I didn’t attend kindergarten so my initial encounter with numbers happened in first grade. One day, we were working on math problems. As we finished, the teacher let each of us choose a stick of modeling clay. The colors were red, green, brown, and gray. I really, really wanted red. Green would have been OK, but definitely not brown and certainly not gray. I urgently scratched numbers on the ruled paper with my fat, green pencil. Still, everyone who liked red beat me. Even green got snatched up. By the time I got to choose, I was stuck with brown.
Then came a test. I didn’t understand the problems the teacher wrote on the board. I decided if I made up my own problems, I would get an A. I viewed this as a great solution to an otherwise insurmountable dilemma. But I soon found the teacher disagreed. Furious and frustrated, she called my mother for a conference. On the paper was a big red F, circled several times.
“Why did you make up your own test?” Momma asked.
I answered, “I didn’t like the one on the board.”
My mother still has the test. I asked why she saved it. Only after I had grown up did she admit she had actually been proud of me.
Remember the student in Algebra class who asked the teacher, “Why do we have to know this? When would anybody ever use these problems?” Yeah, that was me.
But I loved Business Math. Why? Because money makes sense to me. And those courses solidified my understanding of the numbers I need to know as a literary agent.
So what does math have to do with writing? Nothing, and everything. As a freelance writer, you are a business person and need some understanding of numbers. And not just money. For instance, you need to know how many books you sell, what your profit is, and if you are being paid correctly.
I doubt I’ll ever fall in love with numbers. However, I do help my clients understand the business side of writing. This allows them to have more time to write. I am also blessed to be working with the amazing Steve Laube. He has a fantastic mind for numbers. I’ve witnessed him make statements off the top of his head such as, “Yes, that book sold 27,000 units in 1997.” When Steve and I are talking over a contract offer, we use numbers to form concrete data to we show the publisher why we are asking a certain amount of money for our author. Authors on their own who don’t understand each publisher’s personality and philosophy, or how to calculate their own worth, will be hard pressed to earn what they really deserve in today’s market.
In short, you don’t have to be a math major to run your writing business. But educate yourself as much as you can, and partner with a great agent. When you do, you may even finish work early enough to choose your favorite color of modeling clay.
Your turn:
From the business side, what do you think is the most puzzling aspect of writing?
What is your favorite business tip you’d like to share?
That’s a cute story. I hated math until someone pointed out that I was good at it. So I became an engineer (perfect logic). I’m like that with business, too. One of the things that was pounded into my head while working on my MBA and in the small businesses I’ve worked for is this: most business fail because the owners simply don’t understand what they’re bringing in and what is going out. Numbers don’t lie. If they deliver bad news, you have to react. If, in our case, it means that full-time writing isn’t paying the rent, then we have to choose to get better or get another job. And,yes, I’m still an engineer, but I love my second job.
Ron, you are right that numbers themselves don’t lie but doesn’t it amuse you to see how often people interpret statistics to support their opinions?
Great story, Tamela. You know, I can remember all the words to obscure songs from the eighties, but I couldn’t tell you within fifty dollars what I spent at the grocery store last Saturday. Numbers just don’t stay in my brain–even when it’s money. My husband, on the other hand, can calculate mortgages on the fly and usually knows how much we’ll get back (or owe) in taxes every year long before I download TurboTax. So we all have our talents. That’s the biggest reason I want an agent. If the numbers are up to me, I’m in big trouble.
Robin, remember that game show that was on one recent summer where contestants had to identify song lyrics? I thought I knew every song lyric in the book but I came up short when I played along. That show made me realize that if I didn’t like a song, I turned the radio station, so I never learned the lyrics! But for songs I like, I’m with you. I can remember wayyy too many obscure lyrics. #uselesstrivia
Great pic, Tamela!!!!! Love it!
What a cute pic!
I recall being in the first(?) grade, learning how to count money. I didn’t listen to the teacher and I believe she sent a note home to my parents. My dad would dump fistfuls of change on top of our big, heavy, box-like TV (remember those?)making me stand in the living room and count the change for hours.
Once I forced myself to listen and count change, I found I liked counting money, and I learned to save, too. I guess that’s why I ended up majoring in finance and becoming a financial analyst.
I think a good tip is to keep good financial records. Keep all of your receipts so that you can claim your writing expenses during tax time. If you purchase writing-related items online, and you receive an emailed receipt, keep that email in a file and update your expense spreadsheet accordingly…If you drive to writers’ meetings and conferences, you can claim the mileage for your vehicle, too. You should also keep a mileage log in your car.
Great tips, Cecelia! Thanks for sharing.
Tamela, I loved this story, and you were a cutie of a first grader. 🙂
I love doing “mental math” in my head and calculating numbers, but ask me to do accounting and calculations like you’re describing, and well…..it’s a different story. 🙂
On the business side, I think one of the tricky things is knowing what is a good advance. I don’t plan to ask for a specific amount, when my time comes for that, but I trust that my one-day agent will know how to figure that out. 🙂
Adorable pic! Reminds me of Nellie from Little House on the Prairie!! Thanks for sharing your story, I asked the same questions about high school algebra.
You didn’t like the questions so you made up your own?!?!?!?
You rock. If any of my kids did that and got an F, I’d give ’em high fives. Way to think outside the box. That kind of creativity and courage would help when writing college entrance exams. Hmmm. I bet if tell that to their teachers.
Tamela, I loved your first grade story, and what a cute picture of you. 🙂 For me, I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of doing math calculations in my head, maybe it’s from my days as a teacher. But, on the flip side, I failed accounting in college, so that shows my weakness in the area of numbers. 🙂
For the business side of writing, I’m confused by how agents determine the advance an author should receive. I’m not sure how agent and writer determine that, but when I have an agent, I will definitely look to him/her for that direction.
