What to pay attention to in your publishing contract if you don’t have an agent
Getting a publishing offer is one of the most exciting moments in a writer’s life. It is also one of the most important moments to keep a clear head, because book contracts are tricky things to navigate. How much can you expect in royalties and advances? And what clauses do you need to pay attention to? If you have an agent, they’ll guide you through the contract, but if don’t – and many of us don’t – you need to understand what you’re agreeing to before you sign. Here’s a guide with some useful advice.
What is an advance?
An advance is an upfront payment against future royalties. The publisher estimates how many copies your book is likely to sell, calculates what the royalties on those sales would generate, and pays you a portion of that amount before the book is published. It is not a bonus, a grant, or a salary. It is a loan of your own future earnings, paid early.
What this means in practice: you will not receive any additional royalty payments until your book has earned back the full advance through sales. If you received a £2,000 advance and your royalty rate generates 50p per copy sold, you need to sell 4,000 copies before you see another penny. Most books never earn out their advance. The advance is therefore often the only money a book generates for its author.
This is not necessarily a disaster. A book that doesn’t earn out can still sell steadily for years, build your profile, lead to school visits and speaking engagements, and position you well for the next deal. But it is important to go in with clear eyes about what an advance represents.
What kind of advances you can expect – if any
The headline figures quoted in publishing industry coverage tend to reflect the major houses and the most competitive deals. The reality for most children’s authors, particularly those publishing with smaller independent presses, is considerably more modest.
For picture books specifically, advances from smaller UK independent publishers often range from nothing at all to around £1,000-2,000. Some independent publishers offer royalties only, with no advance at all. Even at the major houses, most debut authors can expect advances in a range that reflects the publisher’s conservative estimate of first-year sales, paid in stages rather than as a single sum. The stages typically look like this: a portion on signing, a portion on delivery and acceptance of the manuscript, and sometimes a further portion on publication.
Middle grade and YA consistently command higher advances than picture books. This reflects the higher unit sales potential of longer fiction for older readers. A picture book with a print run of 3,000 copies generates less royalty income than a middle grade novel with a print run of 5,000, which is reflected in the advance offered.
Royalty rates: what you can reasonably expect
Royalty rates in children’s publishing are typically expressed as a percentage of either the cover price (retail price) or the net receipts (what the publisher actually receives after discounts to retailers and distributors). The distinction matters enormously; net receipts can be 50-60% of the cover price, which means a 10% royalty on net receipts is worth considerably less than a 10% royalty on cover price.
Standard royalty rates for traditionally published children’s books in the UK are broadly:
- For print: 7.5-10% of net receipts for most books, sometimes escalating to 12.5% or 15% after certain sales thresholds are reached.
- For ebooks: typically 20-25% of net receipts, though ebooks represent a smaller proportion of children’s book sales than adult fiction.
- For picture books specifically, where the advance is often split between author and illustrator, the author’s royalty rate may be lower (sometimes 5-7.5% of net receipts) to account for the illustrator’s share.
Always check whether your royalty is calculated on cover price or net receipts. If the contract says “net receipts,” ask what the typical discount to retailers and distributors is, so you can calculate what your effective royalty rate actually means per copy sold.
Should you sign a suboptimal financial offer?
If you’re unagented and the offer on the table comes with no advance and lower royalties than you’d hoped for, it’s worth pushing back to see if there’s room for negotiation. Publishers often expect some degree of discussion, and the worst they can say is no.
That said, this is ultimately a personal decision. For some writers, particularly those publishing a debut who simply want to get their first book into the world, accepting a modest deal is a perfectly legitimate choice. Publication could build your profile, open doors, and give you something to point to for the next deal. It doesn’t have to be financially transformative to be worth doing.
What matters is going in with clear eyes. Know what the industry standard looks like, know what you’re accepting and why, and make the decision that’s right for your situation.
