A few years ago I made a promise to my writer friends that if I ever had a novel hit the top twenty of the New York Times mass market bestseller list that I would share all the information I was given about the book so writers could really see what it takes to get there. Today I’m going to keep that promise and give you the stats on my sixth Darkyn novel, Twilight Fall.
We’ve all been told a lot of myths about what it takes to reach the top twenty list of the NYT BSL. What I was told: you have to have an initial print run of 100-150K, you have to go to all the writer and reader conferences to pimp the book, you can’t make it unless you go to certain bookstores during release week and have a mass signing or somehow arrange for a lot of copies to be sold there; the list is fixed, etc.
I’ve never had a 100K first print run. I don’t do book signings and I don’t order massive amounts of my own books from certain bookstores (I don’t even know which bookstores are the magic ones from whom the Times gets their sales data.) I do very little in the way of promotions for my books; for this one I gave away some ARCs, sent some author copies to readers and reviewers, and that was about it. I haven’t attended any conference since 2003. To my knowledge there was no marketing campaign for this book; I was never informed of what the publisher was going to do for it (as a high midlist author I probably don’t rate a marketing campaign yet.) I know they did some blog ads for the previous book in the series, but I never saw anything online about this particular book. No one offered to get me on the Times list, either, but then I was never told who to bribe, beg or otherwise convince to fix the list (I don’t think there is anyone who really does that, but you never know.)
Despite my lack of secret handshakes and massive first print runs, in July 2008 my novel Twilight Fall debuted on the Times mm list at #19. I’ll tell you exactly why it got there: my readers put it there. But it wasn’t until last week that I received the first royalty statement (Publishing is unbelievably slow in this department) so I just now put together all the actual figures on how well the book did.
To give you some background info, Twilight Fall had an initial print run of 88.5K, and an initial ship of 69K. Most readers, retailers and buyers that I keep in touch with e-mailed me to let me know that the book shipped late because of the July 4th holiday weekend. Another 4K was shipped out two to four weeks after the lay-down date, for a total of 73K, which means there were 15.5K held in reserve in the warehouse in July 2008.
Here is the first royalty statement for Twilight Fall, on which I’ve only blanked out Penguin Group’s address. Everything else is exactly as I’ve listed it. To give you a condensed version of what all those figures mean, for the sale period of July through November 30, 2008. my publisher reports sales of 64,925 books, for which my royalties were $40,484.00. I didn’t get credit for all those sales, as 21,140 book credits were held back as a reserve against possible future returns, for which they subtracted $13,512.69 (these are not lost sales; I’m simply not given credit for them until the publisher decides to release them, which takes anywhere from one to three years.)
My net earnings on this statement was $27,721.31, which was deducted from my advance. My actual earnings from this statement was $0.
My advance for Twilight Fall was $50,000.00, a third of which I did not get paid until the book physically hit the shelf — this is now a common practice by publishers, to withhold a portion of the advance until date of publication. Of that $50K, my agent received $7,500.00 as her 15% (which she earns, believe me) the goverment received roughly $15,000.00, and $1594.27 went to cover my expenses (office supplies, blog giveaways, shipping, promotion, etc.) After expenses and everyone else was paid, I netted about $26K of my $50K advance for this book, which is believe it or not very good — most authors are lucky if they can make 10% profit on any book. This should also shut up everyone who says all bestselling authors make millions — most of us don’t.
My next royalty statement for Twilight Fall probably won’t come until October or November 2009, but when it does I’ll post copies of it so you can see what a top twenty Times bestseller does in the first year after it’s released.
In Publishing telling the truth about earnings smashes the illusions publishers and writers want you to believe and, like breaking mirrors, it never brings you good luck. Thing is, when I was a rookie I wanted to know exactly what it took to have a top twenty Times bestselling novel, because that was such a big deal to writers. Everyone I asked gave me a different answer, told me a bunch of nonsense, or couldn’t/wouldn’t tell me at all. For that reason I want you to see the hard figures, and know the reality, and the next time someone asks you what it takes, you can tell them the truth.
