Don’t Quit Your Day Job – Traditional Publishing by the Numbers
Don’t Quit Your Day Job – Traditional Publishing by the Numbers
If you've ever considered becoming a writer , you've probably heard the old saying, " Do not quit your day job. " But what can you expect as far as income is concerned ? Consider first traditional publishing. When it comes to trying to determine the progress of the early novels of fantasy and science fiction Tobias Buckell is the best source I've met, and the data seem to stand the test of time. The first author survey included data from 78 authors and the second included 108 . It concluded that the authors debut awaits :Job – Traditional
Imagination for an average advance was $ 5,000 with an average of $ 6.494
Science Fiction Medium advance was $ 5,000 with an average of $ 7,000
58 % sold with an agent and 42 % without . Progress agented had a median of $ 6,000 (average $ 7500) and unagented totaled $ 3,500 ( $ 4,051 average)
Now, since most books do not earn their progress ( only 30% , according to the New York Times and 20% depending on the agent Kristen Nelson who blogs at PubRants ) this means that the advance is the only money the author never see . For those who do not know , progress is essentially a loan that the editor is the author before the books are available for sale. Royalty Basically books are sold should the author is retained by the publisher to the amount earned exceeds the advance. If there are very few books sold , the author does not have to repay the advance , but will not win any royalty payments Job – Traditional.
Overall, the industry of fantasy and science fiction offers three books are very common. Consider the scenario " the best " above mean progress and $ 7.500 per pound , with an attached agent. So what this means it is the author's total advance would be $ 22.500. But keep in mind that one of the agent's commission is paid ( 15%) and the tax self-employment (which is 15.3 % , which breaks down into 12.4% for social security and 2.9% for Medicare) . Given that you are always responsible for the " employee share " tax " extra " to be self-employed is 7.65 %. Once these samples advancing $ 22,500 becomes $ 17,404 are made.
But all this money comes from a big check in a single year . Usually there is a payment schedule that looks like this:
1/3, when the contract is signed
1/3, when the manuscript is accepted
1/3, when the book was published
While I've written all my books before signing my contract , the usual case is that the author will have a complete novel and two others who are on a one-year plan to release a framework. A typical program would like this:
January 1, 2013 - the contract is signed , the first book is subject to publishers ( $ 5.801 signing bonus )
June 1, 2013 - Amendment No. 1 Book accepted ( $ 1.934 payment acceptance )
December 31, 2013 - Book # 1 is released ( $ 1.934 payment Edition)
January 1, 2014 - Book # 2 is scheduled for presentation
June 1, 2014 - Edit for the book # 2 ( $ 1.934 payment acceptance ) are accepted
December 31, 2014 - Book # 2 is released ( $ 1.934 payment Edition)
January 1, 2015 - Book # 3 is scheduled for presentation
June 1, 2015 - Edit for the book # 3 ( $ 1.934 payment acceptance ) are accepted
December 31, 2015 - Book # 3 is released ( $ 1.934 payment Edition)
This means that the author is :
Considering that probably spent at least six months and probably more like a year, the first book in 2012 to an average of $ 4,351 per year or $ 363 per month. It is imperative that the author meets the deadline for the books that have been signed . Most contracts include provisions that require the author to pay the signing bonus , if you do not meet your schedule.
Now, let us consider that the books end up selling well the author will receive beyond their advance. In this case , we must look to the structure of the regular rates. I will use the numbers on my contract that I have been assured by my agent are pretty standard in the industry.
10% STL formats for the first installment of 5000 , 12.5% in the next 5000 and 15% in all copies thereafter
Tp 7.5% for all copies LIST
LIST Market Paperback 8.0 % for the first 150,000 and 10% thereafter
ebooks 25 % of the net income of all copies
Well, then let's examine some scenarios on how books can be released . In the first example , suppose a trade Paperback $ 14.95 and $ 9.99 ebook . Suppose there are 15,000 books sold the first book, 12,500 for the second and 10,000 for the third and report printing ebook is 80 % and 20 % of e-book printing . This would mean that a total of 37,500 books sold (30,000 print and electronic books 7500) eBook publisher that generally net 70% (the remaining online retailer with 30% ), the total income would be :
Print : 14.95 x 30,000 7.5 % ( free ) x € List Price = $ 33.638
Ebook: 9.99 % 7.500 x 25 ( free ) x € list price x 70 % (net ) = $ 13.112
Total = $ 46,750 , but income after the tax agent and self - employment are eliminated leaving $ 9.040 $ 36.161 or over 4 years.
