Munroe Bergdorf lands big book deal with Bloomsbury

Can anyone report or just people with accounts? (Out of interest)

I agree Vivariam... and it gets more bonkers when you consider the selling of them. In the early 90's publishers were giving bookshops and average discount on the price of 30-33% except for waterstones being a behamoth they got 40% .. but most retail busineses operate on a standard 100 % markup so bookshops are already behind in the commercial stakes. Also its amazing how many people do not understand that an author is getting a piddling 89 p per paperback sold. Most authors income is derisory. (Forgot to find my lippy overlords as was out transplanting herbs - a suitably witchy thing to be doing...)

Tone indeed!

I think there was a Harry Enfield character who always said things in the wrong tone - so 'I'm sorry someone ran over your cat' would come out very sarcastic, or 'I love your hat' would sound as if he was taking the piss, 'I'm really happy' would sound utterly depressed...

Dogwhistles, I suppose. That was JKR's sin. It wasn't what she said, it was the dogwhistles.

had a tone of derision apparently

Really...

How ridiculous, a poster on FWR recently said that it wasnt what posters were saying which was the issue....it was they ‘thought’ the poster meant that was important

So now people can be deleted if there is a ‘tone’ whether intended or not?

Very interesting that we are doing a guilty until proven innocent type thing...but not bothering with the whole innocent bit

Someone was deleted for a biscuit...no words and biscuit means ‘ no comment’...but apparently the phrase ‘no comment’ can have a ‘tone’

What is their qualifications? Most ‘celebs’ write books on nothing really (diets, travel, food etc, occasional ghost writer novel).

MB will be out the door the second a cooler, sexier trans rent-a-gob shows up.

Munroe definitely seems to have overtaken Paris Lees in the popularity stakes in recent months. I'm sure someone else will be along soon enough.

Surely Bergdorf will have a ghostwriter? I can't imagine MB will do the requisite historical footwork of browsing through the dusty archives etc let alone sitting down at a computer to knock out 60,000 words.

I’ve just been deleted for a perfectly non descript post - had a tone of derision apparently.

Well it used language that that community uses about themselves so I can’t see that it was derisive.

I mean I didn’t call anyone a ‘barren hairy lesbian’ or threaten to ‘gay bash’ anyone. The standards to which we are held are somehow different to the standards MB adheres to. Why would that be I wonder?

I've heard publishing described as working to the 'throw the spaghetti at a wall' business model. I think that might actually be giving it the benefit of the doubt.

It varies but an author generally receives about 4% of a full price book sale. And yes, set against your advance utnil it earns out, so you don't get royalties until your advance has earned out.

As has been said, it's highly unlikely this book is expected to do much in the way of sales. It's a payment that signals very loudly the credentials/political wokeness of the publishers - the book hardly even needs to materialise, tbh.

MB will be out the door the second a cooler, sexier trans rent-a-gob shows up.

fatblack - I don't think I understand publishing at all:

I think the standard deal is that authors get 10% of the sale price of each book, and the advance is given against royalties. So, it's effectively a loan?

MB's publishers presumably expect to make 10x the reported 6 figure sum in order to get back their investment paid to the author as an advance.

So, MB's publishers expect to make 7 figures?

On a book written by someone who has proved themselves to be a fairly clumsy communicator in the past? I mean, e.g. inviting vulnerable young people to message them in private for support, without the knowledge of their parents - that was a little badly worded. I'm quite sure MB didn't mean to set off safeguarding red flags.

and the way publishing is run is nuts... I used to work in a small literary publisher in the jurassic age

ah well ... the monitors... now I know ... makes me feel I ought to put on a bit of lippy before I post...

Oh, are the Misogynist Monitors back? Anyone for a crisp butty?

Thanks, fatblackcat. That's advances paid back after breach of contract, where an author has failed to produce a book to a publishable standard. That's very different than failing to earn out, which many books do, and authors don't have to repay the advance. It's a bit of a gamble for a publisher. I mean, the whole industry is one of the maddest 'business models' you'll come across ... but so long as MB pays a ghostwriter to produce something reasonably legible, it's unlikely to be an issue. (If MB writes it MBself I will literally eat my hat.)

Yeah. Some threads are watched by some people. They report posts too.

and I've had my first message deleted...

its from the grauniad www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/sep/02/pay-back-time-for-publishers-authors-advances

Humanity is doomed.

Remember when women’s ‘safe spaces’ was the ladies loos?

Just looked at that website. They have a ‘Safe Spaces Now’ manager. Obviously safe spaces means safe from ideas and words not safe from men.