P&Ls and how books make (or don't) money

[alg]

Profit & Loss/Profitability & Liability: How Books Make (or Don't Make!) Money

A basic outline of what happens when an editor buys a book and wants to publish it. This is very much a basic look at publishing and publishing finance, with some explanation of terms commonly used by the marketing and sales departments.

Comments

[beagley.livejournal.com]

Hi... gratuitous friending, here... I want to go back and read this a few times. Thanks for the insider's view!

I am especially interested in the, "However, she can't get another book deal to save her life," comment.

Is this a frequent occurence? Isn't it the publisher's fault, for giving the author too large an advance? Or was your comment more about the poor performance of the book than the fact that the advance wasn't met?

Can a book be written that only INTENDS to sell 8000 copies? I guess your example (mass market) doesn't really apply to that...

[alg.livejournal.com]

Can a book be written that only INTENDS to sell 8000 copies?

I don't know too many people who write a book saying they are only going to sell 8000 copies! Everyone wants their book to be the next 250,000 copy bestseller.

However, an 8000 copy hardcover run is not bad at all!