It seems like everybody’s an author today. Everybody but you. And me. Yet, I keep stumbling across baby lawyers writing books about subject they can barely spell, no less write intelligently about. Often published by no less prestigious an entity than the ABA.
And then there are the more mature lawyers, cranking out books that are adored by all three of their fans. And the guy at the vanity publishers who is more than happy to take their money to print up a few hundred copies of a book destined to sit in the dust bin at Amazon.
Why do this? To crunch some numbers, consider that a person who puts in serious effort to writing a book will expend 1000 hours writing, thinking, rewriting, thinking some more, to create something that will be illuminating. Well, at least not embarrassing.
For young lawyers, it’s often so they can say they’re a published author, manufacturing credibility based on the assumption that if someone wrote a book, they must know what they’re doing. For old lawyers, there is the vanity that our deepest thoughts ought to be as fascinating to others as they are to us.
For the record, I have not written a book. I’ve been asked, numerous times, to write one, or contribute to a treatise, or some variation on the theme. It was flattering to be asked, as opposed to saying to myself that surely my brilliance warrants a book that everyone will want to read.
But then I crunched the numbers. It’s not pretty. That thousand (and likely more) hours of my time have a certain value, at least to me. While big names may command huge advance fees, not me. The deal is write a book, then get somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% royalty by running around the country trying to get people to buy your book.
The publishers don’t market. It’s not that they can’t, but that they won’t when it comes to small potatoes like me. Rather, they expect the author to do all the marketing, at his own expense mind you, by going to conferences, book signings, anywhere someone can be who might have spare change in their pocket. So the price for writing a book isn’t just the thousand hours of life lost to writing, but the time it takes, and out-of-pocket expenses, for selling the book as well.
Sweet deal, right?
But then, you can make gazillions of dollars as an author, become rich and famous, get on the Daily Show and steal one of those Jon Stewart coffee mugs when he’s not looking, and live happily ever after. Who wouldn’t want that?
Enter Josh Blackman, with a welcome dose of cold water.
The Justices recently released their financial disclosures. Last year Justice Breyer made $60,000 and Justice Scalia made $30,000 on book royalties.
How did the Justices with books make out with royalties?
- Justice Scalia made $33,798 from West Services.
- Justice Breyer made $7,214 from Random House and $126 from Kopf.
- Like in 2013, Justice Sotomayor received “no ‘noninvestment income’ in 2014″ from her book. But she wrote that the “Knopf Double Day Group, publisher of my memoir “My Beloved World,” disbursed $25,990.00 during 2014 to promote the sale of the memoir.” In 2012, she disclosed a $1,000,000 advance and a separate $925,000 advance. As I speculated last year, she is still paying off the advance, and has not earned any royalties beyond the $2,000,000 paid up front.
- Justice Thomas did not list any royalties for “My Grandfather’s Son.”
Just in case you missed it, these are the chosen Nine, the justices of the United States Supreme Court. You know what I’m not? One of them. You either. And if they aren’t making big bucks off books, what makes you think you will? I know I won’t.
Note that Justice Sotomayor brought in a $2 million advance on her book, when she was a hot topic. Bet the publishers are sucking wind on that now. And if you think that relates to you in any way, you’re nuts. You aren’t Justice Sotomayor.
The upshot is that if you want to write a book because you have some fantastic need to express yourself, write away, baby. But if you think it’s going to make you rich and famous, you might be very disappointed.
As for me, I like to write. I would think that’s self-evident. But writing a blawg is, in my view, somewhat unpretentious. It’s a friggin’ blawg. Read it or not, your choice. But writing a book strikes me as something serious. It asks for a commitment of a reader’s time, and in doing so, suggests that I think I have something so worthy to say that I can seek a substantial commitment of your time, not to mention expect you to pay for the pleasure.
Should I think such a thing, then I’ll write a book. Until then, this is all I’ve got. But while I won’t make a pittance in royalties, at least it won’t cost me much to fulfill my money-back guarantee that reading SJ will be worth your time.
Discover more from Simple Justice
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
You should self publish an on demand ebook. Production costs are much less than regular books. With the full force of SJ (and possibly Mimesis Law) behind you, I’m certain you could sell at least a dozen copies.
I will. Right after you.
Send me a free copy of your on demand e-book. I have space on my hard drive and I am sure it will be ultra valuable information someday.
You can assume that it won’t take up a lot of space on your hard drive. But it will no doubt be ultra valuable. Someday.
