, then you will get instant feedback whether it’s a yes or no. Publishers are in business of books and they will understand the market and their clientele base better. 4. Design, proofreader, registration, law and etc This process requires you to have some knowledge of everything from A to Z. If the design makes it hard to read, your book might not sell. If the title is not catchy, your book might not sell. If you don’t know the law, your book may not even see the light. There are a lot of pitfalls that makes it not worth it as an author to do everything unless you’re thinking of exploring being a publisher.5. You get to focus on what you do best: writeThis to me is best reason to go with publisher. I get to focus on what I like and my strength while the others go to publisher. I can focus on sharpening my skills as a writer and build more income streams and products too. Remember, it’s not always about the money. A good partnership can be worth more in its weight than gold. Good luck! #write #create #publish

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This rich writer follows 2 rules. Every solopreneur can learn from him. David Mamet is one of the world's best screenwriters and playwrights. But before he found success writing? Mamet worked in real estate. He turned his experiences on the job with cutthroat salespeople into the hit play Glengarry Glen Ross. His play depicts two days in the lives of four desperate real estate agents in Chicago. The play and subsequent film won multiple awards on Broadway and at the Oscars. Mamet's one of my creative heroes. That's because: He prescribes **two rules** for succeeding as an artist and a business person. He says, “𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺.” If you want to find success writing online, do one thing for your craft. An example? ↳ Write 300 words ↳ Publish one piece of content. If you want to earn money writing online, do one thing for your business, like: ↳ Asking followers to join your email list. ↳ Creating a sales page ↳ Positioning a service or an offer 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮?

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Hello LinkedIn crew,I get asked a lot if I have connections to literary agents. Usually, I say I don't. Truthfully, I have no idea if I'm connected with any agents on LinkedIn, but I'm certainly not on a first name basis with anyone off the top of my head.If you're an agent, can you pop into my comments and tell me whether there's any benefit to me (a freelance editor) networking more deeply with literary agents. Here's my thought: I think writers and authors ask me if I know an agent because they want an easy route into the system (who can blame them?). There's some kind of thought floating around out there that says if you know someone (an agent, a publisher, an editor, etc.) then you're more likely to get your book picked up.But I just don't see that working out. As far as I can tell, agents are swamped, and they have a system for that reason. Has there ever been an instance where someone in the industry came to you (the agent) and recommended a fabulous book, thus that writer was able to "jump the line" (as it were)?I feel silly for even asking, but maybe that's because I'm such a rule follower and people pleaser. Maybe this happens all the time! Anyway, I just feel weird about it, and it's probably why I've made absolutely zero effort to befriend literary agents. It just feels to me that querying is the process, and you just have to do it if that's the publishing path you want to take.What do you think? Am I off the mark?

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I would like to discuss individuals who are not writers but hire ghostwriters to write for them in their pursuit of financial gain. The fact that you are not a writer is already a warning sign. Because of this, you treat writers with disrespect. You seem to think that coming up with a story and putting it into writing is an easy task. You often say things like, "You need to make sure you sign a contract for this book," as if it is solely the writer's responsibility to handle such matters.A writer's main purpose is to create and publish a captivating book, even if it is often rejected by various platforms. Rejection does not mean that the writer lacks talent. Yet, you come up with statements like, "It was rejected, so I won't pay you," and then wonder why so many writers demand upfront payment.Furthermore, you don't even have a story idea; you expect the writer to come up with an outline and write 5,000 words out of thin air, all while ensuring it gets contracted. Let's assume that this is not an issue. Do you know where the real problem lies? The real problem lies in paying writers extremely low wages and acting as if they owe you their life.The worst part is when you state that you will only pay the writer once the platform pays. Have you ever stopped to consider why ghostwriters choose to ghostwrite in the first place? If they wanted to wait for an app to pay, wouldn't they have already done so?I won't dwell on this topic for too long. I am here to declare that I will never again write for non-writers. They will never truly comprehend the level of brainstorming and idea generation required to make a book exceptional. All they care about is the finished product and obtaining a contract.Perhaps I am one of the few writers who write because they genuinely enjoy the act of creating magic and discussing their characters as if they were real.Non-writers will never understand. My advice to ghostwriters today is to stop accepting contract jobs that require writing a specific word count, like 5,000 words. Instead, focus on completing an ongoing book. What is the purpose of writing an entire book for someone else when you can do it for yourself? They make more money from your work than they pay you, and they don't even appreciate your efforts and the time you invest.Dear ghostwriters, please take my advice into consideration. Stay blessed. Remember, it's best to only complete a book rather than start one. This way, you can safeguard your peace of mind.

