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Lynn asked a question recently that I think a lot of authors face and need to think through carefully. (Remember, you can always ask your question, too.)

“I have a small publisher that would like to publish my book. After looking at the preliminary contract, I would have to come up with $5000 and receive a 15% royalty on the net (I estimate 50 cents a book). The book is estimated at a selling price of $15.00. I am considering self publishing at this point…any opinions?”

This “small publisher” doesn’t sound like a “real” publisher in that they are making you pay for part of the cost of producing a book, PLUS offering you a rather small royalty. What are they going to do for you for that $5000, besides get the book printed?

Will they make sure your book gets into the hands of distributors? Really dig for an answer here, because many “publishers” (especially print-on-demand publishers) say they will give you bookstore distribution, but all they do is make your book available on a list to the distributors. This is highly unlikely to get you into bookstores.

Further, you need to find out how they are going to print the books. Are they a “print on demand” publisher, so they’ll only print the books when there’s an order. If so, again, what are you paying for?

Note that bookstores don’t stock POD books because POD books are not returnable. They might order it if a customer comes in and asks for it, but that’s unlikely. Most people know they can order easily from amazon.com and get a book in a matter of days, at a discount. When you order through a bookstore, it can take weeks to come in.

If you have to order a certain amount of books, how many? Can you store all those books?

I’m thinking you might as well look into getting the book printed yourself and keeping the whole profit, not just 15 percent.

Alternatively, you can see if a traditional publisher is interested in your book. You might still get only 15 percent of net, or even less, but you will save the $5000 and they will give you at least some promotion at book launch, and get you into bookstores. Usually you also get an advance against royalties. Why pay a publisher when they can pay you?

I think your current offer is the worst of both worlds. You’re getting a paltry royalty. (You’re probably right, your profit is only 50 cents a book, though it may be more if you’re not paying an agent. I assume you’re figuring your $5000 cost into the final profit.) AND you’re having to pay a hefty up-front fee.

Another important issue you didn’t even mention is rights. Who is going to own the rights? It had better be you in this case!

I suggest you get Dan Poynter’s book, The Self-Publishing Manual, and do some figuring on the cost of true self-publishing. My hunch is you’ll get more bang for your buck on the front end and more profit on the back end.

Or, why not try to get a traditional publisher interested–a publisher who will pay all the costs and even pay you an advance? You can contact me (diane at wordstoprofit.com) about how to create a great book proposal if you want to explore this route.

Warning … I’m about to go into rant mode … I just hate to see writers exploited. Books are the most valuable commodity in the world. Where else can you get knowledge gleaned over years, even decades, of personal experience,for a mere $15? Or even less. Or free, in the case of books from a library.

Yet authors get pennies for all their hard work and precious knowledge. And now, so-called publishers are making authors themselves pay for the privilege of getting their books out there … and reaping 85 percent of the profit? Shame! Royalties should only apply when the publisher foots the bill upfront, not when the author does.

[End of rant.]

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 4th, 2007 at 8:50 pm and is filed under Writing/Publishing/Promoting Questions Answered. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.