by Gini Graham-Scott | Sep 30, 2015 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tips - Books
Probably the one section of the contract that involves the most negotiation is the royalty rate, size of the advance, and payment arrangements.
If there will be a hardcover version of your book, a common arrangement is 10 to 15% of the retail or the net price (which is about 50-60% of the retail price). Often the royalty is figured on a sliding scale, such as 10% for the first 5000 copies sold, 12% on the next 5000, and 15% on sales of more than 10,000 copies. The particular numbers can vary, but commonly, there is no hardcover book, since most books are now published as paperbacks or ebooks, and some companies only want ebook rights, with the typical royalty rates and advances outlined below.
The royalty rate can vary somewhat depending on how much the publishers wants your book, and the advance can vary even more, based on the number of copies the publisher thinks your book will sell at what amount in the first year, and then you get offered a percentage of that. This is where your negotiation skills are best exercised and where working with a good agent can sometimes get you more – even much more – than you can get yourself, making the 15% or sometimes 20% you pay the agent well worth it. But assuming you are dealing directly with the publisher, here are some things to consider.
The Royalty Rate
A common arrangement is to be paid by the publisher based on the net receipts, which is the gross income the publisher gets from the sales of the book less any returns and a reasonable reserve for returns – typically about 20%. Usually, you can expect 7-10% of the net receipts, with an increase after the first 5000 copies to 10-12%. But if copies are sold at a discount of 50% or more, outside the US, or a special retail offer, the royalty commonly drops to 5% of net. In the event books are sold to book clubs or other organizations, corporations, or the U.S. government , or are sold for use as a premium, the royalty might be even less, such as 4% of net. And remaindered sales, where the publisher decides to drop the book and is selling off its current stock, the royalty might be similarly reduced, say to 4% or less, and if the books are remaindered at cost, you may get nothing other than a first option offer to buy any books at this heavily discounted cost.
In the case of ebooks or any sales in electronic form, the royalty is commonly 25% of the publisher’s net receipts, though some publishers will pay as much as 40%. It doesn’t hurt to ask about this if the royalty amount stated in the agreement is less than 40%.
Sometimes a publisher may also add a clause about paying a reduced royalty when there is a low printing in a given year, such as 1500 copies or less. Then, the royalty may shrink to 5%.
You might find a little give in the different royalty rates if you ask. If not, it is generally best to accept those terms if you want to work with that publisher, since commonly, books don’t earn out their advance. So the most important number is the advance you will get and how you will receive it. A common arrangement is to get half of the advance up front and the second half on acceptance or publication. If possible, try to get this last advance payment on acceptance, which will usually occur a month or two after you submit the final manuscript, whereas a final payment on publication generally won’t come for about a year or more, which is the common gap between getting the contract and publishing the book.
Royalty Splits on Subsidiary Rights
Subsidiary rights involve deals with third parties, such as foreign language publishers, film and TV producers, and product merchandisers. This is where you can often negotiate the rights you are giving to the publisher and those you are retaining, and the percentage split between you and the publisher. A standard arrangement is 50-50, unless you work out a different split.
The particular subrights to negotiate are those you are still splitting with the publisher, based on your agreement in the grant of rights section. If you have retained a particular right, it shouldn’t be listed in this section which outlines the author’s and publisher’s percentage, since the publisher no longer has any interest in this right. If the right which you own exclusively is listed, request it be deleted, since the publisher doesn’t have that particular subright. For example, in some cases, authors retain the foreign translation rights, dramatization, film and TV rights, and the commercial and/or merchandising rights, or if it’s an ebook only deal, you retain the paperback and hardback rights.
While the usual split is 50-50, you can sometimes request a different split in your favor, such as 75-25 or 60-40, if you initiate the licensing of the book in another language or make the arrangements for a film, TV show, or theatrical piece based on our book. Likewise, if you can set up deals with gift, stationery, toy, or other manufacturers to produce a product based on your book, you might get 75-50. However, before asking for a change in the usual split,, consider if you are realistically going to do any outreach to set up these deals. If not, don’t ask for this exception. If you do plan to do any outreach, work out with the publisher how that will work. One good arrangement might be for you to each have a non-exclusive right to initiate contact with third parties, but then any agreement must be subject to the approval of the publisher.
