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

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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

[(Anonymous)]

Lesson 1: If you make it big, you can make it bigger, because your fans will want to collect all your work.

Lesson 2: Author, be not ashamed of thy published works, for verily, thou didst receive a paycheck for something thou wrotest from out of thine pointed head.

Lesson 3: The publishers didn't fall off the turnip truck, they'll jump on the bandwagon (more fun than the turnip truck) and make money to recoup their other losses. If they can say they have a "long-forgotten tome of some mysterious lore" by fabulously famous Granny Noranti, formerly Hot Mama Noranti, so much the better. (Hot Mama Noranti? Blame the Evil Plot Bunnies....)