The Reality of ‘Six-Figure Advances’

Media coverage might lead you to believe that all successful authors are landing enormous deals with publishers. However, a deeper dive into the statistics reveals a different narrative.

Consider receiving a $100,000 advance. Your literary agent typically takes a 15% cut, and you'll also face federal and state income taxes, which can consume 30% or more of that amount. Payments from publishers are often staggered; traditionally, you would receive half upon signing the contract and the remainder when you submitted a satisfactory manuscript.

Currently, advances may be divided into thirds, quarters, or even fifths. If your contract stipulates that you receive a quarter at the time of signing, that $100,000 might translate to only $25,000 upfront—before accounting for agent fees and taxes. This can leave you scraping by, particularly if your book involves hefty travel or research costs.

Were Authors Better Off in the Past?

As you observe how little some authors earn, you might question whether they historically made more money. In truth, publishers have often played a game of “How low can you go?” For instance, Agatha Christie received only $31 for her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Joseph Heller was paid $1,500 for Catch-22, and Stephen Crane did not receive an advance for The Red Badge of Courage.

It’s a sobering realization, yet understanding what great authors earned can provide a strange comfort. While my advance might seem modest compared to others, it was nearly seven times Joseph Heller’s for Catch-22, and my novel eventually generated around $40,000 in total earnings, including royalties.

Below, you will find a list of 63 advances awarded to notable authors. I have converted British pounds into dollars but did not adjust for inflation. Additional context based on my experiences as a book editor accompanies the figures, along with a note on my sources at the end.

Martin Amis, The Information — £500,000 ($615,655)

Historically, advances in the UK have been lower than those in the U.S. Martin Amis stirred controversy when he requested £500,000 for The Information following the success of his earlier works. His publisher, Jonathan Cape, initially offered £300,000. Amis later expressed regret for not accepting that offer.

He stated, “The person who wants a quiet life, which is 90% of me, should have taken the Cape offer, and that would have been the end of it,” as reported by the Guardian. “These things stay with you. For years it was the number one thing people asked about, and it was not my finest hour.”

Bono, Surrender — $7 million

It's no surprise that Bono’s first memoir would command a massive advance, and indeed, Surrender brought in a staggering $7 million, according to Irish media.

Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles — £25 ($31)

Christie earned just £25 for her debut novel from publisher John Lane, which introduced the character Hercule Poirot. A biographer noted that Christie found the contract exploitative, which is understandable. By the end of her life, she was celebrated as “the world’s bestselling novelist,” reportedly earning around $20 million.

Mary Higgins Clark, Where Are the Children? — $100,000 (paperback rights)

During her lifetime, Clark became America’s bestselling female mystery writer. She hit the jackpot when she sold the paperback rights to Where Are the Children? for $100,000 in 1975. For its 25th anniversary, she celebrated with a $64 million deal for five new titles with her longtime publisher, Simon & Schuster.

Bill Clinton, My Life — $15 million

The Knopf Publishing Group made headlines when it bid $15 million for Clinton’s 2004 autobiography, My Life, marking one of the highest advances ever offered. Clinton reportedly earned around $30 million from that book and its sequel, Giving, according to tax filings.

Hillary Clinton, Hard Choices — $11.5 million

Hillary Clinton’s literary value may have dipped slightly, yet her 2014 memoir Hard Choices fetched an impressive $11.5 million. Her subsequent book detailing her failed presidential run, What Happened, reportedly sold for “the high seven figures,” as per the New York Times.

Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage — $0

At just over 20 years old, Crane was too unknown to command an advance when he signed a contract with D. Appleton and Co. for The Red Badge of Courage. Instead, he accepted a 10% royalty on retail copies sold. The novel became a bestseller shortly after its release in 1895, but Crane struggled financially due to unfavorable publishing contracts until his untimely death at age 28.

Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet — £25 ($31)

Doyle received £25 for A Study in Scarlet, the inaugural Sherlock Holmes novel, which was published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887. This payment granted the publisher all rights, meaning Doyle would not receive further compensation upon the book's later release.

Dave Eggers, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius — $100,000

In a rare move, Eggers openly discussed his advance in an interview. The New York Times reported that he received $100,000 for the manuscript, which after expenses, amounted to $39,567.68.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise — $5,000

Fitzgerald’s payments were sporadic after Scribner’s acquired his first novel, This Side of Paradise. Initially, it did not sell well, but Fitzgerald persistently requested more funding—eventually receiving approximately $5,000 in advance. His subsequent works, including The Great Gatsby, increased his sales, but he faced financial decline, earning only $13.13 in royalties in his final year.

Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl — $400,000

In 2020, the young adult novelist L.L. McKinney called for transparency about authors' advances, particularly regarding racial disparities. Flynn, who is white, disclosed receiving $62,500 for both Dark Places and Sharp Objects, and $400,000 for Gone Girl.

Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist — $15,000

Gay earned $15,000 for Bad Feminist, a respectable advance for an essay collection. Following its success as a New York Times bestseller, her next book, The Year I Learned Everything, secured her $150,000.

Mandy Len Catron, who received a $400,000 advance for How to Fall in Love With Anyone, tweeted, “I, a completely unknown white woman with one viral article, got an advance that was more than double what Roxane Gay got for her highest advance.”

John Grisham, A Time to Kill — $15,000

A small publisher offered Grisham $15,000 for his debut novel, A Time to Kill, which had a limited print run of just 5,000 copies. Grisham later shared that his next book, The Firm, was a calculated effort to be more commercially appealing after A Time to Kill failed to sell well.

