Comments on: The future of literary agents: Will they have to adjust to e-books? Or vice versa? Or will both scenarios happen? http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/the-future-of-lit-agents-will-they-have-to-adjust-to-e-or-will-e-to-them-or-will-both-happen/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:28:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Rob Preece, Publisher http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/the-future-of-lit-agents-will-they-have-to-adjust-to-e-or-will-e-to-them-or-will-both-happen/comment-page-1/#comment-1149161 Rob Preece, Publisher Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:44:32 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/11/16/the-future-of-lit-agents-will-they-have-to-adjust-to-e-or-will-e-to-them-or-will-both-happen/#comment-1149161 To date, the big publishers are happy to treat eBooks as an appendix to paper books. I'm not sure that advances will make much difference, though. Stephen King and Dan Brown (and the usual half-dozen others) could probably demand advances for eBooks, but they already get huge advances so it would probably just be a split of what they get into categories. They could probably also sell paper-only rights, coming to publishers like me (or do it themselves) for electronic. But for most authors, the big publishers would simply smile and walk away if their agents put additional demands on the table. Publishers are cutting advances, not looking for ways to create additional expenses. Rob Preece Publisher To date, the big publishers are happy to treat eBooks as an appendix to paper books. I’m not sure that advances will make much difference, though. Stephen King and Dan Brown (and the usual half-dozen others) could probably demand advances for eBooks, but they already get huge advances so it would probably just be a split of what they get into categories. They could probably also sell paper-only rights, coming to publishers like me (or do it themselves) for electronic. But for most authors, the big publishers would simply smile and walk away if their agents put additional demands on the table. Publishers are cutting advances, not looking for ways to create additional expenses.

Rob Preece
Publisher

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