Michelle Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Ok, now this is interesting. Most writers and authors on here have said there's not much money to be had as a writer, and only a handful of authors receive big royalties. However, the following report seems to imply that this 93 year old, d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 I read that this morning and wondered the same. Especially as she talks about buying "other properties"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 This sounds like the exception, rather than the rule for first-time authors. If it's even true as reported, which is doubtful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Neither the article nor the video attached say anything about her having actually bought the house with royalties - the video only makes mention of, "Lorna hopes the royalties will pay enough..." I think this is most likely a case of the lady has used her own money and assets to buy this first house and hopes that she will be able to buy more property off the back of her book (and, possibly, the publicity). It's a lovely idea, but I don't think she's actually received enough royalties to actually buy this or any other place at this point. Best of luck to her though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 The house has definately not been bought on the proceeds from or royalties from this book - trust me on this one. If you read the article carefully uou will see that her publisher is Authorhouse. This is the largest print on demand provider in both North America and Britain - I looked at publishing with them, and chose not to for various reasons, mainly the fact that they were so expensive, and also because they were very high pressure sales. Because they are print on demand this means that authors pay them to publish their books, and not the other way around. She would get royalties then, and of course the proceeds from books that she sells herself, but no advance. I think it is great that this lady has become a published author at the age of 93, and I can see why she may have chosen this route - let's face it, what 93 year old has the time to wait around hoping to be 'discovered'! I also think it is great that she is helping her friends in this way. It is very clever publicity, but the money for this house definately did not come from her book ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 I also spotted it was from Authorhouse, when I decided to google the book.. and was rather confused. So thanks for confirming what I was thinking. What I find odd is that news sites are running this story, without checking the details. The Telegraph even says.. Lorna Page has bought a five bedroom house for £310,000 after securing a significant advance for her thriller. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2535308/First-time-author-93-saves-friends-from-care-homes-with-book-advance.html It is clever publicity, but I also think very unfair. On our local radio (where I first heard about it), the presenter was telling everyone to go and buy to book, to support the old people! There are interesting blog discussions.. http://titaniawrites.blogspot.com/2008/08/first-time-author-93-saves-friends-from.html http://rebeccariots.wordpress.com/2008/08/10/buy-lornas-book-and-give-an-old-person-a-home/ http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/010479.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Interesting. I am having to fight to get the royalities I'm owed from my book's release - even with the whole amount turning up, I probably couldn't even buy a wendy house!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 (edited) There's definitely no way she could have bought the house on royalties - it was only published last month (hardback 10 July, paperback 12 July). In a month she makes enough off royaltes to buy a 5-bed house? Major rat-smellage here. Someone at the Telegraph has got their wires crossed over where the money for buying the house came from. Good luck to the woman - the book is whizzing up the charts on Amazon since the story broke : Popular in this category: #11 in Books > Romance It's a nice story, but the "facts" of the newspaper article haven't been checked by the journalist. Minimal research shows the claim to be absolutely impossible - the publisher she went with (a publish on demand company - AuthorHouse) do not offer advances - in fact, you pay them for the editing and publishing then get royalties back - usually on a monthly basis. Which means she would be geting her first batch of royalties about now. She already has the house - she didn't buy it with royalties and there is no advance from the company... Edited August 12, 2008 by Kell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergran71 Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Think I had better get my pen sharpened - I dont want to go into a "home" either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 I didn't get to the stage of discussing royalties with them, but because of the way in which the industry works, most authors, POD or otherwise (myself included) don't receive royalties until 6 months after the book is published. This is basically because book stores pay wholesalers after 3 months, and wholesalers pay publishers 3 months after they are paid by the book sellers. With my publisher, the first cheque is sent after 6 months, and thereafter you are paid every 3 months. With most commercial publishers though it is just twice a year. She will be lucky then to get any money for another 6 months - apart from for books that she sells herself of course. I agree though that it is very good publicity, but not very well researched. It wouldn't happen in my village newsletter ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonsays Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Nice detective work on this thread everyone! I too saw the article and wondered. Have to admit it is quite a good publicity stunt, though the ethics of it wrankle me. I mean to have a broadcaster telling people to buy the book to help out the old people???... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted August 15, 2008 Share Posted August 15, 2008 I just spent 5 minutes writing a reply to this, but it disappeared into cyber space when I hit the post button. I hate it when that happens ! Rather than re-type it all again, the gist of it can be found here on my blogsite http://juneaustin.blogspot.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted August 15, 2008 Share Posted August 15, 2008 I also blogged about it. I see from yours that the Guardian has since corrected their story (so I had to add that to the end of my own blog entry, just for completeness). It just seemed so odd for both The Guardian and The BBC to get it wrong in exactly the same way - I suspect that at least one of them (if not both) were told the original story and they printed it without checking the facts, but now, after finding out a little more, one of them, at least, has realised their mistake... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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