Rights granted
This is the single most important section of any publishing contract. It defines what you are giving the publisher permission to do with your work, in which territories, for how long, and through which formats. Read it carefully.
The contract will specify primary rights, typically the right to publish the book in print and ebook in certain territories, and may also include subsidiary rights, which cover things like translation, audio, film and television adaptation, merchandise, and educational use. Each subsidiary right generates its own separate income stream if exploited.
If you are publishing with a small independent press, be particularly cautious about signing away world rights. A small publisher may not have the infrastructure to exploit international rights effectively, which means those rights sit dormant rather than generating income. It is reasonable to negotiate retaining rights that the publisher is unlikely to use. Ask specifically which markets they actively sell into, and try to limit the rights grant to those territories.
The reversion clause
This is the clause that allows rights to revert to you – that is, return to your ownership – if the publisher fails to meet certain conditions. Typically these conditions include the book going out of print, sales falling below a minimum threshold, or the publisher failing to publish within a certain timeframe.
The reversion clause is your safety net. Without a clear one, your book could remain technically “published” and therefore under contract indefinitely, even if it has sold almost nothing and is effectively unavailable. Make sure the clause specifies what “in print” means. In the digital age, publishers sometimes argue that making a book available as a print-on-demand or ebook title counts as “in print,” even if physical stock is non-existent. Push for a definition that includes a minimum annual sales threshold.
Manuscript delivery and acceptance
The contract will specify when you must deliver the manuscript and what “acceptance” means. Acceptance is typically conditional on the manuscript being satisfactory to the publisher, which gives them significant discretion. Make sure the contract specifies that acceptance cannot be unreasonably withheld, and that the publisher must provide specific reasons and an opportunity to revise before rejecting a manuscript.
Option clauses
Many publishing contracts include an option clause giving the publisher the right of first refusal on your next book. This is not inherently problematic, but the terms matter. An option clause that gives the publisher several months to consider your next manuscript, at terms to be negotiated, is reasonable. An option clause that requires you to offer your next book on the same terms as the current contract is not – it removes your ability to negotiate, even if your career has progressed significantly.
Try to limit option clauses to your next book in the same series or format, and make sure there is a time limit on how long the publisher has to respond.
Warranties and indemnities
You will be asked to warrant – that is, legally guarantee – that the work is original, that you own the rights to it, and that it does not infringe any third party’s copyright or defamation. This is standard and reasonable. The indemnity clause specifies that if any of these warranties turn out to be false, you are responsible for the publisher’s legal costs and losses.
Read this clause carefully. Some indemnity clauses are broader than they need to be and could potentially expose you to significant liability for claims that are not your fault. If the indemnity is unlimited and covers claims that are merely alleged rather than proven, push back.
A note on no-advance deals
An increasing number of smaller independent publishers offer royalties-only deals – no advance, but a higher royalty rate, often 10-15% of net receipts or in some cases a percentage of cover price. These deals are not inherently bad, but they require a different calculation.
Without an advance, you bear all the financial risk of the book’s early performance. If it sells slowly or not at all, you receive nothing. The higher royalty rate only benefits you if the book sells in meaningful numbers. Before signing a royalties-only deal, ask the publisher about their typical print runs, their distribution arrangements, and whether they have an active sales team. These are the factors that will determine whether any royalties materialise at all.
Before you sign
Whether or not you have an agent, do the following before signing any publishing contract:
- Ask someone to review the contract. This might be someone you know with relevant knowledge or experience or a service like the Society of Authors. It’s also worth running the contract by an AI like Claude or ChatGPT, as it’ll be able to point out any irregularities.
- Ask the publisher questions to things that might not be clear yet. What is the print run? What are their distribution arrangements? Which territories do they actively sell into? What marketing support will they provide? The answers will help you assess whether the deal is a good one for you.
- Never feel pressured to sign immediately. A reasonable publisher will give you time to review the contract properly. If they won’t, that is a signal worth heeding.
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