Just a Heads up: the comments for the post will be turned off on Monday Night (April 27) Thank you so much for all the interest, information and feedback – and keep an eye out for more straight up truth on the reality of this business here at Genreality.
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Thank you, hard data is almost impossible to come by in this business. This gives me hope. : )
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I’m hoping that since I didn’t explode or burst into flames after posting this that other authors will try to be more forthcoming with their stats.
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Thanks, Lynn. I know I can count on you for the straight scoop. This shakes a lot of the mystery out of royalty statements for me. It was surprising, but not a bad surprise. Facts and reality are always a good thing.
FWIW, I wasn’t surprised when Twilight Fall hit the bestseller list. I was jones’n for the next Darkyn novel, and snapped it up as soon as I could.
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It’s always good to see the real deal. I know there are a lot of stats being posted out there by various writers who collect them via an anonymous survey, but there’s no way to verufy their accuracy without seeing an actual statement.
Thanks for the kind words for TF. I never expected it to do as well as it did, but once again my readers surprised me.
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While I don’t really care about lists, seeing an actual royalty statement and hearing how it breaks down is very helpful! Thanks a lot, Lynn, and here’s hoping for even better statements in the future.
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I hope this demystifies the royalty statement, too — I know I thought all sorts of things until my first one came in and I saw how publishers actually handle the accounting.
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You are awesome, thank you. I’ve had several novels published, nowhere near the sales you have, but I can attest to how little money is actually out there. In some ways I was surprised and in many ways wasn’t by your sales figures. An education, so thank you.
BTW, I tried forever to get a copy of Shockball, but finally was able to get a used copy. Look forward to reading it–I’m reading the Stardoc novels in order.
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I’m glad seeing the statement was helpful, Mark, and thanks for looking for Shockball. Regarding the series, I know a couple of the books are hard to find now, and I’ll warn you, Rebel Ice (book 6) is out of print and used copies often sell for about $40 – $80 online. You can usually find cheaper used copies of RI on eBay, though.
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It’s out of print already? Damn. o.O
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Thanks for sharing, Lynn. Good info to know.
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Always a pleasure, Ms. Raine.
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Thanks for posting! You are right, our own ignorance of what is “real” is a huge problem. And the misconceptions…they are exhausting.
Lori
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I think even the higher ups sometimes aren’t in touch with the reality, Lori. The one I heard about a minimum 100-150K first print run being an absolute necessity came from an editor at a major publishing house.
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Wow, this really gives me a true picture of what a real author can expect. Thanks so much for sharing.
Here’s something sort of on topic that I would love to have you professionals address. My mother works in a Barnes and Noble, and recently they moved to a new store. As part of the move, she spent days tearing covers off paperbacks to be returned to the publishers – one day she knows she pulled at least $9K’s worth of covers. The covers are sent in for credit and the bulk of the books are supposedly “recycled”.
This system makes me sick to the core. The waste of resources is a disgrace – the materials and cost of producing and shipping books to stores and then the costs of recycling alone just baffles the mind. Not to mention that a good portion of these books were children’s titles.
Does a writer have any sway (maybe if you get to La Nora levels!) of asking that any returns be donated to charities, libraries in disadvantaged communities, schools, etc? Even if I didn’t make a penny on those books, at least I could feel good knowing that they were going to people who couldn’t afford to buy them and not in some landfill.
Why does the industry use this method? I just don’t get it.
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I think the problem with donating any books that are returned is that it compromises the tax write-off of the loss for the publisher. Also, with paperbacks, the book sellers don’t actual return the whole book — as your Mom works for B&N you probably know how they strip off the covers.
For my part, I donate as many of my author copies as I can to U.S. soldiers stationed overseas, hospitals, senior centers and other folks in need. I also give my used books to our local library for their booksales or pass them along to friends. If everyone would do more of that, we could offset a little of the waste involved with unsold books.
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Like Lynn, I donate a ton of books the the local libraries and charities around where I live, but as far as I know, there’s nothing we can say or do that will effect the way the publishers/bookstores handle returns.
