4 ms·

> The result is $1.59 royalty and $0.77 profit per book sold. That's brutal. I mean I get it that production and distribution is costly (books are heavy), but

by LeonM 8y ago

> The result is $1.59 royalty and $0.77 profit per book sold. That's brutal. I mean I get it that production and distribution is costly (books are heavy), but only taking a 77 cent profit on one year of work seems insane. What does the breakdown usually look like for e-books?

seanwilson 8y ago
>Here are all the numbers. When I upload the PDF on Amazon, a minimal price is automatically calculated. In the case of the DOOM, Amazon sets the minimal price at $51.35. There is a slider which authors can use in order to add their "share" on top of Amazon price. I have added $3.88 which Amazon also takes a cut on. The result is $1.59 royalty and $0.77 profit per book sold. I didn't understand this part either. Wouldn't charging $59.99 sustainably increase the author's profit?
- shakna 8y ago
  Only if the book would sustainable sell volume at that price point.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
shakna 8y ago
Yes, books are not a great way to make an income for most people. Kindle sells at either 30% to 70% royalties, usually at $2.99/book or less.
- mdpopescu 8y ago
  It's 30% for <$2.99 or >$9.99, 70% in between. (This is for ebooks, as you said - paper books might be different.)
jokoon 8y ago
> In the case of the DOOM, Amazon sets the minimal price at $51.35. I have trouble understanding this
- LeonM 8y ago
  Amazon calculates production costs (number of pages, paper finish, etc) and handling costs (weight, based on number of pages). And probably also makes a estimate of the number of books being sold (given the huge dataset they own, some ML analysis could probably make a fairly accurate estimate). The minimum price is what they charge for the production and distribution, anything on top of that is your revenue.
freeflight 8y ago
> only taking a 77 cent profit on one year of work seems insane While I agree that the percentages are way too lopsided for the distributor, you have to remember that income from this book will persist for years, if not decades. Many a mickle, makes a muckle. So while it might look like "little" on its own, I'm pretty sure this can easily add up over time, particularly if an author keeps releasing books that keep on selling. Which makes the high distributor take even more outrageous.

by LeonM 8y ago

seanwilson 8y ago

>Here are all the numbers. When I upload the PDF on Amazon, a minimal price is automatically calculated. In the case of the DOOM, Amazon sets the minimal price at $51.35. There is a slider which authors can use in order to add their "share" on top of Amazon price. I have added $3.88 which Amazon also takes a cut on. The result is $1.59 royalty and $0.77 profit per book sold. I didn't understand this part either. Wouldn't charging $59.99 sustainably increase the author's profit?

shakna 8y ago
Only if the book would sustainable sell volume at that price point.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

shakna 8y ago

Yes, books are not a great way to make an income for most people. Kindle sells at either 30% to 70% royalties, usually at $2.99/book or less.

mdpopescu 8y ago
It's 30% for <$2.99 or >$9.99, 70% in between. (This is for ebooks, as you said - paper books might be different.)

jokoon 8y ago

> In the case of the DOOM, Amazon sets the minimal price at $51.35. I have trouble understanding this

LeonM 8y ago
Amazon calculates production costs (number of pages, paper finish, etc) and handling costs (weight, based on number of pages). And probably also makes a estimate of the number of books being sold (given the huge dataset they own, some ML analysis could probably make a fairly accurate estimate). The minimum price is what they charge for the production and distribution, anything on top of that is your revenue.

freeflight 8y ago

> only taking a 77 cent profit on one year of work seems insane While I agree that the percentages are way too lopsided for the distributor, you have to remember that income from this book will persist for years, if not decades. Many a mickle, makes a muckle. So while it might look like "little" on its own, I'm pretty sure this can easily add up over time, particularly if an author keeps releasing books that keep on selling. Which makes the high distributor take even more outrageous.