Traditional publishing takes away any initial financial input from the author, but typically has a very
low author royalty percentage.
Trying to draw a comparison between the two does not make for a good argument that KDP will
lower author royalties, since it has virtually no overhead costs, all of which are borne by the authors.
The gist of it was that no books sold through ordinary book selling channels (regardless of price) could use the deep discount price to
lower author royalties.
The effects of piracy can range from the tangible (lost sales,
lower author royalties) to the intangible (decline in the perception of the value of a book).
Not exact matches
Wylie's gambit seeks to resolve two issues: the assumption by publishers that existing contracts written before the advent of e-books automatically confer digital publishing rights, and the assumption that
authors»
royalty rates should remain at historic levels despite
lower e-book production costs for publishers.
The downsides are the
low royalties, Amazon sets the price, not the
author, and Amazon holds the rights to your Kindle Worlds works for the length of copyright.
IngramSpark distributes books to all online retailers including Amazon, but as mentioned above, their
royalties (or publisher compensation as IS terms the amount paid to self - published
authors) for Amazon are a bit
lower than CreateSpace.Both companies distribute to brick - and - mortar stores.
However, if you want to make the most money (especially on Amazon, which only allows
authors to receive 70 percent in
royalties if the book is priced at $ 2.99 or higher — $ 1.99 and $ 0.99 books only allow
authors a 35 percent
royalty rate), then $ 4.99 appears to be the best price point for selling a good amount of books (though far less than with a
lower price point) while making the most in profit.
I would estimate that the average annual income for self - published
authors is slightly
lower now and, having seen a number of
authors quit over the last couple of years in order to get full time jobs because of financial problems, it hasn't gotten any easier to make ends meet on just book
royalties.
Authors should be getting larger
royalty percentages on e-books because of
lower distribution costs, so the publisher doesn't need to take as large a cut to cover their costs.
The contracts of most
authors at most publishing houses do not garner them very much money;
royalty percentages are traditionally very
low.
And
authors, of course, stand to lose out in a world where there are fewer sales and
lower royalty payments.
There are hundreds of traditionally published
authors (
authors with the Big Five and other well - established, respected and recognized publishing houses) who can not quit their day jobs because 1) their advances were too meager and 2) their
royalties too
low and 3) non-compete clauses prevents them from «traditionally publishing» any other work.
I find it curious that the ebook
royalty rate is 50 % for direct sales,
lower than the 70 % rate most self - published
authors get for their e-books on Amazon.
In a business where
authors traditionally have had to accept lousy contracts and
low royalty rates just to be in the game, getting taken advantage of may seem the price of doing business.
After complaints about the improper
royalty payments, Ellora's Cave attempted to modify its publishing contracts with its
authors, including Josephson, by unilaterally informing the
authors that Ellora's Cave would begin paying an increased
royalty rate (45 % or 40 %) but pay the
royalty rate based on the sales price, which was often substantially
lower than the cover price.
«ACX
Lowers Royalty Rates» Personally, I'm shocked that Amazon would do anything to fuel the speculation that once they grow big enough,
authors will suffer.
Usually, the dishonesty comes in the form of tricking
authors into signing confusing legal contracts that force them to meet unfair obligations or accept unreasonably
low royalty payments.
Many self - publishing companies cheat
authors with unfair contracts, hidden fees and
low royalty payments.
The Award winner receives a cash grant of $ 1000 and a standard publication contract with Lee and
Low, including their basic advance and
royalties for a first time
author.
The
author gets a higher
royalty percentage, but NOT a higher
royalty in dollars when ebooks are priced at 9.99 or
lower.
The cost for producing it are
lower, but the
author also gets a higher
royalty.
And we know that self - published
authors are making seventy percent and traditionally published
authors are making seventeen and a half percent, so even though the price for self - published books is
lower it's more than made up for by the
royalty.
Traditionally published
authors unsurprisingly receive the
lowest royalty percentage, hybrid
authors were next, followed by self - published
authors who make the highest
royalties.
