Early this summer, Amazon announced a major change to its payment structure for Kindle Unlimited. Because Amazon ultimately affects the sales of all writers, it’s important to understand the implications of the change and what, if any, effect it will have on your digital sales. Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service established by Amazon in … Continue reading Amazon Revises Its Kindle Unlimited Contract
On May 28, 2015, at Book Expo America in New York City, the Author’s Guild announced an ambitious new program — a must-read for every writer — named The “Fair Contract Initiative.” This initiative is a series of commentaries that will take “a fresh look at the standard book publishing contract.” According to the announcement, … Continue reading Authors Guild Announces Fair Contract Initiative
Publishers traditionally have based royalties on the retail price of the book – the list or cover price – or more rarely, the invoice (wholesale) price of the book. Another approach, however, always has existed: a net revenue formula. This formula is based on the publisher’s actual receipts after all discounts and costs of sale, … Continue reading The Net Revenue Royalty Clause
Tell me about royalties in book contracts. A. Royalty rates may vary wildly in the contemporary book publishing industry; however, typical hardcover rates are 10% – 15%, with “break points” that escalate the royalty as more copies are sold; e.g. 10% on the first 5,000 copies, 12 1/2% on the next 5,000, and 15% thereafter. Mass market … Continue reading Q&A: Royalties
Standard publishing agreements usually contain a clause giving your publisher the right to retain a “reserve against returns” or similar language. Why? Because the book publishing world works on consignment. Nearly all commercial publishers offer books to bookstores on a returnable basis. (This is part of what separates commercial publishing from print-on-demand publishing). Unless you … Continue reading Reserve Against Returns