Cash flow …
by Rob - September 7th, 2006.Filed under: Uncategorized.
A life lesson for wannabe writers: it pays to have money in the bank. Because you know that check you’re expecting? Money you’re owed for work you’ve done? It can take an awfully long time to show up.
My editor at Tor accepted the final revisions on Rollback on Thursday, April 27. That act — acceptance of the manuscript — triggers a contractual payment for a major portion of the advance.
My agent just emailed me today to say that finally the check from Tor has shown up at his office (in the same city as Tor) … 133 days, or 19 weeks, or four and a half months later. (And of course, I don’t have the money yet … my agent still has to process the check, take his commission off, and send me a new check for the remainder.)
Meanwhile — and I’m not grousing, just observing — it seems I spend half my time dealing with complaints from authors whose books I’ve bought for my imprint through Fitzhenry & Whiteside, the company that publishes my imprint, about the late issuing of contracts and advance checks by Fitzhenry … so it’s not just Tor; it’s endemic throughout publishing. But, sheesh, what a way to try to make a living!