The Advance
The advance is what the publisher agrees to pay you as an advance against future royalties and other earnings. Most commonly you can expect half up front, usually within 30 to 45 days of signing the contract by both the author and publisher. Then, you get the balance on acceptance or publication of the manuscript, with that payment to come within 30 to 45 days of that event. Ideally, seek to get that second or last half of the advance on acceptance rather than publication, since you can expect an acceptance within a month or two after you turn in the manuscript or after the due date if you turn your manuscript in early, whereas your book may not be published for a year or even more after that. If possible, ask for the payment within 30 days rather than 45, but this may be a schedule that can’t be changed, due to the publisher’s internal payment system.
In some cases, where a book is already completed or close to completion, you may be able to get the whole advance in a single payment on signing, especially if it is a small amount from a small publisher. But usually, there are the two payments, or sometimes even three or four paid out at different times as the manuscript is completed, such as when a manuscript involves extensive research over a period of time.
The arrangements about the index and who is to pay for it will commonly be included here, and often state that any payment for the index if created by the publisher will be deducted from the final advance or from future royalties to the author. If possible, seek to have any payment applied to future royalties rather than to the advance on the royalty, if you can’t exclude this payment entirely.
This section will also indicate that the author will not receive any further payments until the entire advanced has been earned out through royalties, sales of rights, or other monies due to the author. Moreover it will generally indicate that no royalties will be paid on complimentary copies given out by the publisher or on copies which are lost, damaged, or sold for less than the manufacturing cost. These are common publishing industry practices, so there is nothing to negotiate here.
What is most subject to negotiation – and what is most important to negotiate if you can – is the SIZE of the advance, since if the book doesn’t earn out its advance, that’s all the money you will see. If this is a small publisher, you will usually get a small advance, or sometimes even no advance, because this is all the publisher can afford. But if the company sincerely wants to publish your book, you may ultimately earn more on the back end than a big publisher might pay up-front, if the company’s efforts result in big sales. So don’t turn down a small or no advance publisher, especially if that’s your only option. But try to negotiate so you at least get a small amount – say $1000 to $3000, though some publishers may be firm in saying that they can only give you the smaller or no amount they are offering. Then, it’s up to you to decide whether the possibility of future earnings and getting your book published by a mainstream publisher is worth agreeing to publish with them versus self-publishing your book.
In any case, be realistic about the advance you are likely to get, based on the type of book, the target market, the likely sales to that market, your track record, and your platform. Also, be aware that the royalty advances for the “midlist” book – a book by an author who isn’t a well-known celebrity or high-profile expert on something – have gone down in the last five years, because of the increasingly celebrity-driven marketplace and the millions of authors who are writing for little or no money and self-publishing their own books. Plus royalty rates to most authors have gone down because of the growth of ebooks, which are usually less profitable for publishers. Generally, you can expect an advance of about $5000-15,000 for a non-fiction book in most categories, such as self-help, popular business, and memoir – about half what these advances used to be, though some authors will get more. Try to get more money up-front if you can, and make the case for this based on how you can support and promote the book, and how much awareness you have already created for yourself through past PR, speaking engagements, workshops, and the like.
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GINI GRAHAM SCOTT, Ph.D., is a nationally known writer, consultant, speaker, and seminar/workshop leader, who has published over 50 books on diverse subjects, including business and work relationships, professional and personal development, and social trends. She also writes books, proposals, scripts, articles, blogs, website copy, press releases, and marketing materials for clients as the founder and director of Changemakers Publishing and Writing and is the Creative Director of Publishers, Agents, and Films (www.publishersagentsandfilms.com). She has been a featured expert guest on hundreds of TV and radio programs, including Good Morning America, Oprah, and CNN, talking about the topics in her books.
by Gini Graham-Scott | Sep 25, 2015 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tips - Books
Another key contract provision deals with editorial and production arrangements. This section refers to the requirement that you will review any gallery proofs within the time limit specified (generally 5 to 10 days after you receive them), and if you make any changes other than printer’s errors or in some agreements more changes than 10%, you will be billed against your royalties or any payment due on publication.