Oops, sorry for the repeat comment! (Blushing)
For some reason, I really LOVED this blog! 🙂 Yes, as “America’s Family Financial Expert”(R) numbers have served me well. I actually remember the price of the Keurig I bought my husband three Christmases ago better than I remember my children’s names. Speaking of names, what is it called when people remember numbers but can’t remember names? Thanks for the great post Tamela, I think I’ll make up my own contract the next time it comes up and tell Steve I got the idea from you!
Ellie, now I’ll know what happened if I get a contract in the mail from Steve marked with a big red F! 😉
Great post. Great picture.
I’ve always been too much of a rule keeper to dare to make up my own test questions. I love that creative solution.
I also like the big, red F, though. Teachers don’t give those much these days–too hard on the child’s self-esteem. So now we have all these people who have grown up thinking that because they wrote it, regardless of how many rules they broke, someone owes them a publishing contract. I’m sorry you got the F but it probably helped you have the successful career you have.
Successful people usually do break some rules along the way. They often take risks. But they’re also are able to pay the consequences of the broken rules. They are able to take the F’s and keep on going without whining about how restrictive the rules are. They learn from the Fs and figure out which rules can be broken and which ones need to be kept.
So my business tip is:
Yes, break the rules and be creative, but be prepared to suffer the consequences. One day you may break them in a way that pays big dividends, but along the way, there will be a lot of failure.
Ditto this, Sally. I’m putting your business tip in my save comment box!
Sally, that is great advice!
Definitely, Tamela, that most puzzling aspect is taxes. Most of us work at home, but if we claim part of our home as a business expense, it can raise a red flag with the IRS. Yes, save your receipts, but there’s some funny 50% rule about food and entertainment expenses so don’t assume everything is deductible. Tax law was the absolute worse exam in law school — six hours of mind-bending multiple choice. I’ll be glad some day to have an agent guiding me through the muddy business waters.
Tamela, now I know the secret of why we get along so well! I’ve never been a numbers person–except when it’s figuring percentages off during sales. And yes, I had a similar experience with a teacher–except it was in high school geometry. Teacher asked me to figure out how many cans of paint it would take to paint my house. Of course, I told him I’d ask my dad. Not liking the answer I gave him, he asked me what I would do if my dad wasn’t around(as in dead.) To which I replied that surely Daddy would leave me enough money to hire somebody to paint the house!
So the toughest part of this business for me is royalty statements–I can’t make hide nor hare out of them. But I don’t feel too bad–my math-genius husband can’t figure them out either. Thank heavens, I have you!
Patty, that sounds like airtight logic to me! 😀
Great story and a cute picture. I wonder everyday what my writing is worth now since my self-published book sold 8000 copies last year. That astonished my agent and me. My goal was to sell 200 copies for my Relay for Life team and the book just kept going. Be careful what you wish for! Ironically, this book almost sold to Bethany, but the sales projections were too low. Now, I’ve been told I at least have “street cred” with the publishers, but how do you put a number on that? It’s all very confusing. I don’t envy my agent.
Math was my least favorite subject growing up! I can’t remember how many times I went to the school nurse with a stomach ache in the middle of Math class! Thanks for the post, and great picture, Tamela!
Angie, how long did it take them to catch on to your trick? LOL
Great picture. Interesting insights. I’m in a critique group where one of our members recently signed a contract. It’s nice to know you agent types are there to help her crunch the numbers.
When I saw that you had written a story, I rushed into my kitchen, concocted a soy chai, and settled into my comfy-spot to read it. It was the happiest part of my day so far! (And I’ve had a very happy day). Thank you for sharing the photograph, too. Keep writing …
Teresa-Rae, what a lovely thing to say! Thank you! 😀
Instead of answering your test, I’ll tell you a story. Our daughter is about to be 39 for the very first time, but when she was a second grader, she filled a cold, rainy day teaching all her dolls. This was not their first math lesson, and they all did very well. Bored 4th grade brother found himself coerced into teaching the dolls, all lined up on the fireplace bricks. He began, “Two plus two is four, four plus four–” “No!” Yelled Kelly. “They already know all that.”
Lee, sounds as though Kelly had the world’s smartest dolls! Too funny!
I’ve always said give me words, not numbers. Remember those story problems? I wanted to know WHY Train A left the building 10 minutes before Train B, and why Johnny took three of the five apples! There had to be a story in there somewhere!
I’ve had to learn to be good with numbers, but I will always prefer words.
Yes Karen, your response is awesome. I wanted to know WHO was on Train A and WHAT variety of apples they were eating. 😉
Karen, those story problems WERE NOT my friends. 😉
Tamela, what a great story. Brought back memories….lol. I did spend some time out in the hall.
We do need to be aware of what is going on in our business, but also need to trust our agent (Isn’t that why we chose to have an agent?)to communicate with us, and make the best choices for us. Thanks for what you all do.
Tamela –
I love that story! I personally think the teacher should have gotten a big fat red “F”! A more intuitive teacher might have called you up to discuss it, then privately laughed her head off. I think it showed signs of an intelligent and creative mind – definitely thinking outside the box!
My son got an “F” in a high school math class once because he finished the test in a couple of minutes and showed no work on the paper. All his answers were right, but the teacher accused him of cheating. He said he didn’t cheat-he had done the answers in his head (it was a test on quadratic equations). She said that was impossible, and put a problem on the board. He gave her the right answer immediately. After two or three problems, she finally threw the test paper back at him in frustration. “Well, you have to show the work.” Not “How’d you do that?”
How fortunate for the people you represent that you can think creatively!