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Subject:
marketing support and author royalties and advances
Category: Arts and Entertainment > Books and Literature Asked by: pcr-ga List Price: $30.00 |
Posted:
02 Mar 2005 13:59 PST
Expires: 01 Apr 2005 13:59 PST Question ID: 483656 |
What is the rule of thumb, or formula, that publishers (publishing companies) of Christian non-fiction books use to calculate things such as marketing dollars to spend, advances to pay authors, royalty rates, etc. In other words, I've heard directly from a publisher that publishers have formula or ratio, they use to determine how much marketing dollars will be spent. It includes projected sales and some other factors. Ultimately, I am trying to discover what a mid-level author can expect in terms of marketing support for a new book (how much a publisher is going to get behind this project), and given such, what would reasonable advances and or royalties be for such a project. I'm NOT looking for general industry standards from all of book publishing. I want a response as it relates to the Christian non-fiction segment of publishing. Any previous examples of mid level authors on the rise would be excellent and tipped appropriately. Comparative names include authors such as Jennifer Rothschild, Lisa Whelchel, Elizabeth George, Tammy Trent, Sheila Walsh, Angela Thomas. So in sum, there are two parts to the question, though they may be related. 1. Is there a formula publishers use to determine marketing dollars and support for a new book within the genre specified above. 2. What is a reasonable advance and royalty rate for an mid-level author with a previous sales history of 75,000 units of previous book. |
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There is no answer at this time. |
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Subject:
Re: marketing support and author royalties and advances
From: publish-ga on 09 Mar 2005 06:34 PST |
There is no formula, unfotunately there are a lot of publisher out there taking advantage of authors. From my research http://www.christianpublish.com offers the same distribution and quality of publishing Christian books at the most affordable rate compared to others. Make sure you check everything with some of the other Christian Publsihing Companies. Some charge to high of a retail price for the books. Others charge a huge set up fee. When it all averages out you should receive royalty checks between 20-30% of wholesale. |
Subject:
Re: marketing support and author royalties and advances
From: eddyhall-ga on 20 Mar 2005 06:25 PST |
I am an author of several Christian nonfiction books, though none of my books have sold 75,000 copies. As a general rule, I think the advance a mid-level Christian publisher offers reflects the amount of royalties they expect the book to earn in its first year. Various factors can influence this. If there is competition for the manuscript, they may go higher than this. If the book is considered risky, they may estimate conservatively. (Two-thirds of Christian books lose money for the publishers.) I have not had a contract in which the publisher committed a certain number of marketing dollars to one of my books, but for authors in demand, such a clause in the contract can be negotiated. I have found it valuable to develop a marketing strategy document for my books prior to release and to make a trip to the publisher and request to meet with the people who will be engaged in marketing the book. I hand out the marketing strategy piece I've developed and in 30 minutes help them understand the nature of the book, it's intended audience, and the book's selling points. These marketing people have always appreciated this, and it makes my book stand out in their minds from all the hundreds of other titles they are publishing that year. The royalty rate mentioned by the previous commenter sounds high to me. Most contracts have an ascending royalty rate--a certain rate for the first 10,000 copies sold (for example), and then it increases after that. There may be three levels to the royalty rate. I think most of my contracts start at 14% of wholesale and then go up to 17%. Of course, to a degree rates are negotiable. The more you do to market your own work, the more attractive you become to a publisher as an author. I sell my books through my web site, to clients in the course of my work, and through selling excerpts from the book as articles to magazines. (I have my contracts set up so that I keep these reprint fees rather than having to split them with the publisher.) |
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