Richard Osman £1.1 million deal

[Hellomatey001]

I've read that Pointless's Richard Osman has got a 7 figure deal for his debut crime novel.

I actually like Richard on Pointless and his House of Games show but I can't help thinking this is bad news for debut authors. His 1.1 million deal will mean less money pushing and marketing and paying other authors.

I watched his Twitter feed and it was full of congratulations from all and sundry, including Guardian journos who normally rail against book money going to celebs and care about equality .

Fellow writers do you agree?? Or am I just a jealous wannabe?

[Hellomatey001]

www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/23/richard-osman-lands-seven-figure-deal-for-novel-written-in-secret

[GiantKitten]

I thought they paid high amounts to writers who they anticipate will sell high numbers so they get it all back anyway

[TeenTimesTwo]

I guess it is a lot easier to promote a new writer who is already famous than an unknown.
His first book will sell on the back of his name & personality and people's perception of him as someone who is interesting, erudite and eloquent.
Sales of any second book will depend on what people thought of the first.

[PreparingForDisappointment]

I do groan inwardly when I read this kind of thing, but I think you have to look at it in a business light. His publishers must believe in the long term that the 1.1 million is an investment - if they're right, it will eventually bring more money into the publishing word (potentially to support risk-taking on unknown writers).

Richard Osman at least appears to be the sort of person who'd have something to say in a novel - better his deal than ghost-written autobiographies of here-today, gone-tomorrow famous-for-nothing-really celebs!

[ZuttZeVootEeeVro]

How many books would he need to sell to generate £1 million +?

It seems a lot of money for someone who isn't that famous.

Having said that, I used to work in a library and books by celebrity authors were very popular. Lots of people are overwhelmed by the choice, so pick something they are familiar with. Even if that means reading Alan Titchmarsh.

I'm not a writer, but I feel for those trying to get published. It's a business and it's based on sales not good literature.

(Not saying that Richard Osman won't write well, but his advance will be based on predicted sales not how good it is.)

Also, Osman will be on TV, radio and podcasts that unknown or non celebrity authors won't have access to. So comes with lots of free publicity.

[PristineCondition]

Sales wise he is a very good bet.
He's on many Prime time tv shows and is a household name.
They will make it back

[Coquillage]

Children's writing seems to suffer this the most. Endless promotion of David Walliams and other celeb 'authors' like Nadiya Hussain, Clare Balding, and Frank Lampard.

[Hellomatey001]

I expect they will make a lot of money back through sales but am concerned that rather than new writers getting more as a result, any profit would be poured back into his own future works/larger advances for him for future works.

I am trying not to be too cynical but hearing writers make on average of £10k a year, reading this makes my heart sink a bit.

[RosaWaiting]

I didn't groan at all

it's the number of writers doing work for free that's a problem. In fact, if his book makes a huge amount it might mean more in the pot for the publishers to take a risk on someone.

[Zilla1]

I'm interested how good it is when it's published to judge what 'uplift' there's been for the celebrity angle or whether it should have been published at all.

I expect the public will love it. I'm conscious that some of my in laws love Dan Brown and think he's brilliant. They read one book a year and think it's really good. Not criticising but conscious how subjective things are.

On the face of it, the publisher's business is sales and I expect the celebrity authorship will help sales as PPs have said.

My daughter enjoys Walliams' books and she doesn't think they were worse than books by non-celebrity authors she enjoyed for that age group (I've no idea what, if any, help he had in writing the books).

I'm not sure there is a firm 'pool' of money that would disadvantage unknown authors if celebs are published with big advances. Even if the publisher has a relatively fixed signing budget, I expect if celeb books earn back enough of a return, a celeb book that sells well could lead to a larger subsequent budget. I suspect it could be a little complex though happy to defer to someone closer to the publisher/agent interface.

Putting aside being even-handed, I'm infuriated when I read celebrity books get large advances and find it worse when that big advance relates to a book that is awful.

It's odd that celebrities from other fields (actors, comedians, social media, musicians and so on) get to sell fiction but there's less impetus to put a fiction author in the latest Hollywood blockbuster, headlining Glastonbury and so on.

I've read the SoA analysis and pulling together other research, the industry has the unbalanced returns that you might expect given the market structures -
Amazon - wow but hidden. To be fair, the platform they've built and the relative innovation or purchases of Audible, Kindle and then KDP for self publishing shows some insight.
Top publishers - around 25% 'profit' (vaguely recall 25% but the final figure could be wrong and certainly better than authors and bookshops);
Bricks and mortar bookshops - disastrous though supermarkets find it favourable with preferential terms, low overheads and positive cashflow; and
The average income for published authors is around £8000 pa with averages skewed towards to big earners.

SoA say this is unfair though I think this probably reflects the market structures and power. It's all a bit rubbish though for the writer.

I find it interesting the industry seems to put a premium on new authors even if unknown relative to those already published, to the extend some agents seem to be advising sometimes using a pseudonym. A few bestsellers seem to have had success with a fresh persona.

[HollowTalk]

David Walliams wrote a hell of a lot of scripts before he wrote fiction.

I reckon Richard Osman would have to sell a few million books for the publishers to get their money back. He's not known abroad, is he?

[Hellomatey001]

Yes I've read a few "debuts" only to realise they're debut THRILLER writers but have had books published before eg CL Taylor and Paula Hawkins both wrote in other genres before moving on to psychological suspense.

Read more of Richard Osman's twitter feed, no debate about this issue at all.

Hmmmmm maybe should be advising new writers to get into drama school star in a few TV shows then pitch a book. Probably a damn sight easier than the straight route!