Julie Broad breaks down author earnings across publishing models. Traditional publishers pay 10-15% royalties, earning authors about $1 per $10 book sold. Hybrid publishers pay 30-60%, netting $3.50-$4.50 per $7-$8 book. Self-publishing through Amazon KDP pays 70%+ in royalties, around $6 per $5-$6.50 book.
Questions this video answers
30% to 60%.
10% to 15%.
About 70% or plus.
Around $1 per copy.
At least $10.
Chapters
What percentage of book sales do authors receive from your company? Well, hybrid publishers typically offer 30 to 60%. Traditional publishers offer 10 to 15. And self publishing with good distribution can yield 70% or plus when you upload to KDP to distribute with Amazon. Amazon is not your publisher. They are a distribution channel. So asking what royalties you get when you're self publishing isn't actually accurate because it's not royalties. You're getting proceeds when you're self publishing. Technically, there are no royalties. The question that we're asking here is how much money per copy sold will you make and how much does it cost you to buy a copy of your book? The answer, when it's a traditional publisher, will probably average around $1 of profit. That's what's going in your pocket. And your cost when you're buying a book will usually be at least $10. When you publish with a hybrid, the dollar amount can vary widely, but usually it's around $3.50 to $4.50 per book that you're making, and your cost is somewhere around that 7 to $8. When you self publish, it will be closer to a $6 profit per book and 5 to $6.50 for cost. Now, there's so much variability and so many factors that will impact all of the above. The point here is really just to illustrate rat comparisons and to know more about the question before you ask it.
