Feinstein's new book

no, his family is clueless about how this works.

Like my family and 98 pct of the families in the world.

 

No, that's not the case. That would make it easier - less pressure.

My wife gets it. But my mother gets absolutely giddy about the fact that "My son is an author!" She wouldn't be any more proud if I was admitted to Harvard Medical School.

Don't take this as complaining or bitching, though. I knew what I was getting into. There was a story that I felt needed to be told the right way - there were a lot of historical inaccuracies out there, etc. And I decided I wanted to be the one to tell it, knowing I wouldn't cash in.

 

Unsolicited but essential advice for authors:

-Don't count on royalties, most books never earn them.
-Don't agree to take a smaller advance in hopes of making it up on the mysterious and elusive "back end." No such place exists.
-Don't try to explain any of this to your family, just smile and nod.

Why? Because book advances are paid up front against future royalties. If they pay you $50,000, it's yours to keep, even if the book tanks. The publisher then keeps the first $50K earned through your royalties (typically 10-15% on the hardcover cover price). So, if your book doesn't earn back the $50k in royalties, you still keep the money, and publisher takes the loss. If the royalties exceed the advance at some point, you get paid.

In the case of Feinstein, some of those books sell, some don't. The publisher can afford to keep doing them because it roughly balances out at some point.

More than you asked, but worth knowing.

 

I just bought the book today.

I've enjoyed almost every Feinstein book I've bought (The Last Amateurs wasn't one I liked). My only question is why, in almost every book I've read of his, he has to mention whether the person he's writing about is Democrat or Republican. A few times it adds to the story he's telling — I think it was in the book about the ACC where he's contrasting Dean Smith and Coach K and he points out how Smith is very liberal and K is the opposite _ but most of the time it doesn't really add anything.

 

A friend once wrote a revision for Frommer's travel update on New York. She was young and wanted it for her resume, but ended up spending whatever advance she got on assistants to finish the legwork for her. A major nightmare she recommended steroids for, in order to run faster away from it.

 

To date, Next Man Up has sold about 80,000 copies in hardcover. It has sold approximately 20,000 copies in softcover.

Tales from Q School sold approximately 90,000 copies in hardcover.

Open sold about 140,000 in hardcover, about 115,000 in paperback versions.

 

Wonder what "Season on the Brink" sold?

Where do you find those sales figures?

Feinstein wrote that Angell's book about David Cone sold 22,000/6,000 (I am one of the 6,000).

The lower sales figures on "Next Man Up" are interesting. Even though it was supposed to use the Ravens as a vehicle for showing how the NFL worked, I'm sure people perceived it as a "Ravens book," and ignored it if they weren't a Baltimore fan.

On the other hand, the golf books sell well, because they aren't limited to a geographic market. Same with NASCAR books, I bet.

Plus, the golf fan demographics are typically people with more disposable income to blow on a book.

 

Yeah, I wonder how much more it would've sold if he used say, the Cowboys or Steelers or either N.Y. team? Especially since the Ravens were featured on HBO a few years back, I felt like I know enough about the team. Now I know most people aren't going to think of that, but I did. I'd still like to read it though.

 

It also makes me wonder how "Moneyball" was able to avoid the stigma of being an "A's book."