I will bet that the neck beard probably failed to realize that an advance is just that; an advance on future royalties, not an added payment.
In other words, even if a publisher paid him a $1000 advance, he wouldn't receive any royalties until that $1000 was earned from sales (and kept by the publisher to repay the advance).
This page explains it:
https://publishdrive.com/what-are-book-advances-how-book-advances-and-royalties-work
"Royalties are what you get after publishing the book and meeting the advance. So you won't earn any royalties until a book's sales are equal to their advance. This is also called earning out your advance. ... So, let’s say you get $10,000. This means that the book, after publication, will have to make a $10,000 profit. And only after that can the author expect to receive additional income or royalties."