Joseph Heller, Catch-22 — $1,500

After facing numerous rejections, Catch-22 found a champion in editor Robert Gottlieb at Simon & Schuster, who paid $1,500 under standard terms—$750 upon signing and $750 upon acceptance. Although the hardcover was not an immediate bestseller, Columbia Pictures acquired the film rights for $100,000 within a year, setting the novel on its path to becoming a classic.

Heller’s perspective on earnings was illustrated in a story shared by John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group. At a party, Kurt Vonnegut told Heller that their wealthy host made more in a day than Heller had earned from Catch-22. Heller replied, “Yes, but I have something he will never have… Enough.”

N.K. Jemisin, Broken Earth Trilogy — $25,000 per book

Acclaimed science fiction author Jemisin has won three Hugo Awards for Best Novel, a feat shared by few. However, her Broken Earth Trilogy garnered a modest $25,000 per book, while her follow-up series, the Great Cities Trilogy, netted her $60,000 per installment. In 2020, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship valued at $625,000.

Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope — $6 million

Significant advances frequently go to entertainers or authors of blockbuster hits. In 1994, Random House bid an impressive $6 million for Pope John Paul II’s essay collection, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, correctly anticipating that it would become a bestseller. His Italian publisher, Mondadori, did not pay an advance, as all royalties were designated for charity.

Stephen King, Carrie — $400,000 (paperback rights)

King noted that while the hardcover advance for Carrie was modest, the paperback deal astonished him, amounting to $400,000 in 1974.

Michael Lewis, Flash Boys — $0

Some bestselling authors choose to forgo advances they don’t require, opting to collect only royalties after publication. Lewis, known for works like Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, and The Blind Side, stated in 2014 that he hadn’t accepted advances for his last two books, including Flash Boys.

Herman Melville, Moby-Dick — $0

To safeguard its copyright, Moby-Dick was published almost simultaneously in both the U.S. and Britain. Harper and Brothers, its American publisher, refused to provide Melville with an advance, citing unpaid debts from his previous work.

Audrey Niffenegger, Her Fearful Symmetry — $5 million

Scribner’s offered $5 million for Niffenegger’s horror novel, Her Fearful Symmetry, a follow-up to her hit The Time Traveler’s Wife. A report from the New York Times mentioned the bid shortly after Scribner’s CEO announced cost-cutting measures due to declining revenue.

Barack Obama, Dreams From My Father — $40,000

In 1995, a literary agent negotiated a $40,000 advance for a memoir by then-unknown University of Chicago law professor Barack Obama. In 2009, just before assuming the presidency, he signed a $500,000 deal for a middle-school version of the book.

Barack and Michelle Obama, unnamed books — $30–$65 million

In 2017, the Financial Times reported that the Obamas had signed a $65 million deal for two books. This figure, if accurate, could encompass her 2019 memoir Becoming and his 2020 title A Promised Land, along with future projects. However, some agents speculate the total may have been as low as $30 million.

James Patterson, 17 future books — $100–$150 million

Any estimate of Patterson's earnings is inherently difficult due to the rapid sales of his novels. The Guardian suggested that his 2019 contract for 17 books with Hachette could be valued between $100 million and $150 million.

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone — £1,500 ($2,000)

Rowling penned her first novel while on welfare, yet she caught a break. Alongside her £1,500 advance for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, she received a grant of £8,000 ($10,800) from the Scottish Arts Council. After its release in 1997, the U.S. rights were sold to Scholastic for $105,000, and her current net worth is estimated to exceed $1 billion.

John Scalzi, Agent to the Stars — $4,000 in donations

Scalzi released his debut science fiction novel, Agent to the Stars, on his blog, Whatever, allowing readers to access it for free while soliciting donations. This approach netted him approximately $4,000. He recounted during the #PublishingPaidMe campaign that he earned around $6,500 from his first two novels, including Old Man’s War, before agreeing to a $3.4 million deal for 13 books in 2015.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin — $300

Uncle Tom’s Cabin was initially published in serial format in the abolitionist weekly The National Era, starting June 5, 1851. The Library of Congress notes that “Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery story was published over forty installments in ten months. For her work, Mrs. Stowe was compensated $300… In March 1852, a Boston publisher issued Uncle Tom’s Cabin as a book, leading to its status as an immediate bestseller. Three hundred thousand copies were sold in the first year, with approximately two million copies sold globally by 1857. For a three-month period, Stowe reportedly earned $10,000 in royalties.”

Donald Trump, The Art of the Deal — $500,000

Trump’s advance for The Art of the Deal was well-known even before he released his tax returns. The figure surfaced in a 2016 New Yorker profile of Tony Schwartz, his ghostwriter, who received half of the $500,000 advance and shared in the millions earned in royalties.

Jesmyn Ward, Sing, Unburied, Sing — $100,000

Ward wrote Salvage the Bones without an advance, supported financially by a writing fellowship. After winning her first National Book Award for that book, she tweeted during the #PublishingPaidMe campaign: “Even after Salvage the Bones won the NBA, my publisher didn’t want to give me $100k for my next novel. My agent and I fought and fought before we wrestled our way to that number.”

A note on sources: All figures originate from reputable sources, including definitive biographies, the Library of Congress, trade publications like Publishers Weekly, and the authors’ own statements in tweets, essays, or trustworthy newspaper interviews. Many of these amounts were publicly disclosed and have been reported widely in the media, so I have linked selectively. To compile the “63 books” mentioned in the title, I counted all titles for which I had figures, regardless of whether they had a name at the time of the deal.

Jan Harayda is a novelist, award-winning journalist and critic, and former vice president of the National Book Critics Circle. She has written for *Glamour and served as book editor for the Plain Dealer in Cleveland. Her work has been featured in major outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and Salon. On Medium, she writes the Pop Culture Shorts column, offering quick insights on books, TV, movies, and more.*

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