25 November 2013
"You want to buy this book, Dan?" my boss, Ann Godoff, says, referring to the first work I'm trying to acquire at Random House, by George Saunders. "Well, do a P-and-L for it and we'll see."
"What's a P-and-L?"
"I'll walk you through it. What's the advance?"
My only knowledge came from what I had been paid for my own books, so I thought surely I should offer more. "Fifty thousand dollars?"
"For a book of stories? But okay, what's the payout?"
"Payout?"