Blogger: Mary Keeley
Do you realize how often you negotiate in any given day? It happens at the dinner table when children don’t want to eat their vegetables. When your teen wants to borrow the family car. When you and a friend decide which movie to go see. Little did you know these situations that go unnoticed most of the time have been preparing you for entrée into the world of publishing negotiation.
First, you negotiate with your agent about defining your brand and the direction of your writing career. This should be the easiest environment to 
handle because she is your champion. She wouldn’t have taken you on as a client if she weren’t committed to your success. It’s the mutual win-win.
A contract offer presents another season of negotiation. I advise you not to do this one yourself. Most agents love to receive queries from writers who have an offer in hand. Why is it so important to have an agent negotiate your agreement? Because even the best publishing contracts will naturally be slanted to benefit the publisher’s interests. One little word or phrase can drastically alter the meaning of a clause. Your agent is experienced and will represent your best interests. Your intellectual property and your career are at stake.
Once your contract is signed and your manuscript has been delivered to the publisher, you’ll be negotiating with the editor on changes to your work. Your initial approach should be to acknowledge that he or she is the professional and also is working to bring your manuscript to the publisher’s standards. In other words, the editor is working hard to make your book a success.
There are times, though, when you won’t see eye to eye. For instance you may feel strongly about retaining the portion that the editor wants to take out. You’ll need to draw on your negotiation skills in order to work through to an acceptable solution for both of you. But if it isn’t going well, don’t risk damaging your relationship and earning “difficult author” status. It could ruin your chances of getting another contract—anywhere. Editors talk among themselves across publishing lines. Instead, bring your agent in to negotiate a reasonable solution.
The same advice applies with regard to your cover. I always negotiate to include a phrase in my clients’ contracts allowing them input on the cover design. Why is this so important? Because covers sell books. Always show the proposed cover to your agent. He or she will be able to offer market savvy feedback and intercede for a better cover, if necessary.
Negotiating skills will be needed when you interact with your marketing team too. Remember those items you listed in the marketing section of your proposal? Your publisher will expect you to follow through on them. It’s no secret that most of the marketing of your book will fall to you, the author. But there are some things you might be able to request that your publisher do for you. For example, they might be willing to provide bookmarks for you to send out. Or they might be willing to provide extra free copies of your book for a promotion you’re running.
Two tips for learning successful negotiation
- Pay attention to all the times you negotiate each day. Note if your attitude going into it was amenable, not stubborn.
- Analyze your successes and failures. What did you do or say that made for a successful resolution?
It’s helpful practice, and the learning experience will prepare you for when your author stakes are high.
Are you comfortable in negotiating situations? Why or why not? What did you learn about successful negotiating from the times it went well for you?
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I am from the generation who learned our negotiation skills in our one-television households. It’s a lost skill, I fear, since everyone has a screen of their own.
*I facilitate well — as in getting a committee to finalize a plan. One-on-one, I’m less comfortable. Which is why I’m working my way through Shapiro’s “Perfecting Your Pitch” His message: plan and practice. To which I add, PRAY!
*Thank you, Lord, for godly agents.
It’s good to know and hone your strengths, Shirlee. 🙂
Thanks for mentioning this book, Shirlee. I love this: Plan, Practice, and your addition…Pray.
Negotiations with a Jack Russell Terrier:
“Rufus?”
“Rufus??”
“RUFUS!”
“Aw, crap.”
Thanks for the grin, Andrew. 😉
Laughing out loud, Andrew.
I don’t often stop to think about the negotiations I’m involved in each day. I need to analyze that more. With my boys growing older, I am learning the art of negotiating with teen boys. That’s interesting…. 🙂
*I find when I go into a situation with a flexible attitude, this helps the negotiating process go better. Being willing to hear and consider other ideas is always helpful for coming to a good solution. The other half of this would probably include being able to present my thoughts and ideas in a gracious manner, rather than demanding or demeaning.
So true, Jeanne. Attitude and approach when entering into a negotiation can steer the outcome for better or worse.
The key to successful negotiations is never letting the process become an end in itself.
Amen, Andrew.
My husband and I have 4 darling angel children. Our youngest darling is clueless as to how to scam me. The phrase, “this ain’t my first rodeo, buddy” is uttered a lot. The older 2 pride themselves in their scamming skills and frequently remind #2 of their skill. To which I reply, “Is that how you think it happened? Remember how you couldn’t find your Nintendo DS for a week? You think that just disappeared? Yeah, I AM your mother.”
But that’s as far as it goes.
I wouldn’t even dare negotiate a thing with a pub house. That is not my forté.
As for meetings? Yeah, I like having back-up.
I know my limits and they include negotiating, dealing with big bugs, and doing the border on a title page.
Oh, and eating cauliflower in any form.
oops, “remind #4…”
Maybe I should add proof reading to my List of Things I Need Help With?
Ha ha. Jennifer, it used to kill me when I’d see a mistake on my part, like a blog comment, and couldn’t fix it. Now … oh well. I love that Facebook lets you edit now. Whew! And you made me laugh so hard about the kids … yeah … the girls can’t pull much by me … I tell them that yes, I have eyes in the back of my head. Ha ha.
Thanks for the chuckle, Jennifer. You’re an experienced negotiator “as far as it goes.” You’re wise to know your limits and defer to your agent within the publishing realm.
