Book Auctions Demystified: What happens when your book is on the block
By Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Last year, when my agent said my book was going to
auction, I was delighted—then
curious. I’d been to antique auctions and silent auctions, but
never took part in a book auction. Did the agent and editors hole up
in a Manhattan conference room with paddles and an auctioneer? What exactly
went on?
I looked for information and found almost nothing.
Here’s what
I’ve learned since by talking to agents, authors and editors. (Keep
in mind that, depending on the size and style of the agency, there can
be variations to the following.)
Why auctions happen
Typically, an auction takes place because more than one publisher wants to bid on your book. “Much as we’d like to, we can’t guarantee that every author’s book will go to auction,” says Los Angeles literary agent Betsy Amster. “The critical ingredient is the interest of more than one publisher.”
Who takes part
Without your agent, there is no auction. “It is your
agent who makes the book come alive when she pitches it to the editor,” says
agent Julie Castiglia of Del Mar, Calif. “And it is her relationship
with the editors that makes them want to listen. How the agent handles
herself during the auction allows the best outcome to be realized.”
While your agent usually knows the major players,
one or two publishers may pop up unexpectedly come bidding time. “On a few occasions,
I have been surprised by how late in the game a publisher declared its
interest—like the night before,” Amster says. “The
opposite is also possible—sometimes publishers will drop out at
the last minute.”
When
Your agent picks a date when she’ll close the deal—generally a day that works for all interested editors. The day before, she sends out auction rules and requests that first bids be called or faxed in by a specific time. The auction then proceeds in rounds—by phone, fax or e-mail, depending on the agent’s preference—until editors give their top bid.
Variations
Sometimes auctions proceed informally, without a closing
date, as the agent fields offers over several days from two or
three interested
publishers. And sometimes an agent will set up a best-bid auction,
in which publishers make their best bids at the outset without
knowing what
other publishers are bidding. Agents like this strategy when competing
publishers have very different views of how a book should be published
(one might see it as a hardcover, while another sees it as a trade
paperback, for example) or when an author is already very successful
and can command
a considerable sum.
Pre-empts
Sometimes editors will offer enough money early on to motivate the agent to take the project off the table. “Editors who are keenly interested in a project will often try to pre-empt it,” Amster says. “Sometimes such bids come in very quickly; I recently got one 24 hours” after the bidding began.
The floor
If an agent feels the amount an editor is offering as a pre-empt isn’t enough to take the project off the table, they may try to turn the offer into a “floor”—that is, a minimum guarantee for the author. The publisher who sets the floor has “topping privileges”— the right to top the last, best bid by 10 percent if the book goes to auction. If no one comes to the auction, the book goes for the floor. Agents will typically get the highest floor possible.
“An agent with experience
knows what a project is worth,” Castiglia says, “and knows
when asking too much would put the publisher off. Also, you ask the author
what they feel they need and go from there.”
Duration
While the agent typically chooses the starting and ending times, it can last for days, depending on how interested publishers are in continuing the bidding process. My auction ended the morning of the second day, but some auctions can last a week, especially if the author is well known or big bucks are at stake.
Imprints
With the exception of Random House, where divisions
can bid against each other so long as a non-Random House company remains
in the
auction, publishing houses owned by the same parent company cannot bid
against each other. “It really hit home how much consolidation
in the industry has affected the bottom line for writers,” says
author Jennifer Lawler of Lawrence, Kan. “My book could have sold
for a lot more money with all three original bidders bidding instead
of the final two.”
Pros and cons
Editors may spend more than they would
otherwise if they participate in an auction. “The momentum keeps you going,” says
Andrea Schulz, senior editor at Harcourt, “and with some auctions,
you come out blinking in the sunlight, saying, ‘What did we do?’ This
is a frequent fallout feeling.”
Authors like auctions because they feel they get a
higher advance, but is getting the most money up front a good thing? “It’s perfect
for some books,” Schulz says, “but sometimes publishers end
up feeling they overpaid. You, the author, can suffer from that later
because that’s not necessarily who wants to publish you over several
books. Some authors don’t care about that, but for the ones who
do, an auction isn’t the best way to find them a home.”
More than money
A winning publisher doesn’t mean the author must go with that house. Do your priorities and the publisher’s priorities mesh? In a recent auction, author Charlene Ann Baumbich of Glen Ellyn, Ill., says, “I accepted the offer I believed to my core would best serve the book—which also happened to be the house that offered the most money. But that was coincidental.” Schulz adds: “Talk to the editor, look at the publisher’s list, see how supported you’ll be by their reputation rather than looking at just their three bestsellers. Gauge how well you’ll be taken care of. Authors finding out as much as they can about the house is their best protection.”
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Copyright © 2004 by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.