Does 100% Author Royalties Exist?
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 30th, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
The answer to the question is dependent on how a publisher defines “author royalty.” In my opinion, self-publishers who claim that authors will receive “100% royalties” are intentionally misleading their clients. There is no such thing as 100% royalties. That would mean each author receives the complete and total cost of their book as their own profit. There is always a cost to publishing on your own. The cost of production and printing must be included in each copy sold. Each book that you sell has a cost to your publisher so in essence, no royalty is 100%. This kind of statement is a play on words but not entirely truthful.
In the traditional publishing world of New York, author royalties for most first time writers range from 5 to 7% of the cover price of a book, and no royalty is paid until all author advanced payments, production, sales, marketing and distribution costs are repaid. Do not be fooled by any offer of “100% author royalties” since it does not exist. Typically the POD’s or printers/publishers set the cover price so high they offer a major portion as the author royalty. Then they calculate that as a large percentage and proclaim “highest author royalty rate.” This is all a complete distortion of the facts and another way of seducing the unsuspecting writer into a contract and large fee.
Calculating royalty rates is simple: if you have a book that retails for $10 and that title is sold to the marketplace, booksellers typically take 50% of the cover price as their discount ($5). The publisher cost of production, editorial, sales, marketing and distribution can run from 30 to 45% of the cover price ($3-$4.50). What remains is the author royalty. In the end 100% author royalty does not exist.
The Importance of Book Distribution
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 22nd, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Book distribution is the process of getting your book onto the shelves and warehouses of booksellers where your title has the best opportunity to sell copies. Any author under contract should learn how their publisher plans to maximize the net sale on their book. The only way to effectively do that is understand how distribution works and how you as an author can have a positive impact. The wrong quantity of any title shipped to the wrong bookseller can result in excessive returns that effectively lower the net sale of a book. The lower the net sale on your book(s) the lower the percent of sale the greater chance your career as an author will be cut short.
Understanding book distribution is a key to maintaining your future as a successfully published author. It requires knowledge of distribution and sales numbers and how they are used in publishing. To become a successful author you should know how these numbers are developed, what they mean, how they impact decisions, and their relationship to distribution. All are important aspects of the distribution of books to booksellers. Knowing to which bookseller your book is being sent and in what quantity is essential to maximizing the net sale.
In order for you to have any influence with your publisher, you as an author need to learn how to participate in the decisions about your book with everyone that has a hand in publishing your title. This is a very important part of becoming a successful author.
The development of numbers and their relationship to book distribution is an integral part of the overall publishing business. The more you know, and how much of that you can learn to influence, the better your chances of improving your net sale and securing your future as a successfully published author.
Publishers Must Work Within the Rules of the System
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 17th, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Whether we like it or not the opportunity for retail bookstore placement requires publishers to work within the existing system of sales and distribution. Attempting to forgo the rules and work outside the system means your books will be ignored. Barnes & Nobel, this countries largest bookseller announced plans to set presentation deadlines for the purchase of small press titles. Of course this won’t impact the six largest publishers and those that do considerable business with B&N but it does change the game for the small publishers.
The new deadline states that a small publisher needs a finished cover and all relevant details about the publication of their books at least seven months in advance of the official publication date. This is a small inconvenience but means that any small publisher that is fortunate enough to have an excellent title fall into their laps with the need to sell on a short schedule is out of luck. It does require lots of advance planning which is not a problem but for authors who are hoping for an early release, that option is off the table.
For those who are publishing on their own, they can release their book whenever without the need to adhere to a strict schedule. Placement on Amazon and other online retailers can be completed whenever they feel like it. There is no need to follow any deadline since those books will have little chance of seeing the inside of a Barnes & Nobel or any other retail bookstore. I’m not being negative, this article is about the rules of the business and they aren’t mine.
The system of pre-selling and official release and publication dates was established long ago and has changed little in the 30 plus years I’ve been around the business. The key is to practice patience and learn to go with the flow. The recent B&N change impacted virtually every title I have in my publishing program and fortunately all of my authors are flexible and willing to work within the system. What are our options?
Book Marketing May Shake Your Confidence
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 15th, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Marketing any book can be confusing and frustrating if you fail to put all the pieces together. When creating your plan remember that it’s not always about the book, sometimes it’s the message or it can be about the author. If you get bogged down with the notion that book marketing is all about the book you may miss other opportunities.
Effective book marketing is a recipe and must include consideration of format (paper or hardcover), pricing, category, and age range of your reader, location (local, regional or national), support (will you have finished books where consumers can purchase?) as well as whether you plan to advertise, promote or publicize? The one issue you must consider is that you never want to go head-to-head and compete against the big publishers.
Book marketing is also about testing and failing. No one, including the New York publishers ever hit on a perfect formula, it varies title to title and most of the time the plan fails. If you’re under contract with a traditional publisher and the marketing plan is a failure, your career may also fail. For them it’s on to the next book, for you it’s much more serious.
