by Kenneth R. Besser
Member since:
July 8, 2007

Authors' and Booksellers' Diminishing Returns

July 17, 2007 09:23 AM EDT
views: 138 | comments: 19
 

The LA Times ran an interesting piece on July 16, 2007, under the headline Harry Potter and the Diminishing Returns. The story laments the situation confronted by booksellers who find themselves being pitted against huge retail and Internet outlets that are discounting the Potter books to loss leader status in order to bring readers into the store so that the retailers can make more profits selling them milk, other books at full retail, and/or shipping and handling services.

An even more interesting feature (we all know what huge discounts are granted Amazon and Walmart vs. the paltry 40% independent booksellers are required to live on) is a sidebar discussing where all of the money goes between the author and the paying reader. This data is purported to be from Albert Greco, the university professor who has made his life's work a constant monitoring of the book publishing industry. One amazing piece of data in the chart is a stunning author royalty of 15% of retail that his model assumed goes to JK Rowling. An asterisk disclaims that anyone really knows the details of JK's contract. Nonetheless, where does such a figure come from.?

I have never seen an author's contract with such a term in it. Has anyone else? I know, as an aspiring author, I cannot hope to receive one; and as a new independent publisher, my business model will never allow me to pay one.

Do any other writers have any ideas for ways to protect the value of our work at the retail level?

link to this page
Bookmark this post:
Facebook
Twitter
Delicious
Buzz
More

Comments: 19

We could all start hand binding limited editions of our work and sell them on eBay as collector's items?
Christopher L. Jul 17, 2007, 12:09pm EDT
As far as my experience goes working in the industry, authors get an average of 5-10 percent royalty off retail price. This is not including the advancement an author gets from the publisher once a contract is agreed upon. That is why, for writers who want to make it somewhere, it is important to secure an agent and get published with a well-known publisher. Self publishing and other independent publication are just not sufficient to support a writer.
Ken C. Jul 17, 2007, 4:34pm EDT
A while back, I got a royalty statement from Pearson Prentice Hall. My sales level did not meet a threshold, this kicked in a reduced royalty rate. There were sales, but I owed them money and it it took a year to get back to even. I thought that was very creative on their part.
Ken C. Jul 17, 2007, 4:36pm EDT
My royalty rate is 15% of wholesale for domestic sales.
Diana Raabe Jul 17, 2007, 8:52pm EDT
Good questions and interesting comments. Being a writer didn't used to be a "supporting" vocation, did it? The best early twentieth century writers usually had to die before they received the recognition they deserved in many, if not most, cases.

Was adding marketing to the "art" of writing what made it profitable - for bookstore [chains] if not for writers in general.
life is change and this area is changing fast.
Genine Hopkins Jul 18, 2007, 6:29am EDT
Wal-Mart creates another negative economic situation.
Paul M. Jul 18, 2007, 8:34am EDT
Authors like Rowling, Stephen King, John Grisham, et al can pretty much name their own price. As they say in the movies, they're bankable. Although after July 21 I have no idea what the hell Rowling does. If I were her I'd retire to some tropical island.
Kenneth R. Besser Jul 18, 2007, 8:42am EDT
Speaking of tropical islands, I would love to have her come teach as a Perfect in the art of literature at the Global Optimum Development Academy on Demeverde. See my book, Arnie Carver and the Plague of Demeverde , for a further explanation.
Bhumika Ghimire Jul 18, 2007, 11:32am EDT
harry potter mania has become ugly..taking out all the class from literature..now writing has become a B grade pot boiler..so sad.

about royalty..i am still struggling to find a publisher for my book..so don't have any idea about that..but nice to see that there are so many published authors here at Gather
Susan Kelley Jul 18, 2007, 8:43pm EDT
I know I don't get even 10% royalties on my books. As far as Harry Potter being B grade literature, that series has tuned a plethora of kids onto reading. When they're done reading those books, they'll go on to read something else. Kids need to learn to read for entertainment first. I don't think there is any exceptional literary value to Harry Potter, but I love what it's done for kids and reading.
As far as writers getting their share of profits...did any of us expect we would?
Patry Francis Jul 19, 2007, 12:31am EDT
There's a little Don Quixote in all writers, don't you think? The vast majority of us will never make a living solely from our writing, but we continue to dream--and why not? The dream is half the fun.
Paul G. Jul 19, 2007, 12:54am EDT
Aw, c'mon Patry. You're doing all right, aren't you? (Better than waiting tables, right?)
Christine Zibas Jul 19, 2007, 1:16am EDT
I am surprised at the 15% royalty rate, but with a powerhouse seller like Rowling, anything is possible.
Kenneth R. Besser Jul 19, 2007, 6:18am EDT
I am sadly coming to the realization that my most lucrative moments will probably be as a lawyer and my most rewarding ones will be as an a father and husband, but my most enjoyable ones will be as an author.
LK Hunsaker Jul 19, 2007, 10:34am EDT
Didn't she start her own company after the contract for the first 2-3 was fulfilled. The early books are Bloomsbury/Scholastic; the final books are through Arthur Levine. I'd heard she abandoned the big companies and started her own in order to make a higher percentage, so maybe she does actually get 15% of sales. Very, very smart. Good for her!
Kenneth R. Besser Jul 19, 2007, 11:31am EDT
Arthur Levine is an imprint of Scholastic. All of the books were published through that imprint. Check the spines.
Mark Y. Jul 25, 2007, 12:31am EDT
15 % of the cover price is high. Wholesale is on the discounted net of the sale. This is strictly vanity league. The worst is 8% on the net. Of course almost no copies sell compared to commercially published books so. It's 15% of nothing really.

Join the Conversation
Chime in! Become a Gather member to comment.
Already a member? Sign in
top
 
Gather | Friends | Groups | Share
About Gather | Engagement Marketing | Make New Friends | Gather Points | Advertise on Gather | Gather Press | Privacy | Terms of Service | Community Guidelines
Books | Celebs | Entertainment | Family | Food | Health | Moms | Money | News | Politics | Spirituality | Sports | Travel | Writing
Version 16961, "Pacino"; Copyright © 2009 Gather Inc. All rights reserved.