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What do you do in your free time?……….. You're wondering why I'm asking? I know you must have been thinking this is one of those “How to live your life” manuals.Well, Yes it is. And No, It's not. Now let's see where we're getting with this. I just finished reading another sequel to One of Micheal Connelly’s popular “The Lincoln Lawyer” novels; The Fifth Witness. Okay, let me say here that I've also been watching the series alongside. Isn't that supposed to be a spoiler🤔. Hmmm.. Maybe..Maybe not. Whichever way I've found my intrigues from it which is the fact that whatever content you hold, no matter the truth you hold if you don't know how to sell it, you'll hard time getting on top of the game. In both the series and the novel, only one thing kept showing up, just one unique character that sets the protagonist aside, one thing that made him the best among his peers. Sales copy skills, his ability to tell a compelling story, to push a convincing narrative even when as a lawyer defending a criminal that might have committed a crime he still wins. He only had one magic weapon in his arsenal, Sales Copy Skills. He sold fake and vague truths to juries with his ability to excellently sell them. That brings me to the convincing fact that for you to make more money, you have to learn every day about your brand and build a reputation people will recognize. You must learn the art of storytelling, and creating a compelling story, and you must be able to tell what your product has to offer. People don't care about you, but they care about a product that can solve their problems. They don't care to listen to how badly you need to survive, how you look, or even your brand fancy. They care about how badly your product can solve their problem. And this should be your focus, spend more of your energy telling stories as to how your product can make life better for them. I’m a Seasoned Creative Content Writer, I write Sales content, articles, and Technical content. I'm also a story writer and poet. I help clients with both fiction and non-fiction ebooks.

Earlier I wrote about how drafting the perfect logline would go a long way in boosting your credibility and raising the stakes in wherever you choose to work as a writer.Crafting a compelling logline is crucial for grabbing attention and conveying the essence of your story succinctly. Here's a step-by-step guide along with examples:1. Understand Your Story: Before writing your logline, ensure you have a clear understanding of your story's core elements, including the protagonist, their goal, the conflict, and the stakes.2. Identify the Protagonist: Who is the main character driving the story forward? What are their characteristics and motivations?3. Define the Goal: What does the protagonist want to achieve or obtain? This could be a specific objective or desire.4. Introduce the Conflict: What obstacles or challenges does the protagonist face in achieving their goal? Conflict is essential for driving the narrative forward.5. Highlight the Stakes: What are the consequences of success or failure for the protagonist? What makes this story important or compelling?6. Craft the Logline: Combine the elements above into a concise, one or two-sentence summary that captures the essence of your story.7. Revise and Refine: Once you have a draft, revise and refine the logline to ensure clarity, impact, and intrigue.Example 1:- Protagonist: A struggling musician- Goal: To win a prestigious music competition- Conflict: Faces fierce competition and self-doubt- Stakes: Fulfilling a lifelong dream or giving up on their passion- Logline: "A struggling musician must overcome fierce competition and self-doubt to win a prestigious music competition and fulfill their lifelong dream."Example 2:- Protagonist: A young detective- Goal: To solve a series of mysterious murders- Conflict: Hindered by a lack of evidence and a personal connection to the case- Stakes: Preventing more deaths and restoring faith in the justice system- Logline: "A young detective with a personal connection to the case must overcome a lack of evidence to solve a series of mysterious murders before more lives are lost and faith in the justice system is shattered."After the fundamental know-how of this basics, think about how that extraordinary idea wouldchange the way your logline and synopsis is viewed here after.Are you a budding writer, and need help navigating the fundamental basics of writing know-how ?Well, you could hold your hat now, Just stay up to date with latest post and hit that follow button for more tips like this.#successtips#writer#scriptwriting

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