My 𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖉 𝖈𝖔𝖑𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖌𝖚𝖊𝖘.

It’s time.

Time for another look at the DATAAAAAAAA!!!! (a thread) 1/

Ahem- An *Illustrated* thread.

Litebox proudly presents:
Detailed Graphic Novel & Picture Book Pricing Data

*airhorn* 2/

The last time we shared this info- we got some criticism- mainly that there were too many unknown variables w/r/t the information we were presenting & that it was not an accurate presentation of our industry as a whole.

This is TRUE. 3/

What we’re presenting is only the data that people have submitted to our site. This does not account for EVERY JOB on goddess’s green earth.

Just the jobs reported to us. 4/

All the data you in this thread & infographic was collected on 9/24/2020 5/

So this time we decided to get MOLECULAR. GRANULAR even, with this detailed look at our data. This is the most in-depth we’ve ever gotten with these infographics 6/

Here is how we chose to break down the data for this particular set of numbers. (Let us know if you have suggestions for how to separate out this info. These are not hard and fast definitions.) 7/

We’ve separated the data points between the:

Big 5
Indie Pubs
Major Pubs

With further distinction between comic books & picture books 8/

The 𝖇𝖎𝖌 𝖋𝖎𝖛𝖊 publishers are Penguin/Random House, HarperCollins, MacMillan, Hachette, and Simon and Schuster, based on industry standards. We included Disney because… it’s Disney. 9/

We chose to define Indie publisher as a publisher who is not owned by a large conglomerate or multinational corporation. Many small presses are more specialized and narrow in what they choose to publish.

All other publishers fall under ‘Major Publisher’. Do not @ me 10/

If these numbers don’t reflect your experience, SEND US YOUR NUMBERS. Our view of this industry just gets better, the more people are willing to contribute!

You can submit your numbers by emailing us for a link at [email protected]
11/

That said, here’s a quick guide on how to read these charts. The x axis is an individual job, the Y axis is how much $$$ that individual job was worth. Easy peasy 12/

Let's gooooooo!

First up is Graphic Novel advances from Indie Publishers topping out at $20K

With the lowest data point hitting $0 giving us QUITE the steep curve 13/

But of course- the Devil is in the details. The higher advances were for works where the creator both wrote & illustrated the graphic novel.

While the lower (& non-existent) advances had costs recouped through royalties & a higher percentage of digital sales. 14/

On to Graphic Novel Advances from Major Publishers where we see a significant uptick.

With our highest advance at $47.5K

& our lowest advance at $10.5K -(higher than over 2/3rds of the Indie Pub Advances) 15/

What's interesting about this data set is there are two noticeable tiers. The $10-$15k tier & the $40K & up tier which is wholly comprised of Scholastic's advances.

Here are more deets 16/

Up next we have Graphic Novel Advances from the BIG FIVE (+Disney)

This one's interesting because it really runs the gamut with our highest advance at $75K & our lowest at $5K

No sharp plateaus, there's an advance along every conceivable price point 17/

This one's also quite illuminating once you look at the details, because the lowest advance ($5K) & the highest advance ($75K) come from the exact same publisher (Penguin/Random House)

The only diff being that the low advance was for previously self-published work. 18/

Like- WOW- We always hear that publishers prefer first rights/unpublished work, but that price difference really drives home how important that is to them.

19/

Up next PICTURE BOOKS & we start with the Indie Publishers.

There seem to be a lot of advances under $5K. Our lowest reported is at $1200- with our highest- the seemingly rare $10K advance 20/

Once you look into the details it's interesting to note that the lowest rate was for black & white work, but WOW @ 27 pieces.

21/

Following up we've got Picture Book Advances from Major Publishers

We've only got two- which doesn't tell us a whole lot but it is a significant increase over the indie pubs with our lowest at $16k & our highest at $25K

22/

Our only note in this limited data set is that the lower ($16k) advance was for art only & the artist was not expected to also write the story

23/

Last but not least are Picture Book Advances for the Big Five (+Disney)

Where again Penguin/Random house takes the hi & low with low at $6K & hi at $50K (no details on either)

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That's it- that's the data. If you want to contribute to our understanding of the dark arts of Advances (& other rates) please hit us up for a submission link at [email protected] & as always...

stay cute!

25/END