Rowanvale Books
  • Home
    • Self Publishing Wales
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Not Sure Where To Start?
    • Rowanvale's Five Commandments
    • Meet The Team
    • Manuscript Guidelines
    • Design Galleries >
      • Design Gallery - Chrissie
      • Design Gallery - Rebeckah
      • Design Gallery - Kayleigh
      • Design Gallery - Alex
      • Design Gallery - Alice
    • Meet Our Authors
  • Our Services
    • Pre-Publication Services >
      • Proofreading and Editing
      • Book Illustrations Service
      • Scanning And Typing Service
      • Editorial Assessment
      • Literary Agent Package
      • Beta Readers
      • Custom Book Cover Design Service
      • Developmental Editing
    • Publication Services >
      • Children's Book Publishing
      • Paperback/Hardback Publishing
      • eBook Publishing
      • eBook and Paperback Publishing Package
      • KDP Publishing Package
    • Post-Publication Services >
      • Amazon Analysis
      • ARC and Book Review Service
      • PR Services
      • Marketing And Aftercare
  • Blog
  • Bookstore
    • New Releases
  • FAQs
  • Our Reviews
  • Contact Us

The Writer's Guide to Self-Publishing and Royalties

23/8/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Royalties are one of the most difficult concepts authors need to grasp in the world of self-publishing. What are they? And how do you calculate them? This article provides a short guide for writers to understand everything about royalties.  

A
 book royalty is the percentage of the revenue an author receives on each book sold. Being a self-published author can be tough, just like setting up your own business. Without a traditional publisher backing your book, you have to pay for everything from cover design to editing and marketing. But one advantage of not depending on a traditional publisher is that you get paid a larger percentage in royalties (between 30% and 70%, as opposed to the 15% you would get with a traditional publisher on average) because there’s no intermediary. For example, at Rowanvale Books, authors receive 65% royalties on e-book and paperback sales. 
Picture
It’s important for authors to learn how royalties work, because they usually are the author’s main source of income. By learning what your royalty rate is, you’ll be able to calculate roughly how much you will earn from your book sales (you can also check out this book royalties calculator, which does it all for you!).  
The royalties you’re paid will be affected by a series of variables, especially if you choose the traditional publishing path. In self-publishing, the most common variables are: 
  • Book genre 
  • Book type 
  • Book length (i.e. file delivery and/or printing costs) 
  • Books sold 
  • Retail price and retailer deductions 
Picture
The price of the book is particularly relevant when self-publishing e-books on a major platform such as Amazon KDP, which we will now look at in more detail as it’s currently the largest online retailer and self-publishing platform. 
 
Amazon offers two
 e-book royalty plans: the 70% option and the 35% option. In both plans, royalties are paid monthly starting 60 days after the first sale is made. Your ability to choose either plan will depend on the price you set for your book. To get 70% of royalties, you will need to price your book between £1.77 and £9.99 (check out Amazon’s list price requirements for more).  

Picture
Image by Sofia Brizio for Rowanvale Books. Adapted, edited and translated from an original idea by Libroza 
Additionally, you will need to meet these conditions: 
  • Publish something that’s not yet in the public domain 
  • Pay for file delivery, which is a fee automatically deducted from royalty payments. This might be costly for emerging authors who aren’t selling much, in which case the 35% plan might be more cost-effective in the long run.  
  • Adhere to geographical eligibility criteria or enrol in KDP select. This is because only books bought by customers in certain countries are eligible for the 70% plan, including the large Anglophone markets. By enrolling in KDP select, you can expand the list to include Brazil, India, Japan and Mexico. You will still get a 35% royalty on books sold outside of eligible countries.  
Picture
For print royalties on paperbacks, Amazon offers two distribution tiers, with printing costs being deducted from your royalties. There’s a fixed 60% royalty rate if you sell exclusively on Amazon marketplaces. If you opt in for Expanded Distribution (i.e. you sell your book through other distribution channels alongside Amazon), the royalty rate is 40%. Your royalty is therefore determined as follows:  
(royalty rate x list price) - printing costs = royalty 
Although we appreciate that it all sounds complicated, we hope this article helped you learn more about royalties. The key to understanding the ins and outs of royalties is to stay informed. At Rowanvale, we want to help you do just that and we value transparency. 
Picture
While you’re here, why not check out a few more of our blog posts here. Alternatively, if you’re interested in the services we offer, our plethora of packages can be found here. 
​
Can’t find what you're looking for? Not to worry! Feel free to contact us at info@rowanvalebooks.com or call us on 029 2128 0200 where we are more than happy to answer any other questions. 
 
0 Comments

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    January 2021

    Categories

    All
    Book Distribution
    Marketing
    Royalties
    Self Publishing Guide
    Self-publishing Guide
    Social Media
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Services

Children's Publishing
Paperback Publishing
eBook Publishing
KDP Publishing
All Format Publishing
Book Illustrations
Writing Advisor
Scanning & Typing
Editorial Assessment
Proofreading & Editing
Literary Agents
Beta Readers
Custom Book Cover Design
Developmental Editing
Amazon Analysis
ARC Review Service
PR Service
Marketing & Aftercare

Company

Meet The Team
Accessibility
Contact Us

Support

FAQs
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy
Rowanvale Books is the largest and one of the longest running self-publishing companies in Wales.
Visit us on our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn below.
UK: 02921 280 895
Intl: (+44) 2921 280 895
e: info@rowanvalebooks.com
Picture

© Rowanvale Books Ltd 2023
Registered in Wales | Company Registration No. 8820249
Website Powered By Digitally Brilliant
  • Home
    • Self Publishing Wales
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Not Sure Where To Start?
    • Rowanvale's Five Commandments
    • Meet The Team
    • Manuscript Guidelines
    • Design Galleries >
      • Design Gallery - Chrissie
      • Design Gallery - Rebeckah
      • Design Gallery - Kayleigh
      • Design Gallery - Alex
      • Design Gallery - Alice
    • Meet Our Authors
  • Our Services
    • Pre-Publication Services >
      • Proofreading and Editing
      • Book Illustrations Service
      • Scanning And Typing Service
      • Editorial Assessment
      • Literary Agent Package
      • Beta Readers
      • Custom Book Cover Design Service
      • Developmental Editing
    • Publication Services >
      • Children's Book Publishing
      • Paperback/Hardback Publishing
      • eBook Publishing
      • eBook and Paperback Publishing Package
      • KDP Publishing Package
    • Post-Publication Services >
      • Amazon Analysis
      • ARC and Book Review Service
      • PR Services
      • Marketing And Aftercare
  • Blog
  • Bookstore
    • New Releases
  • FAQs
  • Our Reviews
  • Contact Us