This clause may also require you to provide an index if the publisher feels one is necessary and to provide it yourself or to let the publisher do this at its expense and charge that against the author’s royalties or payments due on publication.
Also, this section gives the publisher the sole and exclusive right to decide on all aspects of the production and publishing process, including the choice of paper, jacket, cover design, and whether any advertising will be in the book. It further permits the publisher to send out complimentary copies to the recipients of its choice – generally members of the press, and permits the publisher to set the retail price in hardcover, paperback, and any other editions.
Generally, you can’t make changes in the proofing schedule, unless you have a good reason for not being able to meet the planned schedule (such as being out of the country during this time). Also, you normally can’t alter the agreement about making only a limited number of changes or you get charged for them, since presumably, you should make any changes in the copy as you go along, usually after you get input from the developmental or copy editor working with you on creating the final manuscript.
However, you might be able to change the requirements for an index or paying the bill for it, which typically costs about $450-500 for an index. One way is change this is to request that there be no index if the publisher initially wants one, and some publishers will agree, although others will indicate that indexes are always included in this line of books, and you have to accept this, though you can negotiate who pays for this.
In some cases, the publisher will agree to pick up the cost; in other cases, the publisher may agree to charge the index costs against future royalties, rather than charging the unpaid balance against your advance. Another way to cut down the price is to do the index yourself according to the publisher’s guidelines, figuring on about 3-5 hours to do this. Or you might reduce the cost by selecting the words for the index and letting the indexer determine the page numbers, using the software that indexers generally use to create the index. If you do this, figure it will take you about 1-2 hours to go through the manuscript for words, and the cost of the index will be about $150.
As for production arrangements, generally you need to let the publisher make the final decisions. It is rare for authors to have final design or cover approval, which is like allowing a director to have final cut approval. So normally, you can’t change this clause, although publishers will normally run a suggested title or cover by you for your input. This review by you doesn’t have to be included in the contract, although you might ask if the contract can include a statement that the editor or publisher will consult with the author on the title and cover design, while the final decision will be up to the publisher.
Likewise, it’s normally up to the publisher to set the price, based on the cost of the book, taking into consideration the number of pages, size of the book, initial print run, and the like. Publishers usually have the right to set the design and pricing for the electronic edition, too.
In the event you don’t meet the publisher’s production schedule or provide an acceptable manuscript, this contingency is covered in the “Delivery of Manuscript” provisions, which deals how you have to repay the publisher any advance. Of course, if there is no advance, there is nothing to repay, so if you find the demands of the publisher onerous, this could be a good reason to seek another publisher. If so, don’t provide the first publisher with an acceptable manuscript; then you can walk away from what you now consider a bad deal.
If a publisher is unable to publish your book within the time agreed upon or decides not to publish for any reason, other than some failing by you, as described in the delivery section, you get the rights back and get to keep any advance, though if you subsequently sell the book to another publisher, you may be obligated to return it. However, if there are changes in the manuscript and it is published by another publisher some months or a year or two later or even under another title, this can be hard to police.
If a publisher has paid you no advance, the publisher can generally later not publish with no penalty, which is why it is a good idea to get at least some advance, although some small publishers don’t pay them. Still, many do responsibly seek to publish your book, and they put the time and effort into doing so, as well as pay some editorial staff to edit it and set it up for publication. Thus, take into consideration the responsiveness of the publisher if you agree to a no advance contract.
After a few months, if they do not appear to be moving ahead in publishing your book, follow up to see what is happening, and if you are not satisfied, feel free to walk away. After all, you haven’t gotten an advance, and the publisher appears to have breached your agreement, so you can feel free to find another publisher, and if necessary, you can even change the title for an even cleaner break. In any case, it is likely that this first publisher can’t do anything to stop you from walking away from what appears to be a bad deal due to their lack of performance.