Publishers will try to hold the line on their 25 % net ebook
royalty structures, which means big
authors will see their
royalties suffer as prices drop and as the unit sales advantage of
low prices decreases, and as the disadvantage of high prices increases.
Upscale publishers of this sort leave the
authors and their academic institutions with embarrassingly
low royalty rates, something that Glasstree is working to correct.
After all, it offers the highest percentage
royalty, and eBooks are usually priced
lower than print books, which appeals to readers who might not want to drop $ 15 on an
author they've never heard of.
Authors who have earned up to 70 % in
royalties are going to be reluctant to agree to a much
lower royalty offered by the pbook publisher.
Even though the volume of books produced and sold through traditional publishers can be large, the
royalties paid to
authors can be as
low as a dollar or less per book (maybe even way less!).
down the road (think expensive
author copies like $ 8 - 10 or very
low royalties — less than $ 1 on a $ 15 retail book...).
For example, he notes that «
low - cost / high - margin ebooks have been a bright spot» for publishers without mentioning that those high margins are due, in part, to publishers» refusal to raise digital
royalty rates for
authors above 25 percent.
Since translators carry the risk of sales just as much as the
author does when working indie, the risk has to be compensated with higher
royalty rates when paying
lower flat fees up front.
Today on the show I talk about all of the latest rumors about Amazon potentially
lowering self - published
authors royalty rates from 70 % to 30 %.
The standardized, lockstep
low royalty rates (25 % of net on e-books, 15 % of list on hardcovers, 8 % of list on paperbacks) that traditional publishers offer the vast majority of
authors choosing to go that publishing route make calculating
author earnings straightforward.
By pursuing
authors directly, Amazon can cut out the middleman and pass on the savings to
authors in the form of higher advances and
royalties, and to readers in the form of
lower book prices.
None of the major publishers that I know of sell Amazon as a «deep discount» account where
authors would get a much
lower royalty rate than a traditional sale.
While self - pubbed
authors generally price their ebooks
lower than $ 9.99 (the
royalties they receive by Amazon are cut in half otherwise), indies have responded to the new ruling with an average 5 % price increase.
The self - publishing and make - on - demand company meets the same publishing need for
authors that other sites can offer, but it also boasts higher
royalty rates,
low member book pricing, and distribution to thousands of retail and wholesale outlets.
Some
authors find that they make even more money selling at the
lower price, even with the
lower 35 percent
royalty.
Be aware that
royalties paid to
authors by self - publishing platforms for bookstore distribution can be
lower than other sales channels.
Traditional Publishing —
Author Royalties A majority of new
authors are usually offered a
low advance and
low royalty percentage.
Another factor to note with traditional publishing is that the
author typically loses creative control of their book and rakes in
lower royalty fees (typically from 6 - 8 % in
royalties).
$ 2.99 is a good starting point, where an
author can capitalise on Amazon's 70 %
royalty, yet still be on the cheaper side, allowing for a
lower barrier of entry for new readers to try a new
author.
You see, publishers pay a
lower royalty percentage, according to The
Authors Guild, than they do for print books.
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Simon & Schuster because S&S is reporting those purchases as «sales», which mean a
lower royalty rate for
authors, instead of as «licenses».
Authors and agents will immediately note that much of the additional profit exists because the
royalty allocation once earned out is $ 1.58
lower on the ebook than for the hardcover.
And the
author royalty on an e-book sale is usually about the same as it is for a print book, even though the list price of the e edition is
lower.
There are, however, rather a lot of examples of physically impossible sales numbers being given to
authors as justification for non-existent or ridiculously
low royalty payments.
I should note that, courtesy of some accidental posts on the Lois Bujold mailing list from herself, it seems that Baen's previous
royalty rate for ebooks had become perceived as too
low by some
authors and that
authors were frustrated that their books were not available on Amazon etc..
Hence, the
author can earn higher
royalties or set a
lower price for the book.