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Tired of Losing Royalties?
By Rita Schiano
Not "rated" by the Author.
Last
edited: Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Posted: Tuesday, July 24, 2007
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Are you losing royalties due to the resale of your books on Amazon, B &N, eBay,....
Let's face it, authors get the short end of the financial stick. Unless you were paid a sizeable advance for your work, you won't collect a dime until a book sells.
Let's take a look at how royalties work...
Your publisher, LastWord Press (LWP) has generously agreed to pay you 10% on all net sales. What does this mean? Your book retails for $15.00. Now, if LWP has a web site with an online store, you will most likely collect $1.50 for each book sold direct. This is the best of all possible scenarios...and also the most unlikely.
You see, LWP wants to get your book into the Book Megastores (and we, of course, want that too). And so, LWP contracts with a distributor, TB Booksellers. They have managed to work out a 40% fee arrangement. Now, TB sells your book to Book Megastore (BM). What will you get paid? 10% of $15.00 less 40%, or .90˘.
Now here comes Amazon...because they are such a huge Internet presence, they want 55%, and they get it. What will you get? .68˘.
Okay, you're still making money. And if Amazon sells 22,059 copies of your book, you'll earn enough money to buy a decent used car.
But wait...here's where it gets bad...really bad for the author. Amazon has 138 copies of your book for sale through its Marketplace...and the copies are selling anywhere from .01˘ to 4.37˘.
How much will you get paid? Zero, Nothing, Nada, baby. Actually, the reseller is making more money per book than you are, even when the publisher sells direct!
So next time you go on Amazon and buy that cheap used copy, stop and think. Buy direct. Support writers. And hope the next customer surfing the web for
your book is willing to buy new and support you.
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| Reviewed by Sage Sweetwater |
7/24/2007 |
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This is where the benefits of a POD publisher named AuthorHouse comes in. I self-publish with AuthorHouse. An AuthorHouse author gets paid only for the first time the book is sold. I set my own purchase price of $15.50 for each novel I publish and I receive around $2.50 per book (Amazon and other online booksellers) $3.65 per book at AuthorHouse Bookstore which sells for $12.25, the higher royalty and where I make most of my sales because the customer can buy my book cheaper. I don't worry too much about the re-sales of my books because I've already been paid by AuthorHouse for the first time the book is printed in 24 hours and shipped to whoever ordered it. Royalties are much higher than traditional publishers at AuthorHouse. I could make as much as $8 per book I sell, but the higher one takes in royalty, the higher the book has to sell for, so I keep my royalty mid-way and my book is moderately priced for the modern day market. Of course, it costs to publish each book, but in a five-book deal with my arrangement with AuthorHouse, they cut the publishing cost for each book in exactly half. So I feel they treated me fair and in return, I can treat my buyers fair. Thanks for this most informative article, Rita...it is very factual and relevant in today's publishing market...be well.
Warmly,
Sage |
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