mikalroy.bsky.social
Former editorial director and editor; current agency head, book packager, and writer. USC film, Hollins U, Clarion West alum. Dad. Books & cats & f&sf & film & games & music & Brooklyn. He/him/foul unspeakable one.
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What Sarah said. Ended up thinking so well of the both of you and wish to god I’d known this about BL before I’d cast my vote.
(I like much of his platform and history, but …)
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Grateful for this deep dive. Thank you!
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P.S. pt 2 “He is going to win a Nobel,” she said. And damned if she wasn’t right. After which, all those unearned advances—those years of wagers on a challenging author who hadn’t yet found his audience—paid off. /end of postscript
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P.S. Most (75%?) advances never earn out, alas. I remember how Harcourt published Jose Saramago for years, selling maybe 2,000 copies per title—never coming close to earning out the advances paid. Why? Because the editor would tell sales, This is an important book by a magnificent author. 1/
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But if the book finds its audience and takes off—as every author/editor/publisher hopes—then that bet pays off for everyone. And allows the editors to make more and bigger wagers on different books and authors. /end
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Of course, lots of other factors weigh on advance size (author sales track, perceived demand for the title, expectation of subrights income, and so on), but that advance is a bet the publisher makes on a book and author. If they lose the bet, that money is never recouped. /2
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Calling an advance a “loan” puts it in a bad light. I’d describe it more as a wager the publisher makes on the minimum number of copies they hope to sell in the first year—they’re advancing what they believe they can recoup through royalties on the first-year sales. 1/
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JK Rowling has used her massive fortune to spread hatred, intolerance and pain. She has squandered her relationship with her readers in her bizarre quest to demonize a marginalized minority and campaign to take their rights away. It was, and is, a strange choice.
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Oh hell no.
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She is a ghoul. Will be a pleasure to watch her empire whither and burn to ash.
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Continue to be appalled by just how poorly seventies printing reproduced your subtle color work. Such a world of difference!
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hear me out, what if, as a bit, nyc’s mayor wasn’t batshit bananas insane nor some kinda millionaire. what if it was some semi normal guy who wanted good things for normal new yorkers. dream with me! www.zohranfornyc.com
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Will DAW be reissuing the first three books? (Now available in the US only in self-pubbed editions by JABberwocky literary agency.)
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ADD a letter and ruin a movie
Stare Wars
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Great piece.
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I should pop onto your threads more often to say how much your roundups of dems doing the work means to me. Sounds like overstatement to say it is a light in the dark, but. Thank you!
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I rely on the After Credits app to clue me in about such things. Invaluable!
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What a sweet gd post!