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PS – I just reread my post and realized it sounded kind of accusatory! I’m asking you all here at Genereality because I’m hoping you might offer some insider’s insight to something that doesn’t seem to make sense to me and what you think about the practice. I imagine you find it frustrating as all heck to imagine the copies of your hard work being destroyed like that! And I just wondered if writers have any kind of say over this, although I imagine they don’t. Thanks!
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I didn’t think your post was accusatory at all. I share your frustrations, especially when I know there are thousands of libraries and schools and other non-profit organizations out there who could make good use of the books. It’s just writers have no say in what the publishers do with their property, which once our novels become physical products, is what they become.
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Thank you for your incredible generosity in posting this information. It’s fascinating, daunting and a little frightening.
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I hope not too frightening — although I’d rather be spooked by the real figures than what I cook up in my imagination.
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Lynn, thank you for this post. When I first stumbled across your PBW blog, your Darkyn website had just gone up and I was thrilled to win an ARC of If Angels Burn. I’ve been addicted ever since, and it’s thrilling to see the success of this series! Your honest posts about the reality of publishing have taught me, made me laugh (love John and Marcia), and provided inspiration at the same time. Thank you!
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Thank you, ma’am. As always, I will endeavor to live up to your kind words.
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Thanks for sharing, Lynn. Great info!
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Happy to help, Nadia.
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Thank you as always for being so very candid.
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Candid is my middle name — Mom thought it sounded better than Gertrude.
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This was not only brave of you, but really helpful to a lot of us.
Plus I’m already an unrepentant fangirl. Your books kick patootie.
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Maybe we’ll start a trend, and everyone will spread the truth about the biz instead of the rumors, lies and assorted BS. But don’t hold your breath on that score.
Thanks for investing in the books. You’re one of the reasons I got this nice royalty statement.
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You really rock for doing this. I think most instructive is what you describe as the “myths” of getting on that list. Thanks.
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I’d ask Sasha to rename the blog MythBusters, but I think it’s already taken.
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We could always just add MYTHBUSTER as a subtitle for any post that blows things out of the water. It certainly fits our theme of the Reality of this writing life.
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A very interesting post Lynn. Thanks for educating me on the realities of royalties. A nice reminder for people like myself to remember that writing should be done for more than the possible paycheck in the end.
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I think that should be the first line in every writing advice book out there, Shawntelle: “If you’re doing this only for the money, maybe you should first investigate the exciting career possibilities in the field of exotic dancing.”
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Exotic Dancing indeed! Thats’ where the real money’s at and cash is SO much easier to count than my royalty statement is to read!
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Lynn, thanks so much for de-mystifying this information. Fascinating–especially the level of success with minimal marketing efforts on your part. As authors, we spend so much time obsessing about marketing. But do we need to?
I really appreciate your candor.
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I think we all need to find more cost-effective ways to market our work, Ann. Especially with economies around the globe taking such hard hits right now. The greatest unused resource available to all writers is the internet, I think. We need to let go of the old ways of selling books and move in some new directions with online promotions. It’ll be interesting to see how this end develops over the next five years.
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Ann, it’s to the point that any time I get the urge to buy promo swag , I just email Lynn and she sets me straight. I’ve not bought any stuff since getting ready for last year’s RT conference.
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Thank you for being so honest and forthright. I appreciate your posting the information, especially the note about marketing. As a new author I’ve stressed over marketing and promotion. It’s good to know that while sometimes a necessary evil, good writing is good writing and sales reflect that.
Kay
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Thank you so much for posting this, Lynn. It’s hard numbers and sheds some necessary light and reality on the accounting of publishing. I once read something similar from the SF writer John Scalzi. I never forgot it, and it has served me well in viewing the very thin profitability of my own stuff compared to what I net in my other job.
Just out of curiosity, have you ever broken it down to $/hr? I did it once for one of my titles. When all was said and done, I was in the negative when it came to an hourly wage. Factoring in time working on the book, not only was I working for free, I owed money.
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At the end of the year I amuse myself by working out my hour wage to my logged work hours and net earnings (I keep a ledger of my hours for the accountant, and my net is whatever is left after taxes, expenses, everyone else gets paid, etc.) In 2008 I made $8.11/hr, which I think is roughly what you’d make after a year or two of running the fry machine at MacDonald’s.
