Some people find speaking about their finances a bit difficult, but as my blog readers are usually budding (or experienced) adventure authors, I thought it would be interesting share with you the royalties I will be making on my book – Miles of Smiles: Finding Britain’s Funny Bone.
Publishing Strategy
Just to give context, I am publishing my eBook exclusively through Amazon on the Kindle Unlimited programme for 3 months so I can run at least one Count-down Promotion on it. After 3 months, I will be sharing it ‘wide’ on IngramSpark so that all those people who think that Amazon is a money grabbing monopoly can also buy it. IngramSpark is a distribution service who make the book available to multiple online and physical retailers as well as libraries.
For the print book, I am publishing it on both Amazon AND IngramSpark.
In time, I’ll publish the book through my website, but I’ve haven’t got my head round that yet. I’m also planning to publish the audio book, but again, I’m behind the curve on that one. In my opinion, it’s better to get the book out there rather than sit on it forever.
Amazon Publishing
Here are some screenshots taken from my Amazon KDP account. They were taken on the 5th April 2024, just over 1 week before I launch the book, so these figures could change over time. Also, although I will be selling the book in multiple currencies, I’ve kept to UK and British Pounds because that is my main market and to keep things simple.
Amazon Print
As you can see, for the print book selling at £11.99, I get a paltry royalty of £1.33. You may also notice that I haven’t signed it up for Extended Distribution. This is because I’m already using extended distribution through IngramSpark. I’d also need another ISBN, which I can’t be bothered to buy at the moment.
Amazon eBook
The eBook sells at £5.99 and gets an incredible royalty of £4.14. So, if you really want to support your favourite adventure author (whether it’s me or not), the best thing you can do is buy their eBook. And if you buy it directly from their website, they get even more royalties.
The disparity between these two prices is the cost of production and distribution. An eBook obviously costs a lot less to produce than a proper book (7p versus £5.86), and a lot less to send directly to the customer. By signing up to Kindle Unlimited, I also have access to the 70% royalty rate. When I drop out of KU, I’ll only receive 35% (£2.10 per book sale), which is still better than the print book.
IngramSpark Publishing
Here are some screenshots taken from my IngramSpark account. Again, they were taken on the 5th April 2024 so these figures could change over time.
As you can see, at the same price (£11.99), I actually get less royalties (Compensation) than Amazon KDP. I only get 83p per print book sold. That’s because the royalty rate is so much lower and print prices are so much more than Amazon. The Discount is what the other retailers get if they buy my book so that they can make their own profit. E.g. if Waterstones decide to sell my book, they get a 35% discount on the price and that will be where they make their money. The Returns column suggests that they can return the book if it doesn’t sell and get a refund from Ingram. In this instance, I chose destroy so that I don’t have to pay for the postage of the book back to the warehouse. Despite my reluctance to see one of my perfectly good books destroyed (for personal and environmental reasons), I just can’t afford for everyone’s return postage fees.
eBook
For the eBook, it’s much more straightforward. £5.99 is the cost of the book, libraries can buy it and lend it out for £9.99 and my royalties are £2.40 per book sold. So, if you really want to help me out, go to your local library, tell them to look up my book on their eBook catalogue (hopefully it will be there!), and rent it out for the week. And if it’s not there, get someone else’s book. It’s always great to support our local libraries. Remember, I won’t be selling ANY eBooks through IngramSpark for at least the first 3 months, so don’t expect to see it in your library until probably August.
What about Traditional Publishing?
It’s worth shining a brief light on the age-old discussion about whether self-publishing or traditional publishing is the best option, and royalties is one of the key talking points. As a traditional published author, you can expect royalties of about 10%. For my book at £11.99, I would expect £1.20. 15% of this would go to the literary agent (if I had one) leaveing me with £1.02, more than Ingram but less than Amazon. With Traditional Publishing, you would also have access to different marketing streams, support with cover design, editing and formatting and a whole host of other benefits. I’m also way more likely to see my book in bookshops.
So why do I stick with self-publishing? Because I have complete control. If I want to change the price, I can do that anytime I want. If I want to run a promotion, I can do that easily. If I want to change anything about the internal or external matter, I absolutely can. I just like the personal control that I have over my own Intellectual Property.
Let’s put that whole argument aside for now and refocus on the topic of this blog - royalties.
Conclusion
In conclusion, print books are wonderful things to have on our bookshelves. I will never get bored of the tactile feeling of riffling through a print book and smelling that new book smell. In reality, however, they don’t actually make their authors very much money at all when compared to eBooks. EBooks also work out cheaper for the reader, too. So maybe it’s time to invest in a Kindle and support your local author.
Additionally, this blog only explores the royalties of online retailers Amazon and IngramSpark. An author can make significantly more money by selling on their own websites as they don’t have to split royalties with the online retailers. Before you buy your favourite author’s book, maybe check out their website first. You might even find some premium products, like signed books or limited-edition hardbacks. It’s worth checking out.
Finally, if you are publishing your book, whether traditionally or self-publishing, think carefully about your royalty options. Make the book work hard to bring in as much money as you can. You deserve your royalties. It’s your book after all, and the people spending their money on it are your readers. It’s only right that as much of that money as possible should make its way into your pocket.
Good luck and keep writing,
Jon
Miles of Smiles is released on 15th April 2024. If you like adventure and jokes, you’ll love this book - https://amzn.to/43ygdlq
