Royalties

ROYALTIES
Royalties & Sales Statements are mailed to authors on a quarterly basis.
1st quarter: Jan, Feb, Mar
2nd quarter: Apr, May, June
3rd quarter: Jul, Aug, Sept
4th quarter: Oct, Nov, Dec

You will receive a Royalty Statement towards the end of the quarter and it will reflect sales from the previous quarter.  For example, in June an author will receive the Royalty Statement for sales made from January to March and if a check is due, this will also be included. This delay is due to the fact that it can take several months for the printer to send us payment for the books sold.  This also means that authors will not receive their first royalty check the first quarter that their book is available.  They will receive a royalty check at the end of the second quarter of their book’s publication.

A royalty check is written once the royalty reaches $10 or at the end of the year. End-of-year royalty checks are sent in March.

Royalties are based on your “Net Profit” from each book sold.  Royalty rates vary from author to author ranging up to 50%. Here are the two most common scenarios based on a book that sells at a retail price of $14.95 with a 50% royalty:

  • If it is sold through Amazon or Barnes & Noble:  The printer sells the book to the distributor/retailer at a 40% discount, reducing the profit to $8.97.  The printer charges $4.00 (estimated) to print the book (Print Charge).  Thus the “Net Profit” is $4.97.  The author receives 50% royalties from this net profit, which comes out to $2.49.
  • If a customer orders through the Inkwater Press website (www.inkwaterbooks.com) the author would still receive the same royalty rate (50%) but because the book does not incur the 40% discount given to distributors/retailers, the “Net Profit” on that book would be higher.  The printer would still charge a print charge (est. $4.00).  The “Net Profit” for that $14.95 book would be $10.95.  The author receives 50% from the net profit, which comes out to $5.48 per book.

Authors receive up to 50% royalties of the net receipts on any eBook sold.  In most cases online retailers demand a 30% trade discount on eBooks, although some retailers demand 50%.  Authors can choose the retail price of their eBook within the range of $2.99 to $9.99.