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Thank you for posting this incredibly helpful information. As a new author I have often wondered about the facts and figures. Not that I see myself debuting at #19! But in your post you have given me something you may not expected. A little hope. No, not to be rich by being an author, but I would love to reach thousands of people with my writing. I may never reach as many readers as you, but I know I have it in me to make my mark. Thank you!
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I know a few writers think it’s about being rich or famous, but most of us share your sentiments, Johnny. It’s just about being a storyteller, and sharing the gift with others. Making a living at it so we can do what we love as our day-job is terrific, but it’s not what drives us — the work does.
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Ah, I should have checked this earlier, to add a data point…
My fourth novel, Kitty and the Silver Bullet, debuted on the extended list at #24 and climbed to #20 the following week, back in January 2008. Initial print run, 62,000 I think. Like yours, I think it made it to the list because of a building readership. The following two books debuted at #13 and #18, with similar print runs. I’ve never done a book tour and haven’t done any special promotions. It’s all readership.
I wonder if some of the numbers people talk about are having a first novel debut on the list? It’s been done, and does need a lot of promotion, or a gimmick.
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Thanks for sharing your stats with us, Carrie (see, it’s not just me getting modest print runs.)
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Personally, I think that authors get mislead into spending so much on promotion because of other authors more so than publishers. WHen I first sold to NY , and I asked both of my publishers what I should be doing to promote, they both said the same thing. Write a good book and build a good website. Call me crazy, but I wonder if the need we, as authors, have to buy bookmarks, and ads, and promo swag to throw around at conferences is just us competing with each other.
Or maybe thats just MY competitive streak showing? LOL
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I’ve never bought a book because someone gave me a bookmark or a pen or whatever.
But I’ve bought a book because an author gave me a free copy of her book once, which I read and liked. (Free books are GREATLY appreciated since I don’t live in the States & they’re hideously expensive where I am.) Or the author had a really really cool website with intriguing blurbs, etc.
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Lynn,
Thank you for sharing so openly! It’s eye-opening to read your post! I question whether I’ll ever get to the published phase, let alone the list, but it is very interesting to get a glimpse into how the system works.
Publishing seems like one screwey business – definitely nothing like my day job business!
Thanks, again!
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There is no biz like the Publishing biz, Kenna. Sometimes I think combat training in the military was a cakewalk compared to it. But it’s good to know what you’re getting into.
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Lynn, as usual, you are amazing. Thanks for sharing this info. It’s incredibly generous of you. As someone whose debut comes out in August, I’ve been explaining to the family again and again WHY we aren’t retiring. Perhaps now they’ll believe me — because I’m definitely not debuting on the NYT list.
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Congratulations on the debut, Lynn — that’s wonderful news. And you never know — there are always a few debut authors who make the list their first time at the dance.
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Thanks for posting, Lynn. Interesting stuff. Really curious now just exactly how they compute the numbers for the list. Obviously you have to sell a certain amount of books, but wondering if sales/week relative to other titles is involved, etc. I’m also curious why books are returned minus the covers. You’d think they’d want to keep at least a certain amount around for when books go out of print. It would allow people to order copies directly from the publisher. But then, I’m pretty clueless about all the rules and such regarding that policy.
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I’m not sure about the sale aspect of things, Lynn or someone else will probably have that info. But I Imagine the publishers don’t want a ton of the books themselves back is the same reason books go out of print when they don’t sell consistently – Space issues in the publishers warehouse.
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It varies, Jim, depending on the list, the book seller, the publisher, and a lot of other variables. I’ve given up trying to figure out how these lists are calculated — the people who make them up aren’t forthcoming, and all the authors I’ve heard try to explain it don’t make much sense.
The shelf life of the average paperback novel is three to six months in the romance genre (some of the category authors only get 30 days, which is really brutal.) I used to work for a major chain bookseller, and we tried to keep as many copies on the shelves as we could of books we knew would sell within a short period (we were all very familiar with our customer base, though, and the store manager was very flexible and supportive.) But corporate really makes those decisions, and they’re all based on financial considerations. As for the publisher, I’m sure they need the loss write-off for the stripped books as much as the bookseller needs the sale credit.
