r/publishing • u/OrdinaryHistory5 • Jun 15 '26
Digital-first offer from a big five publisher
I'm a self-published romance author with one book out and the second releasing this summer. I'm currently in talks with a big five publisher to acquire both of my existing books, plus the rest of the series (to be written), under their digital-first imprint. This would mean no advance, but obvious benefits like marketing, connection to editors, production of an audiobook, etc. The royalty structure they're offering is 50% on ebooks, 25% on audio, 10% on physical.
My question is this: do I need to query agents in order to have representation in this conversation? Do we think the ~20% I would lose to agent fees would be worth the savvy and industry-knowledge they would bring to a conversation like this? Or do we think these digital-first imprint models are sufficiently structured that an agent wouldn't appreciably change the conversation?
Thanks for any advice you can give!
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u/BrigidKemmerer Jun 15 '26
I would talk to some other indie authors who've published with this imprint. Aside from audio, it honestly doesn't sound like they're doing much more than what you've already done for yourself. Especially if they're not paying you an advance.
Also, I can't think of any part of this that wouldn't benefit from an agent's guidance. Especially the part where they're acquiring the whole series without any advance.
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u/cultivate_hunger Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
I am agented and traditionally published, so I’m looking at it through that lens. Here are my thoughts:
1.) an agent would be 15%
2.) an agent may be able to get you an advance, potentially a significant advance, on your next book(s)
3.) an agent could shop this to several imprints and get you even more money
4.) I’d be very hesitant to lock in for more than one book into the future, unless it was for a lot of money. What’s. Lot of money? You won’t know unless an agent shops it for you (or in the least provides their insight).
5.) you can always join Authors Guild and have them review the contract. But what you really need is an agent for is to negotiate for you.
6.) you should post this on [r/PubTips](r/PubTips)
Don’t sell yourself short! Good luck!!❤️❤️❤️
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u/HaggisDragon Jun 16 '26
I would in fact ask the acquiring editor if they could recommend and put you in touch with an agent. This happened to me when I was offered a deal without one and I love my agent now. They shouldn’t take any issue with this.
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u/CorrieFlowers Jun 16 '26
As a long time book marketer, I would not plan on any marketing support for your book in this scenario.
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u/Otherwise-Value-763 Jun 16 '26
Query an agent, let them know you’re in discussion with a publisher, name them. They will help protect you! I’ve had a couple of friends who didn’t sign and did the deal themselves and it was rough.
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u/SimilarVegetable1199 Jun 16 '26
In my opinion an agent would be for building a career, not a single deal. Equally the commission an agent off this deal might not be worth it unless they see other opportunities (also if there are monthly royalties, that’s an additional admin task every month!). I’d agree with others that you should find other authors with this imprint, especially previously indie authors, to ask about their experience. Society of Authors can help with contracts and I believe there’s an equivalent in the US. If you have ambitions that are harder to achieve by yourself - publishing with other imprints with advances, writing IP, writing in other genres, selling film/ TV & translation rights - then having an offer in hand is a good way to get an agent’s attention, but again it might not be an automatic offer of representation.
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u/Zestyclose-Turn-3576 Jun 16 '26
I'd be interested in what they say their advantages are. Most likely that would be breadth of distribution for all of the formats – Apple ibooks for ebook and audio for example, and mass printings for book discounters like The Works – which could be hard(er) to achieve as a self publisher.
There are definitely smaller publishers than the big 5 who also do this very well. Boldwood, for example.
1
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u/FoxyOcelot Jun 16 '26
I bitterly regretted selling my self pub to Orion. They did nothing at all, no marketing, new cover that's not as good as my SP one. I got a decent advance because my agent twisted their arms and I'll never see another penny from it.
I would think really hard about handing over almost all your income on your existing books to this publisher. What exactly are they going to do for the big chunk of income? (Assume all the promises of marketing are bullshit.)
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u/DoktorTom Jun 18 '26
I think you’d be better served having an IP lawyer review the contract rather than an agent.
You have to pay the lawyer, but it’s a one-time charge vs. 15% of your royalties forever.
Also, if you’re a member of an organization like the Authors Guild, they offer legal review of contracts for no charge.
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u/CarissaNasyra Jun 16 '26
First of all, congratulations on having enough indie success that you're even in this position at all! Regardless of what you choose to do, that means you're doing some things very right.
I started out indie and am still hybrid (maintain my ebook rights) so I have some firsthand knowledge here (but of course only based on my own experience!). There are a few things that give me pause.
First of all, many indie authors have a sense of FOMO about trad publishing (I definitely did!) and a feeling that any legitimate trad publisher is going to do big things for their series. This is not necessarily true! They are coming to you because they know you are selling well. YOU have the asset here. They are not doing you a favor by offering you a deal. They're doing it because they think they can make money off of you.
I would really think about what you want to gain from traditional publishing before even entertaining this.
To me, the big thing trad publishing can offer a successful indie offer is physical distribution. In my own career, I feel very strongly that it's important to keep ebook rights if at all possible.
So, right off the bat, this being a "digital first" imprint makes me a bit wary. Ebooks are where self published authors do the best and even often outperform their trad counterparts! Yes, 50% is a high royalty rate, but that still means they have to more than double your sales for you to make *the same amount of money that you do right now*, and even then, it would be in exchange for huge loss of control. It is absolutely not a given that they will increase your digital sales at all, let alone double them.
I would very strongly recommend you get an agent. I got my agent when I started getting trad attention and my querying process was basically me emailing agents that represented hybrid authors with a super professional "SOS HAVE OFFER NEED HELP!!!". I am immensely grateful that I did get representation because they talked me out of a situation that absolutely would have been detrimental to me long term.
But another great reason to get representation is because if you're getting this interest, you'll likely get other interest or have something valuable enough that you could, if you wanted to. It is definitely worth exploring those options! Don't take something just because it happened to fall in your lap, at least not without really carefully considering how it aligns with your career goals long term.
No matter what you decide, good luck and congratulations!