Number Crunching 101

Number Crunching 101 Let’s step away from the perceived prestige of a traditional publisher and compare apples to apples. You can only do this with the numbers— the amount of money that the typical or average author gets. The New York Times best-seller blockbusters—such as David Baldacci, Mitch Albom or Nora Roberts—are not the typical author. No, that person in the nonfiction vein will sell less than 6,500 books; for the fiction writer, it’s in the 3,500 range. And that’s in good times—in 2009, those numbers dropped dramatically. The scenarios below represent a comparison of royalties that an author would receive via book sales from a traditional publisher and the author turned publisher, selling through wholesalers/distributors or within his own platform, meaning that 100 percent of book sales go to the author/ publisher. Printing estimates are from offset printing. If digital printing was used, printing costs would be significantly less. Money Talks ... Do You Listen? Assumptions: The print quotes were obtained for a 256 page book that is 6 x 9 and 50 pound HiBulk Cream, offset (not digital or POD). Cover is laminated, freight from Michigan to Colorado, and includes content and cover proofs. Our examples below do not include any costs for illustrations, cartoons, photos or any other type of artwork that would be used on the interior or cover of a book. If you do, you can take the frugal approach and use clip art or take it to the extreme and have custom artwork— always the author’s choice. Nor do they reflect any consultants, coaches or book shepherds that were engaged during the process. Percentages used for royalties paid to the author for traditional publishing are based on industry norms for a $15 trade paper and $25 hardback and based on net revenues (not full retail price), usually a 55 percent discount from retail price. Royalties range for the trade paper from 7 to 9 percent ($.47 to $.61 per book) and hardback, a graduated percentage beginning at 10 percent for up to 5,000 copies ($1.13 per book); 12 1?2 percent from 5,001 to 10,000 ($1.41 per book); and 15 percent over 10,001 copies ($1.69 per book). Special sales are not included (which pay a smaller payout), nor are serial or foreign rights. Warning! We advise all authors to pay close attention to any Royalty Clause—are royalties determined on net sales or retail sales? Retail will yield approximately double the amount of royalties received versus net. Many of the newer publishing contracts are based on net. One other thing to keep in mind: the numbers below do not reflect marketing or PR costs if you engage in them. Learn more at AUTHOR101U Oct 25-28 in Las Vegas

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