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A few years ago I had beers with a NYT best selling author using trad publishing. Millions of copies sold on multiple continents, translated into many different

by grecy 3y ago

A few years ago I had beers with a NYT best selling author using trad publishing. Millions of copies sold on multiple continents, translated into many different languages, etc etc. You've heard of him, or at least his one big hit. He said, at best, over his entire lifetime he may make $200k from that book. He basically has to write a book every single year just to make his mortgage payments, and its a grind. When I told him I make $8/book self published he nearly fell out of his chair.

leephillips 3y ago
A typical royalty is 10% of the retail price. If the book is $30 (cheap these days), then a million copies sold (an extremely rare feat, even for a best seller, but...) is $3 million dollars. How does this story add up? (Foreign rights are often a lump sum rather than royalties, but still...?)
- grecy 3y ago
  > A typical royalty is 10% of the retail price. For WHO? What publisher is offering 10%?? The best I've ever heard is a fraction of a cent per book, and you don't get a single cent until AFTER all the expenses have been earned back (advance, editing, promotion of the book, flying you all over the place, hotels, staff).
  - leephillips 3y ago
    The standard rate from reputable publishers is 10 to 15%. It's what I've gotten from three different publishers (Hachette, No Starch, Packt). The rates for paperback, discounted books, ebooks, audio books, are all a bit different, but that's the ballpark. All these publishers also paid me advances. That’s an advance on royalties. You start getting paid more when your earned royalties exceed the advance. There is no deduction for any other expense whatsoever. This thread is full of utter nonsense about the worlds of publishing and writing. [Edit: minus the 15% for your agent, if you're represented by one. But as your agent also made sure you got a good contract, you probably come out ahead.]
    - dlx 3y ago
      OK I’ll bite. What is the utter nonsense in this thread?

by grecy 3y ago

leephillips 3y ago

A typical royalty is 10% of the retail price. If the book is $30 (cheap these days), then a million copies sold (an extremely rare feat, even for a best seller, but...) is $3 million dollars. How does this story add up? (Foreign rights are often a lump sum rather than royalties, but still...?)

grecy 3y ago
> A typical royalty is 10% of the retail price. For WHO? What publisher is offering 10%?? The best I've ever heard is a fraction of a cent per book, and you don't get a single cent until AFTER all the expenses have been earned back (advance, editing, promotion of the book, flying you all over the place, hotels, staff).
- leephillips 3y ago
  The standard rate from reputable publishers is 10 to 15%. It's what I've gotten from three different publishers (Hachette, No Starch, Packt). The rates for paperback, discounted books, ebooks, audio books, are all a bit different, but that's the ballpark. All these publishers also paid me advances. That’s an advance on royalties. You start getting paid more when your earned royalties exceed the advance. There is no deduction for any other expense whatsoever. This thread is full of utter nonsense about the worlds of publishing and writing. [Edit: minus the 15% for your agent, if you're represented by one. But as your agent also made sure you got a good contract, you probably come out ahead.]
  - dlx 3y ago
    OK I’ll bite. What is the utter nonsense in this thread?