Another possibility is that the editor of electing the TP and the mass market . In this scenario , you probably expect to sell twice as many copies , but at a price of $ 7.99 for the eBook and printed book . So this would give :
Print : 7.99 x 60 000 8.0 % ( free ) x € List Price = $ 38,352
Ebook: 7.99% 15 000 x 25 ( free ) x $ Price X 70 % (net ) = $ 20,974
Total income = $ 59.326 $ 45.889 total income after deduction of tax agent and self-employment is $ 11,472 spread over four years
If the editor believes enough in the series that connects probably expect sales of hard cover first year would be 4000 for the first book , the second in 3000 and 2000 for the third. Then they could wait for the mass market paperback to sell more or less the same level as a paperback no hurry . That would mean 7200, 30,000 paperbacks connected to the mass market and ebooks 9300 (sold at different prices in the publication as a hardcover and pocket goes down .
Hardcover: 7200 24.95% X 10 ( free ) x € List Price = $ 17.964
Paperback: 000 8 7.99 % x 30 ( free ) x € List Price = $ 19,176
ebook : 1800 x 25 % ( Royalty) x $ 12.99 (current hardcover period ) x 70 % (net ) = $ 4.092
ebook : 7500 x 25 % ( Royalty) x $ 7.99 ( during the tenure of mass market pocket ) x 70 % (net ) = $ 10,487
Total income = $ 51.719 $ 40.005 total income after deduction of tax agent and self-employment is $ 10.001 spread over four years
Some other things to consider. If you do not win your progress , is typically paid only twice a year, once at the end of March for sales that come in between July and December last year , and another payment in late September for books sold between already in January and June a very large percentage (sometimes up to 60 %) of their print sales will not initially paid . This is called " reservations to delivery " , which is money that the publisher wants because they know a number of libraries send unsold stocks instead of paying for it. The publisher has no money to put into a situation in which the author overpaid so many returns come in. This money eventually seep to the author , but the publisher does not mean that is essentially "hang" much their income and so early in their checks will only be a fraction of what really won Job – Traditional .
As depressing as these figures may be a very successful author can be even more depressed when they realize that the relative share obtained if the book becomes a big success. Take a series of three books that sell 250,000 copies using trade paperback and ebooks. Assuming that the same numbers you see above faults like this:
Extrapolation 200,000 $ 2,990,000 printed books that retailers receive half ( $ 1,495,000 ) , will receive the editor ( $ 1,270,750 ), the author $ 173,457 ( $ 43,364 per year for four years) , $ 33,638 for the agent , and $ 17,155 for taxes.
Extrapolation 50,000 $ 499,500 ebooks that retailers get a third ( $ 149,850 ) , you receive the editor ( $ 262,238 ) , the author will receive $ 67.614 ( $ 16.903 per year for four years) , $ 13.112 for the agent and $ 6,687 for taxes.
Total Earnings: $ 3489500 $ 1644850 for the dealer , $ 1,532,988 for the publisher , the author $ 241,071 ( $ 60,268 per year) , $ 46.750 to $ 23.842 and the agent for taxes
At this level , I think the author won a "living wage " ( unclear what part of the country where you live affect this), but from a version of "good" usually sells 10,000 copies and in this example , we assume something like 100,000 pounds first time in the series, 85,000 to 65,000 for the second and third anticipate " winning author " should be 6.5 to 10 times better than the "good" news.
As you can see earn a decent salary in your first contract is very difficult Job – Traditional. The possible results are:
Under $ 4.400 per year for those who do not earn their modest progress.
$ 9,000 - $ 12,000 per year for selling more than 37 500 75 000 pounds in three titles
$ 60,000 per year for selling 250,000 copies through three routes (6.5 to 10 times to successfully exit )
That's why several authors of a decade or more may pass to go on to become full-time writer . Usually a contract is not sufficient and a combination of new contracts and royalties usually required to produce a steady income year after year. In a future post , I'll do a similar analysis for self-published authors .
Don’t Quit Your Day Job – Traditional Publishing by the Numbers
Job – Traditional
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