Spend 1000 hours writing a book? Not necessary! Just in case your opinion of legal marketeering hasn’t quite reached rock bottom yet, there are legal marketers out there who will be happy to pay someone to go through your blog and edit a bunch of posts into a book, which they will then publish through some self-publishing service. Congratulations! You can now impress prospective clients by mentioning your book on your website. You’re welcome!
A publisher (who shall remain nameless) bought an option to package SJ posts into a book. They had interns start to compile posts, but after a while, the interns refused because my posts hurt their feelings and made them cry. So, it wasn’t to be.
So, I’m unclear , in this case, who would be making the donation to your “click here if this post hurts your feelings” fund.
I don’t know whether the hurt children clicked on the button, but I’m sure they didn’t make a donation.
The real money is in textbooks written by professors. Teach a law class, write a book and assign the book to your students. Every other year or so your publisher will ask for “updates,” e.g. change a page or two, and you get to say the new version is mandatory for your class.
Professors all over the world do this and it’s big business. Scummy as hell, but big business.
Textbooks are a whole different matter. Big bucks and a forced audience. It doesn’t get any better than textbooks.
LawProf James Grimmelmann suggests a price of $30.00 for his textbook, but you can pay less. He must be a Commie.
Or he’s independently wealthy.
Will they notice if you use the ‘wrong’ version?
My students all love my new book:
How to find Wealth and Fame as a Crook.
They sign up for my class,
Buy my book, and they pass.
They don’t read it. It’s gobbledygook!
SJ: You are totally right. You will make 25c/hour if you write a book. Unless you need to put ‘published author’ on your resume forget it!!!
Thank you for the validation. I feel better now.
Why don’t you just rain and piss all over my parade, why don’t you?
Nobody wants to pay me to write my drivel about law? Oh wait, I will just write fiction.
Just make sure you put something on the front page so we can tell which is which.
The asteroid wiping out most of human civilization can be my first clue.
Sounds like the start to a torts hypo.
You know you want to do it esteemed one and it isn’t a damn thing to do about money. But traditional non-fiction works, even by the likes of someone as cranky, twisted, and often insightful as you won’t really be read until after inflation ticks up to about 25 percent or so. That might be sooner than we think but immediate satisfaction is really where it is at,
You should really start perfecting a more diverse happy hour routine as well as consider taking more vacations to amuse yourself but if that doesn’t cut it for you, I would turn down the next offer that comes your way to write for another online magazine and put some thoughts into a graphic comic book series that spins off of your posts and themes here at SJ.
Now that could be fun and I reckon if you let you hair down a bit more you could score a two-fer with such an endeavor as well. Just think how much fun you could have as semi fictional cartoon villain to the state and hero to masses and the accused. It would be easy money to pack in few hundred thousand new youthful readers while at the same time making a good chunk of your old readers ponder if you have completely gone off the reservation for good.
SJ has some pretty long consistencies and themes that could keep a graphic comic book series rolling along nicely until you get board. The added bonus of all this of course would be that you will have so may new youthful and vibrant fans that there is no way any governor could possible pass you over for a judicial appointment and then the comic book series will go global.
Just imagine how much more fun it would be to learn how to twirl a gavel in the air if you could afford to hire the best circus professional in the world to show you their secrets. And what judge doesn’t want to have enough spare bank to spin off his graphic comic book series hobby into a big screen movie trilogy or traveling performance art jubilee that throws a few dozen festivals a year? Then you could sell that book you are writing under an alias in the parking lot on venders row at your jubilee festivals and get really rich while become a secret folk hero at the voice of “less stupid” to entire generation at the same time!
“It’s a friggin’ blawg. Read it or not, your choice. But writing a book strikes me as something serious. It asks for a commitment of a reader’s time, and in doing so, suggests that I think I have something so worthy to say that I can seek a substantial commitment of your time, not to mention expect you to pay for the pleasure.
Should I think such a thing, then I’ll write a book. Until then, this is all I’ve got. But while I won’t make a pittance in royalties, at least it won’t cost me much to fulfill my money-back guarantee that reading SJ will be worth your time.”
Yeah, I’d read it, agree some, & probably yell at it some, but yeah, I’d read it..
Oh wait.. I already do that.. so get your best, setup chapters or catagories, & throw out 150 pages.. what’s the worst that can happen ??
On the other hand, Erle Stanley Gardner lived pretty well on writing FICTION; he started out as a criminal defense lawyer. If you want to live off it, it’s a career, not a hobby–Gardner had to quit practicing law eventually to devote his time to writing.
I am no Erle Stanley Gardner.