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

self-publishing comparison

[stevewhan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for a wonderful analysis. It re-affirms the main reason I ended up going the self-publishing route. Here's my math for comparison:

1. Copyediting/proofreading: $300 per book
2. Cover artwork: $150 per book plus an 8% royalty to the artist for each copy sold
3. Layout, etc: free, I taught myself how to use QuarkXpress
3. First print run, 1000 copies: $4400 (glossy cover, good quality paper); Reprint, 1000 copies: $3300
4. Marketing: web site, http://www.autumnjade.com, $24.95 per month; email: free

Sales to date:

#1 Bullets on the Bund: 1454
#2 The Emperors' Pendant: 1039
#3 Sing Song Girls: 651
#4 Sisters of Shanghai: TBA later this year

I sell the books through my web site for $7.99 or the three set for $21.99. Doing the math that's ~$2.50 profit for a first printing and ~$4.50 profit for subsequent printings (books #1 and #2 are both into their second printings).

I get paid at the time of the purchase. I've never had a returned book. I will have stock as long as my niche market remains active (families like mine who have adopted children from China). I also have complete control over my intellectual property.

I can't imagine going the traditional publishing route, it's just not worth it for 99% of the authors in the world.

Thanks,

Steve Whan
Autumn Jade Mystery Series
http://www.autumnjade.com/