Seven out of ten traditionally published books fail to earn back the investment the company makes, that means if you are one of the seven; it could be curtains on your career as a writer. If you are one of the fortunate three, then you must consider a certain amount of luck on your side. No plan is perfect and not all plans create the desired level of sales. The key is to keep trying and testing until you hit upon the recipe that works for your book.
Publishing independently gives you a chance to retreat from parts that are not working and redesign your plan. Be patient, be persistent and be aware that your confidence may be shaken when you fail the first time. That’s all part of marketing. Pick yourself up and try again, perseverance is also a key ingredient of good book marketing.
What Book Publishers Demand of Their Authors
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 10th, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
The day when publishing was about authors and books has long gone; today the focus is gross shipments and market share. Competition for sales is so intense that flooding the market with large quantities of books is the primary objective. This generates billing and occupies shelf space which keeps competitors books off store shelves.
As an author the reason this information is important to you is that you must understand the basics surrounding how your manuscript is published, who is involved, and what happens at what time during the process. Failure to grasp these simple rules makes you vulnerable to the gross shipment problem which in the end creates returns. As an author, you want to avoid returns as much as possible.
Once you understand the basics, you must learn to market. Not just your writing and yourself as an author but as an expert and spokesperson. Publicity sells books, the more you can promote your writing, your message and your book, the more valuable you become. If you can create the image that publishers want, you have a better chance of landing a spot on television, radio and print. All of that builds readership and is a huge bonus for you in the eyes of your publisher.
Finally, as a professional writer you must create content. The more you write and create for your publisher, the better chance you have of developing a successful career as an author. You don’t have to become a bestselling author, publishers need content. If you are prolific, have the ability to complete a manuscript every six to nine months, learn to market and build your readership and understand the basics of the business, you have all the ingredients for success.
This is what book publisher’s demand of their authors in today’s marketplace.
What it Takes to Get Your Manuscript Published
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 7th, 2009 | 1 Comment » (Click to add yours!)
Writers who believe their manuscript alone is enough to attract attention are wrong. You need more than a manuscript you need a plan. Agents want nice neat packages to sell and publishers want their authors to do most of the work for them. Here is what you must have to sell your writing.
First you need a good story. Publishers cannot sell great writing; the public demands a good story. Books that inform enlighten or entertain and are capable of wide-spread distribution with the promise of generating lots of billing for the company is paramount. If you haven’t worked with a professional editor then I suggest you go no further until you do, it’s critical. Manuscripts that require a lot of editorial work will be tossed; publishers are not willing to invest the time it takes to make a good story better.
Second you need a great query letter, not just good but great. A letter completely out of the box. A friend of mine who is an expert at writing query letters starts with lines such as “He shot himself in the chest when he was but 32. He’d lost his job, his home and his girlfriend, all at once.” You need an opening that will hit someone between the eyes and get their attention. Provide enough information, a tease, that they request more. When they do, be prepared to strike. If you require more time to complete either your manuscript or proposal you have lost that slim window of opportunity.
Third you must have a complete proposal on how you expect to market, sell, promote and publicize your book. In addition you need to provide enough competitive title information that the publisher is willing to fork over a contract. A proposal makes it easy for the publisher and increases your chances at getting signed. It’s not rocket science, but it takes a strong commitment.
Finally, there are two parts to being a successful writer—the first is the writing and editing of your manuscript to the point where it is ready for publication and the second is everything else.
The Trend toward Independent Publishing
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 1st, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
There is a direct relationship between the slowing of the business cycle for publishing and the failure of big traditional publishers to react. Their mantra is “business as usual” so they search for the instant bestselling celebrity book and turn away from new writers with great stories. This is the reason for the current trend toward independent publishing. No wonder their sales have been in decline for more than a decade.
It is harder for a new writer to find an agent and traditional publisher today than at anytime in my thirty years of publishing experience. Good writers with interesting well written manuscripts cannot find a home, and the result is more writers are becoming their own publisher. This trend reached a peak last year when for the first time there were more self-published titles than traditionally published.
This can be a positive move if the writer seeks professional help. Do not try and publish your own manuscript without assistance from experts. The large print-on-demand companies are not publishers, they are printers. Do not trust what they tell you, their business is focused on selling you a service without regard to the end product. You need experienced, reputable publishers, not account reps with little publishing background.
There are plenty of self-publishing options and if you truly want to publish in the right way, make a small investment, seek help and produce a quality book. This is the only chance any author has of making the right first impression for their writing. Publish in a vacuum and your book will have little chance of ever finding an audience. It’s important to understand proper categorization, pricing, sales and distribution. Make a mistake and the marketplace will punish you with obscurity.
If you click the link on INDI Publishing Group at the top right of this page you can find a sign-up for my free article “Guide to Publishing.” This will provide you with all the information you need. Don’t make a costly error and spend money or waste time, get the facts, avoid the confusion, and publish responsibly.
