Robin Sullivan 03/10/2019

Transcription

1 Robin Sullivan 03/10/2019

2 Business manager for author Michael J. Sullivan Small press publisher (past no longer active) 10+ years in the publishing business First published Book Oct business related lectures First Write2Publish Seminar Feb 2008

3 New York Times and Washington Post Bestseller Author 33 books: 14 published, 4 pending release, 13 unpublished, 2 in process Full-time author (I quit my day job 04/11) Hybrid: Self-publishing, small-press, big-five 1,450,000 English Language Books Sold 80 Foreign Language Contracts Self, small-press, and big-five 250+ best of or most anticipated lists 7-time Goodreads Choice Nominee

4 04/20/19 Kickstarter & Crowdfunding 04/20/19 Getting the Word Out 04/27/19 Self-publishing (Library of Congress) 05/10/19 Washington Writer s Conference 05/11/19 Washington Writer s Conference

5 Nothing wrong with writing for personal fulfillment. Professional writers need significant investment in craft 10,000 hours (Malcolm Gladwell s Outliers) 1,000,000 word should be considered practice (Stephen King) Michael s first published novel was his 14 th book. First books are rarely publishable. Focus on continual improvement

6 2010 Survey with 247 responses Range 41 years Average 11.6 Mode 10 Mean 10

7 No clue what to expect when starting out. Money is not often discussed in traditional publishing (self-published authors are changing this). Most authors (even ones with a name ) have day jobs. Both self-publishing & traditional can provide similar financial success. Most first books aren t good enough for publishing. Don t expect much income until third book. Advances are much lower than you probably hope for.

8 Solid mid-list author released through a major publisher (fantasy author). Started writing in First published book released in Quit his day job in 2015 after 11 books in print. Most of his early income came from foreign sales.

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10 9 books 11 books 8 books 5 books 3 books 1 book

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12 Up front income for a book or series. Some small-publishers or digital first imprints don t offer advances Loan against the earning potential of books. If a book does poorly it doesn t have to be paid back. Paid in 3 or 4 installments. Only 1 in 5 books earn out and receive more than just the advance

13 Make sure your contract covers all possibilities If you don t deliver a book, you usually are liable for paying back advances. If publisher cancels the project you usually can keep initial advance payments If publisher and author can t agree on edits? Michael s contracts says he keeps ½. What if you don t have money to pay back advance? They keep the book rights or will put a lien on the book where they get first proceeds.

14 Author Survey (v v v3.0 -??) All authors Range: $0 - $40,000 Medium: $5,000 Average $6,424 Agented Range: $1,500 - $40,000 Median: $6,000 Average: $7,500 Unagented Range: $0 - $15,000 Median: $3,500 Average: $4,051 Last Novel Medium sci-fi $12,500 fantasy: $15,000

15 Three payments Advance: $6,000 a book Yearly releases, contract signed in 2017

16 How are they calculated? Actual sales actual returns? List price, net profit, net income? If net profit or net income those terms need to be defined. When paid (bi-annually, sometimes quarterly) April: for sales July - December October: for sales January June

17 How Bookselling works: Bookstore order new books, without paying After a certain amount of time books are returned for full credit High spike in returns during 8 12 week period Reserve for Return Initial royalty statements won t be based on all sales Ask for a Unit Ledger After some period of time reserve should be equal to actual returns Most contracts will say reasonable or customary but what does that mean? Best to have limits no more 30% for royalty period #1 and no more than 10% for royalty period #2. Some agents will push back on the high reserves when returns are low.

18 Print (list price) Hardcover (10%, 12.5%, 15% - 5,000 levels) Trade paperback 7.5% - no escalators Mass market paperback 8% first 100,000 then 10% above that Ebook 25% of net Can t tell publishers cut in a post-doj world 30% Retailer 52.5% publisher 17.5% of list Auto escalators if rate goes up in future Audio 25% of net if produced by publisher

19 Retailer: 45% - 55% (paper) 30% ebook 65% audio Agent: 15% domestic 20% foreign (10%/10%)

20 Deep discounts Paperback 60% or more Hardcover 55% or more 5% - 10% of net rather than 10% -15% of list) Example 54% discount of $25.00 Hardcover 10% Royalty: Retailer: $13.50 Publisher: $9.00 Author: $ % Royalty: Retailer: $13.50 Publisher: $7.75 Author: $3.75 Change by 1% 55% discount Retailer: $13.75 Publisher: $10.12 Author: $ % royalty: Publisher increases by 12.4% Author decreased by 54.8% 15% royalty: Publisher increases by 30.6% Author decreased by 69.8%

