"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?"