academics, publishing and pay

[hatwoman]

I'm wondering if any of you academics out tehre can provide me with any advice. I've been approached by a publisher who's publishing a series and was wondering if I might wish to contribute - I've yet to talk to him and so I don;t know if we're talking a chapter or something bigger. I'm a freelance consultant - not an academic - so taking time out to work on something for publication would take me away from earning. (I appreciate that academics have little in the way of paid time to write for publication but I guess they have at least some?). So main q - would I be right in guessing that you get paid sweet fa for academic-type publishing (apart from perhaps a few measly royalties post-publication)? I may come back with more qs...am about to speak to him...

[hatwoman]

sneaky bump...

[Emster30]

I'm not an academic but I work in academic publishing...

You're right, academics don't usually get paid very much for publishing. However if the publisher knows you're a freelancer I would assume they know you will be expecting pay for it. Academics do research and writing, at least to some degree, as part of their work, but you don't.

I think the only thing to do is to bring up the subject of fees at the earliest opportunity and see what they're thinking of. You might need to conside getting an agent if you're likely to be writing more in the future.

[hatwoman]

thanks emster - I'm very new to this. I spoke to the person and have agreed to send him a proposal in Feb. perhaps at that stage I can broach the subject. really hard as he must know I'm very keen. I know a couple of academics in my field who might be able to offer me some advice.

[toadstool]

Having just unearthed an uncashed royalty cheque for 12 quid... yes: academic publishing isn't lucrative. However, if I were commissioned to write a book, I would ask for paid study leave, so you could start on that basis: 38 hours per week for 3 months, for example. If that seems excessive, an academic in a full-time post would plan to devote perhaps 6 hours a week for 18 months to the project. HTH.

[hatwoman]

that's helpful toadstool. not convinced I could write a book in 3 months, or in 18 at a rate of 6 hours a week. but it's useful to have an idea. I'm not really sure I've been "commissioned" - I've been approached and asked if I had work on a particular area I was interested in developing for publication. have agreed to get a proposal in by feb

[purplepeony]

I was asked to give expert comment for a journo writing a book and she offered me a measly £150. It would have taken several hours of my time- an hour a week for several weeks. I said no.

I have been commissioned to write a non-fiction book and been paid £hundreds, not £thousands as an advance.

My understanding is that as a freelance writer/journo you are paid by the number of words you contribute.

I have also contributed to books where the only "payment" has been a mention of me- free publicity.

You need to get it all out into the open.