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Thank for the information. It is very eye-opening especially for someone who is not in the publishing like me.
What amaze me is the export sales figure. To think that there are only 2,444 copies of Twilight Fall available for the rest of the world, it is unbelievable. And I owned one of those 2,444 copies. I am so glad I grab this book as soon as it released (and read it and love it).
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That’s actually a very good figure for imports for me, May. Most of the time the combined total for any of my books remains under 1,000. I attribute that to all my overseas readers (like you) spreading the word, because as far as I know I’m no promoted at all overseas by my publisher.
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But you do book giveaways and include international readers. I generally never ever enter contests because international readers are almost always excluded.
P.S. I did win books from you once and loved them all.
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Lynn thanks so much for this info–it’s fascinating!
I am really curious and wanted to ask one question, if you don’t mind. Did this particular book also hit the USA Today list? I’m really curious about how books correlate from one to the other.
Thanks again!
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This one was on the USA Today list (which is all fiction books in all genres regardless of format) for two weeks. I think it peaked in the low sixties, let me check . . . yep, went as high as #67. All of the Darkyn books made the USAT list, but I think Night Lost was the only one that got into the top fifty.
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Another quick data point —
The independent bookstore I worked at in the mid-90’s was a NYT bestseller list reporting store. i.e. It was one of the ones you could buy lots of copies from and have it register. Except that if something unusual happened like that, like a school ordering a hundred copies for a class, we’d report that, too, and they’d take that info into account. We had a manager who’d check the sales records every week and fax in the report on an approved form.
The list of reporting stores is supposed to be a secret, so I don’t know how you’d go about find outing which ones they are. You can assume that the famous independents, like Tattered Cover here in Denver, are on the list.
This was over 10 years ago–pre-Amazon–so I don’t know how the system has changed, how or even if the chain stores report, if online sales are included, or what. But back in the day the NYT really did collect data from stores all over the country to calculate the list.
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There you go, guys — thanks for the info, Carrie.
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Thank you for sharing this information and for the promise of sharing the next round. It’s fascinating to watch this unfold.
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I’m interested to see how well the book did in the second half of the first year on the shelf, because that’s when the initial flurry of sales generally slows and you get an idea of how you do when your book is selling only from the shelf. This is when you see the impact of word-of-mouth advertising, too.
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You are awesome. I’m honestly not sure I’d have the balls to share this kind of info. Huge kudos and thanks to you! And congrats on the cracking the top twenty!!
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It’s definitely not for the faint of heart.
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Thanks, Lynn, this was a very educational post. It’s hard to make goals if you don’t know if what you plan is actually a realistic possibility. I’ve read all of your Darkyn books (and your Stardoc books)and am looking forward to whatever you write next. Have a great weekend.
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It’s darn near impossible to plan on anything in Publishing, Ann. I think knowing what can get you there gives you a better view of the road ahead, though.
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Excellent post, Lynn. Thanks for doing this. Kris
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No problem.
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Thank you so much…just got my initial ship #s and was clueless what they meant. This gives me some perspective.
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All the figures can be intimidating, even after you’ve done this 42 times. If you don’t understand something about your figures, though, be sure to ask your editor or your agent about them — in my experience they’re always happy to explain the often fuzzy mathematics.
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I absolutely admire you for sharing this. Thanks for doing a tremendous service to your fellow authors and aspiring authors!
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Glad I could shed some light on a murky subject.
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This is a very gutsy move.
Would like to see what happens when your book is available in eBook format.
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Generally I don’t see a breakout of e-format versus print format sales when the book is released in print. I do have one project that was released only in e-book format (a longish novella that paralleled a print novel) that I’m going to be talking about as soon as I get the first stats on that one.
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Thank you, Lynn!
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Think of it as payback for introducing me to Wordle via your LJ.
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Thank you for this. Very educational.
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Mom always wanted me to be a teacher.
