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Have you thought about making
an audio book?
Follow the process of publishing
in over 90 articles
Some titles in our bookshop
Exchange calculator
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How much money will you make?
 | In very rough terms, given normal margins and prices, your margin is
horribly small if you sell a novel through the retail chain. The distribution
chain and bookshops takes most of the money. |
| The best way to increase your income from your book is to sell it
directly at signings and talks. This way you earn the distributor's and the retailer's
margins so could be looking at half the cover price. |
| At WPS we are exploring ways to use the Internet both to promote and
deliver books, avoiding the expenses of the retail chain. |
Pricing your book
Be realistic. Have a look at the examples below:
Assume the unit cost for
printing is £3.75 ($6.75) and you have to allow 20% for the wholesaler and 35%
for the retail outlet.
|
Retail bookshop
model |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cover
price |
£
7.00 |
£
8.00 |
£
9.00 |
£
10.00 |
£
11.00 |
£
12.00 |
£
13.00 |
£
14.00 |
£
15.00 |
£
16.00 |
|
Wholesale income |
£
1.40 |
£
1.60 |
£1.80
|
£
2.00 |
£
2.20 |
£
2.40 |
£
2.60 |
£
2.80 |
£
3.00 |
£
3.20 |
|
Book
Store income |
£
2.45 |
£
2.80 |
£3.15
|
£
3.50 |
£
3.85 |
£
4.20 |
£
4.55 |
£
4.90 |
£
5.25 |
£
5.60 |
|
Net income |
-£ 0.60
|
-£ 0.15 |
£0.30
|
£
0.75 |
£
1.20 |
£
1.65 |
£
2.10 |
£
2.55 |
£
3.00 |
£
3.45 |
Assume the unit cost for
printing is £2.75 ($4.95) and you have to allow 20% for the wholesaler and 35%
for the retail outlet.
|
Retail bookshop
model |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cover
price |
£
7.00 |
£
8.00 |
£
9.00 |
£
10.00 |
£
11.00 |
£
12.00 |
£
13.00 |
£
14.00 |
£
15.00 |
£
16.00 |
|
Wholesale income |
£
1.40 |
£
1.60 |
£1.80
|
£
2.00 |
£
2.20 |
£
2.40 |
£
2.60 |
£
2.80 |
£
3.00 |
£
3.20 |
|
Book
Store income |
£
2.45 |
£
2.80 |
£3.15
|
£
3.50 |
£
3.85 |
£
4.20 |
£
4.55 |
£
4.90 |
£
5.25 |
£
5.60 |
|
Net income |
£
0.40 |
£
0.85 |
£1.30
|
£
1.75 |
£
2.20 |
£
2.65 |
£
3.10 |
£
3.55 |
£
4.00 |
£
4.45 |
If you try to compete with the current best-seller you will make very little.
Set a realistic price. Our experience shows that it has no effect on your sales.
They are buying your book because they want to buy your
book.
Just remember that selling the books directly means you don't have to pay
anything to the retail chain. Being your own distributor makes so much sense.
And setting a realistic price provides retails scope for discounting.
Amazon in particular tend to discount books if the margins permit it.
And how many will you sell?
| The advice must be to
think in tens or hundreds, rather than thousands,
and then you are unlikely to be disappointed. |
| The number you sell will depend very much on how
successful you are at promoting
your book and marketing. |
| It
takes time to build a reputation and sales. It is easy to be
discouraged if the sales do not take off in the first year. Read a few
biographies of writers and you will soon discover that it takes time for
your audience to find you. |
Plan your sales strategy to last for at least
two years. It takes a long time to get reviews, arrange speaking
engagements and get bookshops to stock you.
For those whose maths is a bit rusty, here's a check that you know
what you are being offered.
Let's say your book has a retail price of £10
| Your % |
Of what |
You receive |
Notes
|
| 20% |
The retail price
i.e. £10 |
£2 |
|
| 40% |
The wholesale price
i.e. £5 |
£2 |
Assume 50% to the retail chain, so 40% of the
wholesaler's £5 goes to you. |
| 100% less costs |
On books you order and sell yourself, after the actual
cost of production (perhaps £3) paid through WritersPrintshop |
£7 |
Deduct production costs of approximately
30%.
But, if you go for batch printing rather than POD, then add the
cost of storage and dispatch, plus chasing the money and the risk
of bad debts and you are realistically looking at a probable loss! |
We normally recommend total margins of 55%.
The real market is more complex. Check Inside
Publishing for details. |
The message has to be that writing is a risky business. It
has its rewards but not in a way that your bank manager or family
are likely to recognise!
Payment of royalties
You need to make an allowance of 45-55% to the complete retail chain and we agree this
with you in your contract. Shops like 35% discount. On top of this there is the percentage taken by the
wholesaler, which is typically 20%. Royalty payments traditionally are a bit
slow arriving - we have to wait up to 90 days for payment through the retail
chain - We process the figures each quarter so it can be up to six months before
you get the proceeds from some sales. This is better than most publishers who
pay annually based on figures that are months old. We charge a small fee on
these trade sales.
Back to print and supply How
long will it take? What might I earn?
Order
copies of your own book
| |
Does your book deserve the attentions of a
professional
copy editor?
Writers Services offers a full
range of editorial services.
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