Anyone know anything about book royalties? - I've had an offer

PrincessJR

Hi,

I have been writing for magazines for a number of years, and released my first book last year, however I now realise that I was 'shafted' so to speak when it came to the contract/royalties. Being new to the game I accept this now but am determined not to make the same mistake.

I have written my 2nd book, and have had a publisher review it and offer me a deal. They cover proof reading, editing, marketing and print costs upfront, and in return expect a 60% fee from each book sale, meaning my cut would be 40%.

I had been toying with the idea of self publishing via Amazons 'Createspace' but am not sure whether I'd be any better off? Createspace is quite confusing I think when it comes to royalties, percentages, advertising etc. Plus I do know that technically speaking it may look better to have a publisher behind the book, helping to promote etc

Does anyone know if a 40% royalty is better than I'd get self publishing?

Any advice appreciated

kingfisherblue

I don't know the answer to your question, but a publisher has to give bookshops a discount for them to stock a book (they wouldn't make any money otherwise!). When I worked in a bookshop some years ago, popular paperbacks used to attract up to 40% discount. However, we used to receive 10-20% on academic books.

In addition, there are the benefits that you will receive by having a publisher - proof reading, marketing etc, as you have listed. How much would this cost if you self published? Presumably publishers would help you if there was a breach of copyright too. Defending copyright on self-published books might be pricey if you ever have to take legal advice (but of course, this hopefully wouldn't happen).

Well done on your success, and I wish you luck in the future.

theoretica

How long will the book be of interest for? My family used to get occasional royalty cheques 50 years after my grandad published a book - how long would you want to maintain self publishing for?

40% seems high to me - but is that 40% of the retail rate or of the trade? Is this fiction or non? Paper or ebook?

Self publishing you can make as much profit per book as you like - but profit overall is a different matter. The printing costs are easily available and not as low as I expected when I first looked at them, but if you think you can sell it for £500 a copy you would make far more than 40% on each copy - but probably not sell many!

engineer_amy

I cant comment on the royalty split, but a friend wrote a book and self-published. Sales were poor through lack of publicity, no seller network etc and the reviews on amazon cited a very good premise for a book, well written, however it was let down by poor editing.

She withdrew it after a time and went to a publishing house who did the full range of services, professionally edited the book and marketed it properly in large outlets. In a very short space of time she had sold over 10 times the volume of books from the first time. So she believes using a publisher is a must.

patman99

It really is a hard thing to fathom out. Some books sell more in physical form than in electronic form, whilst others sell better via the likes of Amazon and iTunes.

The big question to ask any publisher is "do you cover both electronic and physical publishing media markets?".
If they do, then all your bases will be covered. As for commission levels, I would guess that almost all publishers with have around the same levels of commission payouts.

Don't forget that royalties on published media are payable to the decendants of the original writer for up to 50 years after their death (or, if a collaboration between two writers, 50 years after the death of the last writer).

There was a poster on the forums by the name of 'MrBloater' who self-published some crime novels but I have not seen him on here for a while, so not sure if he is still around. If he is, then it might be worth pm'ing him to get his thoughts on the self-publishing route.

DKLS

Congrats on the offer, 40% is very good, when I worked for a publisher we used to pay between 2-15%.

There are a wealth of self-publishing options available these days, but like the app market its packed and getting noticed amongst the vanity published titles isn't easy but not impossible.

PrincessJR

Thank you everyone for your advice - it's all really helpful!

I guess I pretty much knew that opting to go with a Publisher would be the best option, for several reasons, but part of me was still unsure given my first experience. I agree that the benefits of being with a professional publisher outweigh the possible benefits of self publishing.

It's a factual book for quite a niche market (the paranormal) and so being placed with a publisher who already works within this field and moves in the right circle is going to be the best way to go.

Thanks again!

Sncjw

Could you not look around at different ones see if there better rate

whitewing

I am 99% more likely to buy a factual or fiction book from a publisher.

I am probably 90% more likely to buy a particular subject book from a select few publishers eg children's book - if it's Dorling Kindersley I know it will be great quality.

I am extremely unlikely to buy your self-published book, but may buy it from a bookshop or online.

GothicStirling

If I were you, I would do some research about the publisher first, and contact The Society of Authors to read over the contract before you sign any thing. I've been dabbling with writing for 10 years and 40% sounds fishy to me.

GothicStirling

PrincessJR wrote: »

Hi,

They cover proof reading, editing, marketing and print costs upfront, and in return expect a 60% fee from each book sale, meaning my cut would be 40%.

Just seen this. Any reputable publisher will do this without charge, and claw it back through their cut. Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it sounds as though you've paid a fee to get a 'publishing package', in which case it would be self/vanity publishing.