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I am impressed That is a large amount of books to be sold off the shelves. Your fans are loyal. You are right. People think all they need to do is get published and they’ll be rich. If you don’t love to write don’t do it for the money Dusty Richards a Spur winner Author of “The Sundown Chaser”
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I have the best readership money can’t buy, Dusty. They’ve done the lion’s share of the work, and I’ll never be able to thank them enough.
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Lynn, thank you so much for this information. I’m a pretty detail-oriented person, but these types of details seem to be as illusive as the meaning of the universe or what the heck is happening on LOST.
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My theory is LOST is an updated version of Gilligan’s Island minus the slapstick. It’s just about as goofy now.
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I followed a link on a messageboard over here, having no idea this was you. But, of course, I’m not surprised that you are the generous spirit behind this post. Thank you for sharing, Lynn.
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I’ve already made the messageboards? Eeek.
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Thank you, Lynn. I appreciate your candor.
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No problem, Debbie.
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This is awesome! I knew that quite often, the sales and royalties on a first run can cancel each other out. This is a much better breakdown. I do have a question; You said that the government gets roughly 15K. Is this money you pay as taxes out of the initial advance? Or does that come out of the end $27K we see on the statement for net profits? Because I’m guessing that you are considered self-employed? Just a guess mind.
I did want to say…of course your readers put you on that list! You have a loyal following, what the outside industries would call a ‘proven track record’ (to coin a dumb phrase) and you’re gaining new readers all the time
So if you’re going to do conventions and things, do them because you want to (though I know that’s not your thing) not because you feel forced to in order to make sales, yes? I could get into doing book signings, but the conventions and things? I’m not a ‘networker’, so for me, eh, not so much.
*sigh* Alas, first someone has to fall in love with my ms. But I know someone will. In due time.
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DUH! That should read ’sales and advance’…loopy Friday. What can I say?
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Because I’m self-employed and I decided not to incorporate or do any tricky tax stuff, I pay taxes on my gross income, which for this book would be the entire $50K advance. I also pay taxes quarterly on my estimated income versus deducting them from each check (which is fun, let me tell you.) At the end of the year I deduct things like expenses, what I pay the agent, etc.
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Thank you for posting such personal information for us. I really appreciate it.
And I, for one, have never bought a book because of an emery board, pen, or bookmark with the author’s name on it.
I buy books because of an intriguing cover, back cover blurb, and first few paragraphs, none of which cost the author a dime.
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Ditto this.
Bookmarks, pens, and magnets are nice… but they aren’t going to make me buy a book anymore than the pharmaceutical logo ones my mom (a nurse) gives me are going to make me take their meds. LOL
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Same here, Kate. I rely on recs from my readers and writer friends, too, because they’ve introduced me to some interesting new-to-me authors.
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Loved this post, and thanks for baring the facts for us.
I had a question that has puzzled me for a while: if out-of-print books of yours are going for $60+ in secondary book markets, why doesn’t either you or your publisher (whoever has the rights to it now) just push it down to a print-on-demand service, then charge whatever is necessary?
There’s very little cost to set it up, and it can be pretty fire-and-forget once it’s done.
Is it a strategic thing, lack of time, lack of interest?
What about downloadable eBook versions of those OOP titles for $9 or something?
Thanks if you can shed some light on this, but thanks anyway for this great article!
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Good questions, Ryan.
The POD scenario is definitely doable, I think, but the major publishers have yet to embrace POD as a business tool. They are slowly moving into making some anthology fiction available as single-title e-books (my publisher does shorter fiction as eSpecials) and make most print novels availble in e-format, although they’re very expensive and subject to that DRM thing that doesn’t allow the purchaser to print them out.
I’m not sure why, but it’s probably because this industry is extremely old-fashioned to begin with, and everything in Publishing moves at a snail’s pace. In many cases the major publishers haven’t updated their business models in decades. But I have hope that will change by the time the next generation of writers are established. So many of the young writers now are so tech-savvy that I firmly believe they will force Publishing to change for the better.
Out of print novels generally stay out of print for seven years, when the rights traditionally revert back to the author, unless the publisher decides to do something in order to hang onto them. I’m hoping to have the rights returned for my first three romance novels over the next year, and then I plan to make at least one of them available as a free e-book, and maybe do some POD print versions on my own.
