Bookouture
A Hachette digital-first imprint that takes direct submissions and publishes ebook and audio first.
Where Bookouture comes up1 episode or test
- Agents are the usual gateway
- Direct submissions fairly rare
- Editors lack time to read them
- Reads every direct submission
- Most authors have no agent
- No advance, about 45% royalty
Authors skip the agent but take no advance
From David Shelley, Hachette
What was said about Bookouture
Bookouture reads direct submissions, opening a Big Five door without an agent. Bookouture, a Hachette digital-first imprint, reads every submission it receives, and most come from authors without an agent.
Elsewhere at the big houses, direct submissions are now fairly rare because editors lack time to read them, so agents are the usual gateway. David Shelley credits digital publishing with lowering barriers to entry, so a rejection from the big houses is no longer the end of a book.
No advance and a higher royalty let authors bet on themselves. Bookouture pays no advance but a royalty of about 45% of net receipts. It publishes ebook and audio first and adds print only if the book does well.
Publishing digital formats first keeps upfront risk low for the publisher, and the author's upside depends on how the book sells. This matters because, by Shelley's figures, only 35 of 100 books turn a profit and nobody can tell in advance which ones will win.
Watch This Before Publishing Your Book (Hachette CEO Interview)
Reads every submission, mostly from unagented authors, and pays no advance but a higher royalty of about 45% of net receipts. It adds print only if the book does well, so authors bet on themselves.
Bookouture reads direct submissions, opening a Big Five door without an agent. Bookouture, a Hachette digital-first imprint, reads every submission it receives, and most come from authors without an agent.
Elsewhere at the big houses, direct submissions are now fairly rare because editors lack time to read them, so agents are the usual gateway. David Shelley credits digital publishing with lowering barriers to entry, so a rejection from the big houses is no longer the end of a book.
No advance and a higher royalty let authors bet on themselves. Bookouture pays no advance but a royalty of about 45% of net receipts. It publishes ebook and audio first and adds print only if the book does well.
Publishing digital formats first keeps upfront risk low for the publisher, and the author's upside depends on how the book sells. This matters because, by Shelley's figures, only 35 of 100 books turn a profit and nobody can tell in advance which ones will win.
More in Other
OtherApple
A consumer technology company that makes the Mac, iPod, iPhone and software.
86 sources · 212 tips
OtherGoogle's web search product, now including AI Overviews, AI Mode and Lens.
53 sources · 103 tips
OtherGoogle Play
Google's app store for Android, with its own listing rules and search ranking.
18 sources · 49 tipsStandard Oil
John D. Rockefeller's oil refining company that came to dominate American kerosene and oil distribution.
5 sources · 48 tips
OtherIntel
A semiconductor company that made memory chips and the first microprocessor.
B12 sources · 23 tips
OtherTSMC
The world's leading contract chip maker, a pure-play foundry that manufactures chips for fabless designers.
6 sources · 32 tips
OtherTesla
An electric car maker that builds its own key components and factories.
14 sources · 23 tips
OtherSpaceX
A private aerospace company building reusable rockets, the Dragon capsule, Starship and the Starlink satellite network.
5 sources · 29 tips