In sum, generally, you have to agree to the publisher’s editorial and production arrangements, though you might be able to get out of having an index, paying for it, or arranging for any payment to be taken out of future royalties, rather than taking them out of any payment to be made on the acceptance or publication of the final manuscript.
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GINI GRAHAM SCOTT, Ph.D., is a nationally known writer, consultant, speaker, and seminar/workshop leader, who has published over 50 books on diverse subjects, including business and work relationships, professional and personal development, and social trends. She also writes books, proposals, scripts, articles, blogs, website copy, press releases, and marketing materials for clients as the founder and director of Changemakers Publishing and Writing and is the Creative Director of Publishers, Agents, and Films (www.publishersagentsandfilms.com). She has been a featured expert guest on hundreds of TV and radio programs, including Good Morning America, Oprah, and CNN, talking about the topics in her books.
by Gini Graham-Scott | Sep 17, 2015 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tips - Books
Other common contract clauses deal with warranties, indemnity, and the grant of rights, many of which are basic boilerplate. It is best to just leave most of them as is, rather than trying to nitpick small points, which could lead a publisher to think of you as a difficult writer, which would kill the deal. Just ask for changes in some of the more important terms, and you are likely to at least get some of them, or all of them in many cases. Here are details about dealing with warranties, indemnities, and the grant of rights.
–Warranties and Indemnity. This is a clause where you warrant that you (and any co-writers) are the sole author, originator, or owner of all of the copyrightable material in the work or that you have gotten the written permission for any material from someone else. You also agree that, if requested, you will show this written permission statement or letter to the publisher. Or alternatively, you agree that the publisher, if it wishes, can secure these rights at its own expense and charge those expenses against any sums due to you, including unpaid advances, or the publisher may require you to pay these fees, or it can reject the manuscript for a lack of permissions.
However, often there is no need for any permissions if you are relating your own experiences or are citing sources, such as articles, books, or websites, because of the fair use doctrine, whereby you can generally cite up to about 250 words from any source without needing to get permission.
You also warrant that you have the full power to enter into the agreement and there is nothing in the manuscript that is libelous or an invasion of privacy, and you further agree that any instruction or advice will not result in an injury to anyone. Or as necessary, you agree to include the appropriate warnings and safety precautions.
In addition, you agree to indemnify and hold the publisher harmless from any legal claims, suits, damages and related legal costs due to a breach of these warranties. Also, you agree that the publisher can remove or clarify any passages that its legal counsel deems actionable. Moreover, the publisher can extend your warranties to third parties, including the licensees of subsidiary rights, and these warranties and indemnities will survive even if the agreement is terminated. In some cases, this section indicates that the publisher will similarly indemnify you from any claims.
In general, consider this clause as boilerplate, and any legal action based on such causes outlined in this section is unlikely in the case of most books. So I generally accept this clause as is.
– Grant of Rights. In this section, you grant the publisher the right to produce, publish, license and sell the work, or any part of it, in various forms. Typically, this grant will include electronic rights, as well as audio rights, dramatization rights, film rights, TV rights, and commercial and merchandizing rights, usually on a sole and exclusive basis. In some contracts, these different rights are listed separately. This is where you might want to be more specific in what rights you are granting, based on the size and reach of the publisher, and what you can realistically do yourself in terms of marketing these other rights to potential buyers, such as film and TV producers.
In the royalties section of the contract, you might work out different percentage arrangements for the different rights, based on whether you make the connections and negotiations or the publisher does, though the basic split is 50-50 for the sale of subrights.
For example, if you are working with a small publisher and hope to reach out to the foreign markets yourself – or if you have a foreign agent you work with, you might only assign the publisher the English language rights, and you can even specify that these rights are only for certain countries, such as the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Commonly, you need to give the publisher the electronic and print rights (although there are some companies that only want the e-book rights these days), but you can often reserve the audio rights, dramatization rights, film rights, TV rights, and commercial and merchandizing rights. However, in deciding what rights to seek for yourself, consider whether you are in a position to contact people in the film, TV, or other industries yourself.
If not, it may be better to leave these rights with the publisher. And often, a film or TV project based on the material in your book may turn out to be very different, so unless the book has sold well and you want to use the title, it may not be necessary to have the subrights to produce this new project.
