Book contract royalty rates for publishing

Pricing will vary from publisher to publisher, contract to contract, and book to book based on a variety of factors. Royalty rates for ebooks are higher than print books, and can range from 25 to 50. But that 15% royalty rate has long been the norm for print publishing contracts. They may have different publishing contracts for their different packages, like iuniverse with their different royalty rate contracts. Hardcover or trade books are paid on a slightly higher scale. Royalty rates for print books vary from contract to contract. Moreover, all royalty recipients face the same issues. Christian faith publishing explains how book distribution works and how royalties are earned for authors. Royalty calculations in book publishing agreements ivan hoffman. The big new york publishers always pay royalties based on the cover price. A sample contract agreement between an author and a book cover designer im not a fan of contracts or anything binding, or closing doors, or other apersonality stuff. One of the key components of any publishing contract is the royalty structure.

In theory, a publisher can pay a writer a royalty rate of say 96 %. Royalty rates are percentages of book sales and they are entirely. If youre satisfied with the answers and the royalty rate is acceptable to you. How much is the typical royalty percentage paid by a new york publisher. Some subsidy publishers hide their contract details until the last minute. If its in hardcover, the royalty rate is generally higher between 10 and 15%. Authors are contractually prevented from discussing their own royalty rates. A good subsidy publisher will offer a short contract that describes the publishers responsibilities, a royalty schedule, and how the author can quickly terminate the agreement, not a three year lockup. It came of age when jacket design, publicity, typesetting and distribution all involved much more laborious. Book contracts author royalties, advances and rights in a. Most authors dont understand that royalties are almost always paid based on the wholesale price of a book, not the retail price the customer pays. Writers and authors hoping to make publishing a part of their lifes work must know.

Therefore, a 10% royalty from a traditional publisher may be far less than 10% of the actual retail price of the book. But todays standard contracts give authors just 25% of the publishers net receipts more or less what the publisher collects from a book sale for. Royalty rates are calculated either on the retail or cover price of the book, or on the net price which is the price at which the publisher sells to the retailer usually around 50% off. Do not treat as new book which generally resets royalty to lowest rate 15. Like points related to the book delivery and rights assignments, the royalty rates are outlined in the book contract. Most publishers in the cba including the largest ones pay on net. Half of net proceeds is the fair royalty rate for ebooks the. Understanding a book advance and royalty the balance careers.