It’s time to talk about earning money on your book. We’ve put in so much effort into the other areas of your book, but let’s have some fun and discuss money. We’re ready to discuss the potential amount you can make by selling your book. These profits are called royalties.
Determining your royalty does take some math skills. The one time our writing skills are not going to help us. With a little thought and a calculator, or better yet, the site we decide to sell on has a calculator, we can get through this!
This follows the Royalties pages 19-20 in the Book Marketing Planner available in the Bound to Writing Shop or on Amazon.
Now let’s break it down.
What Are Royalties?
These are the total payments minus any costs and fees to produce your book through your publisher.
Why Are There Fees?
It costs money to publish your book so the publisher subtracts the cost of printing and provides you a rate at which you will earn money based on the price of your book.
What is a Royalty Rate?
A rate set by your publisher that you earn based on the sale of your book.
How Do I Know My Rate?
This information will be provided to you by your chosen publisher.
How Do I Calculate My Royalty Rate?
Based on the purchase price you set during the previous post on pricing, you can begin to calculate your royalty per book. For many publishers there is a simple formula you can use to estimate your royalty payment.
Paperback & Hardcover: (Royalty Rate * List Price) – Print Cost = Estimated Royalty
eBooks: Royalty Rate * (List Price – applicable VAT or taxes) = Estimated Royalty
Audiobooks: Royalty Rate * List Price = Estimated Royalty
Some publishers will provide a calculator to do the math for you. Be sure to check out if that is an option to save you from having to run the calculation yourself.
My Estimated Rate
Once you do the calculations you will have your estimated royalty. These numbers are what you can expect to make per book when it sells. It will be a small amount, but with your continued effort in marketing your book, those royalties can add up.
It’s good to know what to expect once you put your book for sale. That way there are no surprises when your book sells and it’s not as much as you had hoped for.
I hope you found this post to be useful. Remember that you can find all of this information and more in an easy to follow layout in the Book Marketing Planner in the Bound to Writing Shop and on Amazon.
Until next time, keep working on your marketing plan!
Have you calculated your expected royalty before? Were you surprised by your royalty amount? Let’s chat in the comments down below!
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