Cauliflower is good for you.
It’s nasty.
But if we get a movie deal? I’ll eat a plate of it. Raw.
Without ranch dip.
Just have it in a cheese sauce, Jennifer. Anything is edible when slathered with cheese sauce.
I suppose another aphorism won’t hurt.
* Like an ice-dancing sumo wrestler, a skilled negotiator is always conscious of momentum.
You’re on a roll today, Andrew. 🙂
Do best-selling authors have to market themselves too? I just can’t see JK Rowling having to market herself. 🙂 I don’t guess I’ve had much negotiating experience. I’m a people-pleaser, so it’s always a plus if I end up pleased, too. If everyone is happy, I feel good. It’s hard to turn things around and ask myself, “What do you want, Shelli?” 🙂
Sometimes the publisher will pay to use the services of a publicity agency to help with marketing. The one I currently work for offers packages with blog tours, social media campaigns, media interviews, etc. Sometimes the author pay for our services themselves. The authors are still very involved in the process, but they have some more muscle behind it, and a lot of the time-consuming grunt work (making graphics, pitching the bloggers, media outlets, etc) is done for them so they can focus on interacting with their readers.
*That being said, my knowledge of how it all works doesn’t even scratch the surface. I would guess some of the bigger authors might have a PR agency on retainer or something.
*Personally, I hate negotiating. I’m a people pleaser at the core, and I tend to view disagreement as a personal thing rather than being able to be pragmatic. I’m prayerfully working through that because that can be a liability in all areas of life, including publishing.
Shell, once an author reaches the top tier in publishing, otherwise referred to as an A+ level author, the audience is well-established and usually waiting eagerly for the next book. Publishers pour the bulk of their marketing dollars into these authors to let readers know about the new release because the publisher has a more assured return on its investment.
As an author you need to be satisfied, as much as possible, from the details of your contract, to editorial changes in your manuscript, to your book’s cover, because your intellectual property is at stake. It will be important for you, a self-identified people-pleaser, to rely on your agent’s guidance and negotiation experience, especially in the beginning of your contracted publication journey.
Negotiating a good contract requires skills I’ve never developed. Assuming the work is quality and CBA, would your agency normally take on a client when they had an offer?
Carol, agents love to receive queries from writers who approach them with a publishing offer in hand. The question then is whether the author’s book is in a genre the agent represents. And if so, does the author have future books in mind to write.
Hmmm … most of my negotiation is with my children these days and consists of gems like these:
Please do not put that on the dog, if she liked it, she wouldn’t be trying to run away.
No, you cannot make a bridge out of mattresses across the top bunks. Yes, it is unsafe. Just because you didn’t get hurt the first time it crashed down, does not mean it is safe!
No wrestling on the roof, most mothers don’t let their children play on the roof, you are lucky and should listen to my every word with bated breath.
No chickens inside unless you are seriously ill and in need of comfort and the chicken is wrapped up in a towel.
If you can convince your father to do it with you, then the answer is yes. If not, no.
Perhaps this will have some impact upon my writing some day. For now, I’m thrilled just to have them all alive at the end of the day.
Ha! Thanks for the chuckle, Kristen. You’re in the midst of, shall I say, colorful training in negotiating. What have you learned in terms of approaching negotiation for win-win results?
With four children, the two oldest being pre-teen girls, and the two youngest being six-year-old twin boys, my life is one endless negotiation. It begins with the alarm clock in the morning: “Five more minutes, Mom! Five more minutes.” To which I reply: “Two. You get two minutes.” Then it’s breakfast negotiations, what-to-wear negotiations, do-I-have-to-brush-my-teeth-again negotiations. Next, we’re on to school work negotiations, and the day never ends. I tell my children all the time: “We did it yesterday, we’re going to do it again tomorrow, why are you fighting me today?” I honestly think the reason I love writing fiction so much is because my character never look at me and say: “Do I have to?” It’s a world I can control, and for the most part, they listen to me there. 🙂
By the time I move on to negotiations within the writing industry, they feel like a piece of cake! Over the twelve years I’ve been a parent, I’ve learned how to pick my battles wisely. I’m so thankful to have role models and mentors in all facets of my life to call upon for wisdom and knowledge–especially my agent. And, just like I have my husband as someone who backs me up when faced with negotiating a six-year-old, I have my agent to back me up when faced with negotiating a cover. It’s important to have support.
Thank you for reminding me that parenting my children helps me become better at other things in life, too.
Gabrielle, thanks for pointing out that the actual writing “is a world I can control, and for the most part, [my characters] listen to me there.” Surrounded by the excellent negotiation training your children are honing in you and your support system, you’re in an armed, experienced sweet spot. 🙂
I LOVE it when people try to take on Moms. Especially us Moms who deal with younger and older kids. We are in that place where Lego rockets and rocket text books live in the same house.
Well, one more:
* Through negotiation, we have the best opportunity to shine God’s Grace in this hurting world.
It made me think that I’m actually a bad negotiator. But I understand that it’s important to have that skill. To be able to defend your position politely, not to be rude. I often agree to terms that are not very favorable to me, not only during negotiations with the agency but also in everyday situations. Maybe I should learn to be more self-confident.