The
Price of Books
When
Ford Motor Company releases a new car to the dealer, payment comes when the car
is sold, usually on consignment. The dealer gets a percentage; Ford Motor
Company gets a percentage. That is the only money the company makes on the car.
No matter how many times the car is sold and resold, the company earns not one
nickel more.
So it
is with books. As part of a review at Amazon, a reviewer reprimanded the author
for the ridiculous high price of the book. The out of print book was ‘Baja
Sailor Tales,’ a collection of stories and character studies based on people I
met during my one-year solo sail through Mexico. The price asked was $37 and it
was from an online used book outlet. Eight copies were left, seven used
beginning at $1.50 and the one new at the $37. The reviewer stated that the
author must be looking for a new boat.
Like
Ford, once a book has been sold, the bookseller gets a cut, then the publisher,
then the guy who wrote the book in the form of a royalty. No matter how many
times that book sells after that, the writer receives nothing, not one cent.
Here’s another flash. The writer has no say whatsoever what the book will sell
for, unless it is self-published, and even then the price must fall within
certain guidelines. And, the dozens of free books given for reviews, book store
samples, to influential people, friends and family, eventually end in a used
book outlet, offered at a low price, with nothing going to the writer.
It is
no surprise many writers have decided to go the self-publish route which offers
control of your work. Of my more than 30 published books, I self-published
five. This was at a time when publishing your own book was the same as making
used car sales your lifetime career. Much of that stigma still remains, mainly
because of badly edited books. A good editor can make a book; a bad editor can
ruin it. But respectability is easing in. Self-published books have received
literary awards, and at least one self-published writer has made over a million
dollars. Many make more than $50,000. Thanks to Amazon and Kindle and
Create-Space, the process has become easier, and you don’t have to pay
ridiculous prices to print mills to get your book out there.
It
has been written that if your book is listed with Amazon and Barnes &
Noble, you are reaching 85% of the reading public. To be listed costs you 40%
to 45% of the retail price, a big chunk. Publisher and writer cuts come from
what’s left after that. And reaching the reading public does not mean
connecting. To connect you need all the rest of that marketing stuff: Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, Goodreads, and so many others. You must get on writer
forums; get others to review your books while you review theirs, join writer
clubs and critique groups, do book signings, print book markers and business
cards – all the nonsense connected with product peddling. You need all of it
whether your book is published by a big time house, or a small independent, or
by yourself. And even doing all that is no guarantee you’ll sell many copies of
your book. Marketing may get the reader to the book, but the book must be good
enough to sell itself.
The
only time much of this is unnecessary is when the publisher you sign with has
full time sales reps on the payroll. The rep physically visits bookstores and
pushes your book. It is the rep who can make a New York best seller. Few
publishers have sales reps, and those who do are cutting back. These days
everything is handled electronically, not by personal visits.
Currently,
I am with two publishers. The only books I now self publish are early novels
that missed the electronic revolution in eBooks, but times they may be
a’changing. I’m bringing them out as New-Revised-Editions in eBook format only
and I’m selling them for 99¢. One of my two publishers is a small independent;
the other is mid-size. The mid-size, who has only one book of mine, offered
what they called the ‘standard’ contract: 35% royalty print, 40% eBook, 40%
discount on author purchased books, and no time dates when editing, electronic
or print was to be released, no author input on cover design. I fought for
changes before I signed. Some I got, some I didn’t. The royalty went to 40%
print, 50% eBook, definite dates for completion of editing, and author copies at
publisher cost. I still had no say on cover design. I consider it a bad
contract but I can live with it. My small independent publisher is local and we
have lunch every time we sign a contract. He pays. Our split is simple, 50% of
net down the line on everything. They both have the same distribution markets.
They both sell books in house. My small independent publisher has all their
books reviewed and the review is published on their site. I have three books
with them with two more pending. Neither offer an advance. Neither pushes
marketing for their books.
So,
next we must explore self-publishing.
George
Snyder
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