More Straight Talk about Royalties

My regular readers know I'm a fan of talking money, and sharing what I make for different types of work. So today I'm sharing more straight talk (and actual figures) about royalties. 

There's a lot of confusion from would-be authors about how advances and royalties work. In short, an advance is an advance against royalties--meaning that the publisher offers you money to write the book against your share of what the publisher expects the book to make. However, the majority of books fail to "earn out," or make enough that the author receives royalties. That's why I suggest that authors assume that the advance is all that they'll see for a book--and one of the major reasons I started doing more ghostwriting. 

So here's the scoop on my latest royalty statement for Writer for Hire, and case in point--I'm still not making royalties. Between January and June 30, 2014, Writer's Digest sold the following (the company breaks different types of sales into different categories, which I've noted below: 

Export sales       4

Dom L sales   411

Dom G sales      1

Dom M sales  172

E-books             84

POD                  29

Total Sales      701 (minus returns of 57) = 644 sales during this period, 4642 total since its publication. I've produced $4096.22 in royalties, which offset against my $5,000 advance, means I'm still $903.78 in the hole. That's the bad news. 

The good news? My sales were higher during this royalty period than the previous one, from July 1-December 31, 2013. (And the latter royalty period included back-to-school sales and holiday sales.) 

Compare: 

Export sales       69 

Dom L sales   370

Dom G sales      8

Dom M sales  113

E-books             65

POD                  14

Total Sales       639 (minus returns of 70) = 569 sales during this period. 

What does this mean? You might think "nothing." I disagree. Both the print and electronic sales are up, even though the book has been in print for more than two years, and I believe that's a good sign. It may be due to the fact that I'm constantly marketing all of my books on freelancing. It may be due to the fact that it's a great book, and that readers are recommending it to fellow writers. (I hope so.) But it may also be due to the fact that it's been around long enough to get noticed, and picked up at a bookstore, or ordered because it's been mentioned by another writer, or in one of my bylines, or at a writer's class, conference, or event. Or a combination of all of these factors. 

All that matters to me is that it's continuing to sell--and that means a year from now (sooner than that if sales really take off), I should be seeing my first royalty check for a book I wrote three years ago, and that was published two years ago. Good things come to those who wait. 

**Readers, do you have questions about royalties, publishing, book contracts, or POD? Comment here with them and I'll be happy to answer! 

Everything Old is New Again: How to Make a Reprint Fresh

I've written before that two of my favorite kinds of money to make are royalty checks and reprints. Why? Because they require no (or next to) work on my part. In the past, I've made as much as $6800 in a year from reselling articles that have already been published. The market for reprints isn't as lucrative as it once was, but I still make several thousand dollars a year offering reprints to smaller, regional, and specialty markets, many of which have purchased stories from me for years. 

One of the reasons I continue to offer reprints is that it's so easy, once I find an appropriate market for them. I've had the greatest success with "evergreen" stories, but even evergreens can do with a trim--or in this case, what I call a tweak. So I'm always willing to update a piece, or rewrite a lead, or "tweak" a story to better fit an editor's needs. 

For example, one of my regular reprint markets recently asked me about reprinting a story I wrote a decade ago. She wanted it framed in a slightly different way. I was fine with reworking it the way she asked, and updated my sources' titles in the meantime--two have new positions (not surprisingly as it's been 10 years), and one has added a PhD to her name, which I included. Total time to do this: 30 minutes. What I'm charging for the reprint: $100. Do the math and you'll see that translates into a $200/hour rate. 

No, you won't get rich selling reprints--most of my markets pay just between $40 and $150 for reprint rights to a story. But the fact that they take little effort to sell--especially if you're willing to take a little time to tweak them--makes them well worth the effort for me. That may be the case for you, too. 

**Coming next post--my latest royalty statement and breakdown. Aspiring book authors will want to read this! 

**Want more advice about making more money as a freelancer in less time? Check out Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, Second Edition, a freelancing classic that helps both new and experienced writers boost their bottom line, and my latest book,Goodbye Byline, Hello Big Bucks: Make Money Ghostwriting Books, Articles, Blogs and More, Second Edition, which shows how to break into the ghostwriting/content marketing field. If you're brand-new to freelancing, I recommend Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets. 

More Honest Talk about Royalties--and the Truth Hurts

I found out earlier this week that my book from last year, Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets to Freelance Success, won ASJA's 2013 Outstanding Book Award in the service/self-help category. What made it especially gratifying is that I've been a judge for the awards before, and the competition is fierce! So I have an extra reason (besides my Irish ancestors) to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this weekend. 

Coincidentally, I just received my latest royalty statement from Writer for Hire. And as a freelancer and author who believes in full disclosure, I'm sharing it here.

However, I have to say the news is pretty disappointing. During the first royalty period, I sold a total of 1,975 copies, including 92 e-books. I made about $0.83/book for the print edition and about $2.37/book for the Kindle edition, for a total of $1,776.43 in royalties. Close to 2,000 copies in the first few months isn't bad for a book like Writer for Hire, and I've been actively promoting the title since then. I expected to sell at least that many copies in the last six months of 2012. 

Well, that's not what happened. Between July 1 and December 31, I sold a total of 652 copies, including 105 e-books. That's not even a third of what I sold in the first royalty period, and it brings my total number of copies sold 2,627 for a book that was released in April, 2012. So far I've produced $2,601.79 in royalties, which still isn't enough to offset my advance--meaning I haven't earned out yet, so I'm not seeing royalty checks yet. 

I wish I had better news to share. I've been promoting the book steadily, but the fact is that no amount of promotion as an author can guarantee that your books will sell, or sell well. I'll continue to market Writer for Hire (and my latest two books, Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets, and Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money, Second Edition), because that's what authors do. But sometimes sales figures are downright depressing. 

**Coming next week, an excerpt from Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets, and another giveaway. And if you're a fan of Six-Figure Freelancing, stay tuned--the print version will be published later this month! 

Giveaway Winner--And A Look at My Latest Royalty Statement

First, congrats to Cindy, the winner of my latest giveaway. She wins a signed copy of Writer For Hire, which I'll be mailing to her this week. Thanks to all who entered!

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know I'm big on talking money. I've posted before about going rates for freelance work; real POD sales figures; and even shared my royalty statements. And I conduct an annual freelance income survey. I believe that information is power for both freelancers and book authors. 

I recently received my royalty statement for the first six months of the year for Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets to Freelance Success. (Typically traditional publishers send royalty statements twice a year, from two to six months after the end of the royalty reporting period.) The royalty statement tells you how many books you've sold during that time period and how much you've made in royalties, If you've made more than your advance (what's called "earning out"), you receive a check along with your statement.

I wasn't sure what to expect with sales for Writer for Hire. I knew that with Six-Figure Freelancing, I sold about 4,600 copies during the first royalty period--not bad at all. Because I had such an advance of $15,000, though, I have yet to earn out on Six-Figure. Maybe someday. But I did a lot of promotion to launch Writer for Hire, and continue to market it. That's part of my work as an author. 

So, how'd I do? My sales figures weren't as high as I would have liked, but they're not terrible, either. In the first six months of the year, I sold a total of 1,975 copies of Writer for Hire, including 92 e-books. I make about $0.83/print book and $2.37/e-book, so I've made $1776.43 in royalties. However, that's not enough to offset my advance for the book. If sales stay steady--or hopefully pick up--I estimate it will take another year or so to actually see a royalty check. 

Keep in mind that a "midlist" author may sell between 10,000 to 20,000 copies of a book over its lifetime, so nearly 2,000 sales isn't a bad start. What matters is what happens during the next few royalty statements. So stay tuned!