We distribute our books to over 40,000 wholesalers, retailers and booksellers in over 195 countries, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Powell’s, Walmart.com and more. Ingram, our distributor, keeps track of all copies that are sold through our distribution network and then they report those book sales to us. We relay that sales information to our authors each quarter through official royalty statements. We also include a check for the author’s royalty amount. Book royalty scenarios are shown below for example purposes.
PAPERBACK ROYALTY EXAMPLES (COLOR COVER, BLACK & WHITE INTERIOR): 200 pages, 6×9″ paperback, perfect bound, on crème paper
Platinum, Emerald, Endorsed, Endorsed + Mariel Hemingway, and Endorsed + Kevin Harrington Package:
$14.99 Retail Price (set by author) with 40% Wholesale Discount (set by author)
= $8.99 Wholesale Price
– $4.81 Print Cost
= $4.18 Net Sale
100% Author Royalty Percentage (100% is valid on Platinum, Emerald, Endorsed, Endorsed + Mariel Hemingway, and Endorsed + Kevin Harrington)
= $4.18 Author Royalty* Per Copy
Gold Package:
$14.99 Retail Price (set by author) with 40% Wholesale Discount (set by author)
= $8.99 Wholesale Price
– $4.81 Print Cost
= $4.18 Net Sale
x 0.70 Author Royalty Percentage (70% is valid on Gold)
= $2.92 Author Royalty* Per Copy
Pro Package:
$14.99 Retail Price (set by author) with 40% Wholesale Discount (set by author)
= $8.99 Wholesale Price
– $4.81 Print Cost
= $4.18 Net Sale
x 0.60 Author Royalty Percentage (60% is valid on Pro)
= $2.50 Author Royalty* Per Copy
Custom Package:
$14.99 Retail Price (set by MindStir) with 40% Wholesale Discount (set by MindStir)
= $8.99 Wholesale Price
– $4.81 Print Cost
= $4.18 Net Sale
x 0.50 Author Royalty Percentage (50% is valid on Custom)
= $2.09 Author Royalty* Per Copy
HARDCOVER ROYALTY EXAMPLES (COLOR COVER, BLACK & WHITE INTERIOR): 200 pages, 6×9″ hardcover, case bound, on crème paper
Deluxe Package:
$24.99 Retail Price (set by author) with 40% Wholesale Discount (set by author)
= $14.99 Wholesale Price
– $9.83 Print Cost
= $5.16 Net Sale
x 0.60 Author Royalty Percentage (60% is valid on Deluxe)
= $3.09 Author Royalty* Per Copy
Editor+ Package:
$24.99 Retail Price (set by author) with 40% Wholesale Discount (set by author)
= $14.99 Wholesale Price
– $9.83 Print Cost
= $5.16 Net Sale
x 0.80 Author Royalty Percentage (80% is valid on Editor+)
= $4.12 Author Royalty* Per Copy
CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS (FULL-COLOR): 24 pages, 8.5×11″
Hardcover Children’s Book Package: $19.99 retail with 40% Wholesale Discount = $11.99 Wholesale Price – $9.17 print cost = $2.82 Net Sale x 0.50 Author Royalty Percentage (50% is valid for our children’s book packages) = $1.41* Author Royalty Per Copy
Paperback Children’s Book Package: $14.99 retail with 40% Wholesale Discount = $8.99 Wholesale Price – $3.86 print cost = $5.13 Net Sale x 0.50 Author Royalty Percentage (50% is valid for our children’s book packages) = $2.56* Author Royalty Per Copy
EBOOKS (KINDLE, NOOK, ETC.)
The net sale on each download sold is around 70% of the retail price, then the author gets a royalty on that amount depending on the package he/she purchased. Example: $2.99 retail x 0.70 = $2.09 Net Sale (Author receives a percentage of this net sale based on their package). Sometimes Amazon will also charge a “delivery fee” if your ebook file is larger than average due to images. Barnes & Noble does not charge a delivery fee.
*FIGURES SHOWN ABOVE ARE FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY. PRINT COSTS CAN FLUCTUATE DUE TO THE COST OF PAPER. Royalties are paid approximately every 90 days on the following dates: January 15, April 15, July 15 and Oct 15.
Download our Free Publishing Guide