21 Items sold in British Market Hardcover: 10% (list) first 3, % above Trade paperback (list): 7.5% Mass market (list): 7.5% first 20,000 10% above Canada, Australia, New Zeeland 2/3 of US royalty Foreign sales 10% of NET hardcover 5% paper Large Print, Premiums, Mail order, Book clubs Remainders Usually no royalty paid

22 First Serial: 10% 90% Second Serial: 50% 50% Book club: 50% 50% Paperback: 50% 50% * Other print formats: 50% 50% * British Commonwealth: 20% 80% Translation: 25% 75% or 50% 50% Audio: 50% 50% Television, movie, radio: 10% 90% * Author approval

23 3,350 hard covers 6,221 ebooks 6,700 hard covers 12,440 ebooks 14,000 hard covers 26,000 ebooks $100,000 $303,225 Higher sales 27% split $1,000,000 Author $2,703,703 Publisher

24 Audio Sales are much more lucrative these days $2,000 advance for Riyria #1 $100,000 Advance for Riyria #10 $1,000,000 for Rise and Fall Trilogy Publishers holding on to these rights We sold audio rights first for several books but can t do that any longer which is sending us to self-publishing. Unit breakdown Riyria: 36% ebook 18% print 46% audio Legends (Week 1): 7,100 audio 1,501 print 3,458 ebook Legends (%): 38% ebook 20% print 42% audio

25 Audible is where 99.9% of sales come from How much per book? Reg: $25.86 Member: $ credit = $13.50

26 $26.00 hardcover: $2.60 $3.25 $3.90 $17.00 trade paperback: $1.28 $7.99 mass market paperback: $0.64 $0.80 $12.99 ebook $ credit audio: $0.59 $1.19 $2.03

27 Must produce a quality product Cover Design: $99 - $350 Copy editing: $350 - $1,200 Structural editing: Don t hire this out (beta readers and trading critical critiques with other authors Layout: $50 (ebook) $250 print book $500 - $1,500 per book Best way to ensure ROI is to keep costs in line

28 90% - 99% will come from ebook Amazon: 70% for $ $ % otherwise B&N.com: 65% $ $ % otherwise Apple: 70% all price points Kobo: 70% $ $ % otherwise (must be at least 20% lower than print cost Smashwords Distribution partner 15% of net income

29 $0.99 = $0.35 $1.99 = $0.70 $2.99 = $2.09 $3.99 = $2.79 $4.99 = $3.49 $7.99 = $5.59 $9.99 = $6.99

30 Income comes from page reads NOT downloads Pool set by Amazon each month July M First payout January million December million November million October million Generally about $ $ a page Many self-pub are seeing 60% of income from KU

31 Amazon KDP & Lightning Source Spark Setup fee: KDP $0 Spark $49 Yearly fee: KDP $0 Spark $12 Discount: KDP 40% Spark variable Distribution: Expanded (B&N & Ingram) Ingram 350 page book: KDP: $5.05 Spark $ page book: KDP: $4.45 Spark $5.35

32 350 page $ x = $5.05 printing $14.95 x.40 = $5.98 Amazon s cut Author share: $ $ $5.98 = $3.92 Expanded Distribution: $0.93

33 Print Charge $3.99 for shipping ($3.09 media mail) PayPal fee 2.9% +.30 = $0.85 Shipping 30 books $18 = $0.60 Padded Envelope (Uline) = $0.44 $ $ $ $ $ $ $0.44 = $8.91 Ebook Charge $4.99 for ebook PayPal fee 2.9% +.30 = $0.44 Income = $ $.44 = $4.55

34 ACX source to find production companies and narrators Exclusive: 60% Audible 40% producer Exclusive: 60% Audible 20% rights holder 20% producer Nonexclusive: 75% Audible 25% producer Narrators: $100 - $400 per finished hour 18 hour audio = $1,800 to $7,200 Studio Time = $2,000 - $3,500 Mastering / Post production = $1,000 - $1,500 Total : $4,800 to $12,200

35 Write me at Include Write2Publish in the subject line