This grant of rights section will also normally include a non-compete clause, or sometimes that clause is separated out as a separate section. However it is stated, much like in the non-compete clause, you agree not to create for anyone other than the publisher a work that is similar, covers essentially the same subject matter, or is likely to compete for sales with this work. Asking for these restrictions is certainly a reasonable request, if the publisher is investing in publishing and promoting your book. However, it is best to specify more clearly exactly what it means to say something is substantially similar, covers essentially the same subject matter or is likely to compete with the sales of this work.
For example, spell out what the book is about, so you limit the claims of what’s similar, the same subject matter, or what’s directly competitive. To illustrate, if your book is about caring for dogs, state this, so you are free to write books about other pets or animals generally or even write a humor book with a cartoon dog character. Or say you are writing a serious book about the criminal justice or political system. You might clarify what your content covers, so you might be free to do a true crime book or memoir of a criminal or politician. In other words, consider what you want to write about in the future, so you can specify in this clause the particular nature of your book, so any restrictions only applies to that.
In some cases, this section may also specify that you have to give the publisher a first option on any related books, or a first option generally. In this case, where you are writing about a related topic, you might agree to submit the book, with the understanding that within 30 days, the publisher will either publish on the same terms as the first book, but then you have the right to pitch the book elsewhere. Another variation on this first option clause is that the publisher has the right to match any bona fide offer which you get from another publisher.
It seems reasonable to include such an option when the book is related or a follow-up book to the one the publisher is publishing. But ideally, request that any first option clause be deleted from the contract, because it can be a hassle to have to submit books to the publisher on other subjects, particularly if these are books that wouldn’t be of interest to the publisher. Moreover, if your book is being published by a small or medium sized publisher, you want to be able to find a larger publisher for subsequent books.
In any case, publishers will normally agree to delete any first option clause, and if not, this could be a deal breaker. For example, I publish books on a wide variety of topics, and I would not want to limit myself with a right of first refusal or option clause, and as long as the book is not directly competitive with the book they are publishing, I have found that publishers readily agree to delete the clause.
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GINI GRAHAM SCOTT, Ph.D., is a nationally known writer, consultant, speaker, and seminar/workshop leader, who has published over 50 books on diverse subjects, including business and work relationships, professional and personal development, and social trends. She also writes books, proposals, scripts, articles, blogs, website copy, press releases, and marketing materials for clients as the founder and director of Changemakers Publishing and Writing and is the Creative Director of Publishers, Agents, and Films (www.publishersagentsandfilms.com). She has been a featured expert guest on hundreds of TV and radio programs, including Good Morning America, Oprah, and CNN, talking about the topics in her books.
by Gini Graham-Scott | Sep 11, 2015 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tips - Books
If you have an agent, he or she will normally handle the contract arrangements in consultation with you and make recommendations on how to present your material and the best publishers to contact. Agents are typically familiar with the usual contract provisions and what they can ask for and negotiate to get you the best deal.
If you don’t have an agent and have a good offer from a big publisher – say a $10,000 advance or more, it can be worth working with a lawyer who has handled book contracts with publishers, though don’t work with a lawyer not familiar with the publishing industry, since they can make demands that are more excessive than usual and kill a deal. You can either hire the lawyer to negotiate for you if the offer is high enough, or obtain the lawyer’s advice on whether this is a good contract and what you can ask for if you negotiate the deal yourself.
But what if, like many authors, you don’t have an agent and have an offer from a publisher — usually a small or medium sized publisher – who is offering a small advance – commonly from about $1000-3000, or even no advance. What should you do, since bringing in a lawyer will commonly cost about $500-1500, and this will be a substantial portion of the advance, or even more than it? Following are some things to consider, though this is not legal advice. If in doubt, consult with a law book or get second opinions from books on book contracts or other writers who have signed books.
