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My wife is a professor in a field where they regularly publish books. "Zero royalties for the first N copies sold" appears to be common in the academic publishi
by UncleMeat 3y ago
My wife is a professor in a field where they regularly publish books. "Zero royalties for the first N copies sold" appears to be common in the academic publishing contract world. It's a mess.
- buffington 3y agoI wrote a programming book back when tech books were a thing you had to go physically buy from a physical store (more than 20 years ago now). The publisher sent advanced royalties, which was money that was mine, free and clear (it wasn't a small amount either - certainly enough to compete with a full time salary for similar time commitment and knowledge/skills needed). I wouldn't see any more royalties until I'd sold enough to equal what my advance was. If I never sold enough, then I wouldn't see any new money - the original advance was still mine. I did end up seeing royalty checks, though not until the book was translated from English to Italian. For some reason, it sold comparatively well in Italian, pushing me over the threshold to earn royalities. The one actual royalty check I saw for my book was a grand total of $0.02. I never cashed the check and keep it in a desk drawer somewhere.
- consf 3y agoIt's actually really pitty to hear. I think there are authors who contribute valuable research and knowledge to their fields and still not able to get royalties...
- UncleMeat 3y agoIt is worse than that. We will pay thousands of dollars out of our own pockets for tasks like editing, proofing, and indexing.
- nazka 3y agoI mean all financial risks are on the publisher side since he has to print some books with his own money and be sure it can get some money back if it doesn’t sell.