The only writer I follow on substack, Scott Alexander S. (Previously of SlateStarCodex fame, now AstralCodexTen) went into all the details - what he was offered

The only writer I follow on substack, Scott Alexander S. (Previously of SlateStarCodex fame, now AstralCodexTen) went into all the details - what he was offered, and why it was a good offer - it wasn’t a bribe like most celebrity deals are - it was more like a book advance. He most definitely didn’t pretend to “just go there”, and his post on the subject mentioned a few others with similar deals by name. Do you have a problem when a publisher pays an advance to (say) Stephen King in order to get him to publish through them?