– The contract should include a statement that the copyright will be in the author’s name. Usually, the publisher will agree to register the copyright in your name, but if not, you can easily do this with the copyright office — $35 for an individual copyright; $55 if there are more than two parties on the copyrighted work. In some cases, a contract may state that the publisher will obtain the copyright in the publisher’s name. If so, seek to have this changed to registering the copyright in the author’s name, since the registration in your name will make it easier, if the work goes out of print or you get back the rights, to find another publisher for the work or publish it yourself, because you still own the copyright – you just licensed its use to the publisher.
– Specify the approximate length of the manuscript and the delivery date. These arrangements will commonly be discussed before the publisher draws up a contract. Be sure the manuscript length is a reasonable goal for your manuscript. While there is some flexibility from the length specified in the contract, give or take about 10,000 words, publishers will ask you to edit down a manuscript that is too long – and usually you need to do it rather than the publisher’s copy editor, unless it is over the expected word count by a small amount and the cuts are obvious, such as cutting down long quotes. If your manuscript is too short, the publisher is likely to ask you to add more information, or could possibly reject the manuscript entirely, whereupon you may have to pay back any advance.
You also need a realistic delivery date based on the length of the manuscript, how much research you need to do, and how long it will take you to write any chapters not completed in addition to those in the proposal to sell the book. While the delivery date can sometimes be extended, check in advance to determine how flexible this date is, because if you don’t deliver the manuscript by the agreed upon date, your publisher may be delayed in meeting the planned publication date, which could reduce PR efforts. The publisher could also cancel the contract for the lack of a timely delivery, obligating you to return any advance. Commonly, these clauses also specify the time the publisher has to publish the accepted work – usually 12 to 18 months, and if not, you can request back the rights.
– Submitting the manuscript. Normally, a contract will specify how you should submit the manuscript and any additional components, such as illustrations, photos, or table of contents, and an index, by the specified delivery date. At one time, publishers expected hard copies, but now, many publishers are fine with an electronic copy, though some may ask for a hard copy, too.
Commonly, the author is responsible for preparing the index, though some publishers will do this and deduct the cost from the last half of the advance or future royalties. Indexes aren’t always necessary, but if they are, figure on them costing about $500, with index costs from professional indexers of about $2.50-$3.50 a page (based on the page count in the published book). One way to cut down the cost is if you go through the manuscript and pick out the key words and provide a list of them to the indexer, figuring on about 300-500 words on your list, which can bring down your costs to about $150.
– Accepting and Publishing the Manuscript. This clause provides the publisher a way out of the agreement if the publisher finds the manuscript unacceptable. Commonly, the publisher will advise the author what to do to fix it, but if the author can’t or doesn’t want to do so, the publisher can reject the manuscript. Generally, the author can keep any advance already paid, since the assumption is that the author has been working in good faith on writing the manuscript, though some publishers will ask for the advance back. Alternatively, some publishers will only ask that the author repay them if he or she finds another publisher. If the publisher doesn’t publish the manuscript within a certain time, rights in the manuscript revert to the author, along with any discs or copies of the manuscript given to the publisher. In this case, the author does not have to return any advance.
While these clauses are fairly standard in laying out the length of the manuscript the author is expected to deliver, when, and what happens if the author doesn’t deliver or the publisher doesn’t publish within the time specified, there is some room for negotiation. In particular, you might ask to only deliver the manuscript by email attachment or on a disc, which will cut down your time and costs for the delivery. You might also ask the publisher to cover the costs of any index if required or at least not charge you until future payments are due rather than taking the cost out of any remaining payments on the advance.
Another strategy is to state that the index is unnecessary, so there are no costs for either the author or publisher. Still another point you might negotiate is the length of time for the publisher to publish the work, such as requiring publication within 12 months rather than 18, or even 6 months, if the publisher has a short turn-around time.
