what is the standard book royalty fee when working with a publishing company?

Answer 1

Usually 10% - sometimes 15% depending on the deal your agent cuts for you.

This is how it is all figured out.

First the publisher determines the price of the book which is based on printing and other costs x 6. Let's say they decide on 24.99.

Then they decide what the initial print run will be. 15,000 is about average right now.

They will give you an advance of 50% of what your total royalties for 15,000 books sold - less 15% which goes directly to your agent. Which means your advance would be $18,675 less 15% or $15,873.75.

Once you sell 7,501 books, you start earning royalties based on sales at the rate of 2.49 per book less 15%.

If the entire print run sells out, the publisher may do a second run and if your agent has negotiated a good deal for you, your royalties may go up a bit too.

However, if the entire first run doesn't sell out and some of your books end up on the bargain tables at Barnes and Noble, your royalties on those sales is ZERO. Authors never make money on bargain books.

There are many other factors. A good agent might get you a higher advance. More than one publisher might be in a bidding war for your book and you could end up with a bonus.

The downside is that more and more, books are being sold at discounters like Costco and those places are negotiating with the publisher for volume discounts which effects your royalties. You will likely sell more books because of the number of stores they have selling them, but get paid less royalties. Also some of the stores like Barnes and Noble are now charging publishers a premium of up to one dollar to have their books featured on the main tables inside the door. Part of that will come from your royalties as well.

This all applies to large publishers. If you are dealing with a small publisher, you will likely make royalties only. They usually do not have the cash to lay out for advances. You are entitled to see their books annually, so make sure you are being paid for all the books you sold. They are famous for not reporting all of your sales to you. You can also check with the distributors like Ingram and find out exactly what your sales were.

Then lastly there is the self published book. Then you are on your own. Your books aren't distributed anywhere unless you market it and make deals with the bookstores yourself. Then you earn based on what you sell directly. That's one of the reasons self publishing is not a good idea.

Hope that helps. Pax- C