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Great post, Lynn.
Two things I’ll add to the discussion. I think it should be noted that the vast majority of books (80%+) do NOT earn out. Meaning they don’t make enough money to pay back to the publisher the advance made, so any added income beyond that point is great in my viewpoint.
Second, I have to say that Penguin’s royalty statements are a damned sight easier to read than Simon & Schuster’s!
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I’ve seen or received royalty statements from a couple different publishers now and I will give Penguin top marks for clarity as well as accounting accuracy.
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And don’t EVEN get me started on trying to read Kensington’s. Jeebus those things are ridiculous.
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As someone who gets them form both Kensington and Penguin, I agree. Penguins are super easy to read and understand, and Kensington’s are…not. LOL
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Lynn,
Followed a link on Twitter to this wonderful post. Thank you for your willingness to share. The detailed explanation is very much appreciated. It’s always such a mystery and seeing actual numbers really does help put things in perspective. Will be interested to see how the October statement goes. Will you post it here or on your PBW blog?
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I’ll followup here when I get the next statement in, since this is where I posted the original info, but I’ll be sure to link to it over on PBW, too, Patrice.
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thanks so much for this information. I just don’t know why it’s all hush-hush. I’d prefer to know honestly what I’ll make, not some nebulous thing that’s not possible to figure out based on royalty statements. Geez.
I’ll be watching for future information and congratulations on the Times ranking anyway.
Molly
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I’d like to see more authors offer some hard figures on sales and earnings, but I know the risks involved as well as what kind of backlash can result from it, and I don’t blame anyone for keeping their own information private. It’s the same at any job, really. How many people in other industries openly share their performance and salary statistics with their coworkers and their clients?
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Dear Lynn
Thanks so much for this info. I’m still awaiting my first royalty statement from Berkley, trying hard to have nil expectations so I won’t be disappointed. This post has clarified a lot for me. I’m not good at promo, it doesn’t suit my personality – I’d rather write. Which is what my agent says to do too. I comfort myself by believing with ally my nervous little heart that all I need do is write the best book possible and word of mouth will do the rest. Hah! Would be so good if I (and you) were actually correct!
Now I’m going to buy your books out of sheer gratitude, but I don’t doubt I’ll enjoy them for their own sake. Thanks again!
Denise
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You sound a lot like me, Denise. I think readers are the finest unpaid marketing source in Publishing, so by focusing on the writing and giving them your best work, you’re earning that wonderful, word-of-mouth advertising that no one can buy.
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Wonderful blog post! I did the “agent” take on the numbers in this post on my own blog. =)
http://litsoup.blogspot.com/2009/04/royalty-statement-anatomy.html
Thank you for posting your statement!
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Thank you, ma’am.
Your breakdown was terrific, and I appreciate you taking the time to provide a more in-depth explanation of the line items.
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Lynn –
Thank you for being so candid and showing us all what this business is like in real terms of what to expect. That took guts and I applaude you for it.
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Thanks, Laurie. I didn’t expect all this attention or support from the Publishing community, but I am very grateful for it.
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You are so courageous! I congratulate you on having the guts to do this.
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Thank you, Ms. Henley.
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That does it. I am building an altar in your honor. LOL!
I started reading your books only recently and you turned me into a fan. But after this post, you’ve also become someone I trust.
You’re an amazing woman, Lynn. Thanks.
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I always wanted my own little shrine somewhere. :0 Thank you for the kind words, Maria.
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Lynn V:
Thanks very much for sharing this. It’s information I think could greatly benefit aspiring authors, most of whom have a very unrealistic idea of what it means to get a mainstream publishing contract—much less, to make the NYT list. I’m the founder of Publetariat, a new online news hub and community for indie authors and small imprints. May I have your permission to post an excerpt from this article on Publetariat, with full credit given to you as the author, and a ‘read the rest’ link back to this page? If you’d like to know more about Publetariat first, you can visit the site at www publetariat dot com.
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Sure, April, you have my permission to post an excerpt, and the linkback is much appreciated. Thanks for helping spread the word.
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Thanks very much, Lynn. =’)