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GINI GRAHAM SCOTT, Ph.D., is a nationally known writer, consultant, speaker, and seminar/workshop leader, who has published over 50 books on diverse subjects, including business and work relationships, professional and personal development, and social trends. She also writes books, proposals, scripts, articles, blogs, website copy, press releases, and marketing materials for clients as the founder and director of Changemakers Publishing and Writing and as a writer and consultant for The Publishing Connection (www.thepublishingconnection.com). She has been a featured expert guest on hundreds of TV and radio programs, including Good Morning America, Oprah, and CNN, talking about the topics in her books.
by Gini Graham-Scott | Jun 30, 2015 | Marketing Tips, Marketing Tips - Books
While you may have certain prices and policies that are the usual way you work with clients, at times clients will ask you to make certain changes or exceptions, and it can be hard to decide whether or not to agree to these changes. Following are some common scenarios and how to deal with them. You have to judge whether you want to accept a proposed arrangement, or come back with an alternative proposal, and then any agreement can be like a negotiation.
In general, it is best not to change your usual policies, since you have been following them with most or all of your other clients and you have found these policies work. Still, there are times when it is reasonable to accommodate a client’s request.
– A long-time client – or a new client – claims financial difficulties. He or she claims to have run into financial problems or has had upheavals in life, so he or she hopes to pay less or pay on a deferred basis. As a first step, decide if you trust this person’s claim. If it’s a long-time client, this is probably the case, but with a new client, the claim may or may not be. As some writer associates have found, sometimes people will plead poverty or hard times to get you to reduce your prices, while they may have no difficulties paying for other products and services. If you don’t trust the person’s claims, explain that these are your prices, and you have your own financial commitments and make your living doing this, so you can’t reduce your prices, but you will be glad to help them when they are ready.
However, assuming you trust that the person is having difficulties, it makes sense to work out an arrangement you both feel comfortable with. One simple approach is to offer a discount to help out – such as less 20-40%, which can help the client and leave him or her favorably impressed to want to work with you again, or perhaps give a testimonial for your product or service.
Another approach is to get at least a percentage down – say 10-20%, defer the rest, and work out a payment plan, such as 10-20% of the total each month until paid in full. In this case, get a signed agreement form, so it is clear the person still owes you the money and how much.
Still another strategy is to consider barter, if the client has services or products you can use. In this case, arrange the barter based on the value of the other person’s products or services if you were to buy them, and value your own services in the same way.
– A prospective client says that he/she thinks your prices are too high or that others have said this. Here I think the best strategy is to stress the value of what you are offering and point out the level of experience you have had that makes your service valuable. You can also point to testimonials you have gotten and indicate that you have had these prices and arrangements for many years. This strategy can be especially effective if you are offering a unique product or service which is hard to duplicate. This approach may not always work if the prospect is determined to pay a lower price or not get your product or service, but it is often better to stick to your guns rather than undercut your own income, since you have other clients who are paying the full price, so you don’t need to work with clients who don’t see the value in your work.
This scenario is like someone going to a store and asking to pay less for a Rolex watch because they can get other watches for less money. If you are in the business of selling Rolex watches, you don’t want clients who think that the Rolex costs too much money; you don’t want to undermine your value proposition to sell for less. Likewise, as a writer, once you determine how to value and price what you are writing, look for clients who will value what you do.
– A prospective client offers to write a testimonial in return for a special deal from you. Unless you are starting out as a writer and need some testimonials and recommendations, this is generally not a good arrangement. It is a variation on the prospective client claiming your prices are too high, but now the prospect is offering you a carrot – a testimonial – in return for paying less – or even trying to get you to do something for free. In this case, your strategy would be much like the way to respond in the “prices are too high” claim. Stress the value of your services or product, and at the same time point out that you don’t need any more testimonials; you already have them from people who have previously bought your service or product. If the strategy works, great. You convinced the client to pay full price for your services. If not, you have turned down a client you don’t need who doesn’t value what you are offering.
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GINI GRAHAM SCOTT, Ph.D., is a nationally known writer, consultant, speaker, and seminar/workshop leader, who has published over 50 books on diverse subjects, including business and work relationships, professional and personal development, and social trends. She also writes books, proposals, scripts, articles, blogs, website copy, press releases, and marketing materials for clients as the founder and director of Changemakers Publishing and Writing and as a writer and consultant for The Publishing Connection (www.thepublishingconnection.com). She has been a featured expert guest on hundreds of TV and radio programs, including Good Morning America, Oprah, and CNN, talking about the topics in her books.
