Tobias Buckell did a survey on how much people had gotten as an advance for their first novels. The results so far are here:http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/archives/001423.html
Pretty interesting stuff, and well worthwhile for those who like to keep informed about the industry. The median advance is $5000, a little higher than I'd heard before. So that's heartening.
[This message has been edited by KatFeete (edited February 08, 2005).]