5 ms·

Question: if a publisher pays the author 4-6x the revenues brought in for the book, wouldn't that mean that on any 'good' books, they're losing money to publish

• thinkcomp 18y ago
  I just had to set the price of my own book, so I quickly learned where all the money goes. If the MSRP is $25.95, as mine is, then distributors who sell the book to bookstores or sites will require a 55% discount right away. That means that per copy, the publisher receives 45%, or $11.68. Of that 45%, a publisher might typically pay the author 10%, or $1.17 per copy. The printing costs are probably in the $3.50 (China) to $6.50 (United States) range, so the publisher stands to profit anywhere in the $7.01 (China) to $4.01 (United States) range. When you print on demand, your printing costs are twice as high per copy, but since there's no middleman, you make more as an author. Of course, it's impossible to distribute, so it doesn't really matter. It's only a good option if you really only intend to sell a few copies to friends and family.
  • mattmaroon 18y ago
    A decent book contract is more on the order of 10% of list price, with increases at certain volume levels.