"Thinking your publisher is going to make you rich and famous (and promote your book) is like giving birth and thinking your obstetrician is going to raise your kid. It ain't gonna happen. Difficult as it is to realize, authors must take full responsibility for the promotion of their own books." -Kathryn Hall, Publicist		Income Comparison Self-Publishing v. Conventional Publishing The following table of income and expenses is provided to show at what sales levels the financial advantages of self publishing come into play. Primary responsibility for publicizing a new book rests with the author, whether the book is being self published or whether it's published by a large publisher, so the author's income below is shown before publicity costs. Once 5,000 copies have been sold, a self-publishing author has usually broken even, and produced enough cash from the project to pay for a modest publicity campaign. An author published by a large publisher has also broken even at this point. However, if a book hits a sales level of 10,000 copies or more, a self-publishing author has made more than three times the money a royalty author has. In addition, authors doing publicity appearances draw people to their workshops, and are hired for personal and business consulting. 20 people in a $350 weekend workshop can produce more than enough revenue to pay for an ambitious publicity campaign. For an example of a savvy self-publisher's story from the Wall Street Journal, click here.
Income Expenses Source of Sale Cover Price Typical Discount Quantity Author's Gross Income Ware- housing & Sales Editing, Cover & Pre-Press Publicity Printing APC Fee Author's Net Income Before Publicity Comparable Royalty Income Before Publicity Author Sale $ 14.95 0 % 500 $ 7,475 $ 0 $ 3,000 Retail Sales $ 14.95 45 % 500 $ 4,111 $ 1,439 $ 1,500 Wholesale Sales $ 14.95 53 % 4,000 $ 28,106 $ 9,837 $ 2,000 5,000 $ 39,692 $ 11,276 $ 6,500 $ 5,000 $ 7,500 $ 12,800 $ 1,616 $ 4,485 Author Sale $ 14.95 0 % 1,000 $ 14,950 $ 0 $ 3,000 Retail Sales $ 14.95 45 % 1,000 $ 8,223 $ 2,878 $ 1,500 Wholesale Sales $ 14.95 53 % 8,000 $ 56,212 $ 19,694 $ 2,000 10,000 $ 79,385 $ 22,552 $ 6,500 $ 15,000 $ 12,500 $ 12,800 $ 25,032 $ 8,970 Author Sale $ 14.95 0 % 2,000 $ 29,900 $ 0 $ 5,000 Retail Sales $ 14.95 45 % 2,000 $ 16,445 $ 5,756 $ 2,000 Wholesale Sales $ 14.95 53 % 16,000 $ 112,424 $ 39,348 $ 3,000 20,000 $ 158,769 $ 45,104 $10,000 $ 25,000 $ 20,000 $ 12,800 $ 70,865 $ 17,940 Author Sale $ 14.95 0 % 5,000 $ 74,750 $ 0 $ 5,000 Retail Sales $ 14.95 45 % 5,000 $ 41,113 $ 14,389 $ 2,000 Wholesale Sales $ 14.95 53 % 40,000 $ 281,060 $ 98,371 $ 3,000 50,000 $ 396,923 $ 112,710 $10,000 $ 30,000 $ 45,000 $ 12,800 $ 216,362 $ 44,850 If you look at the column on the far right, you'll see that at the sales level of 5,000 copies, the self-publisher breaks even, but makes less money than if the book had been published by a traditional publisher. In practical experience, 5,000 copies is the breakeven point for many self-publishers. You'll also see our estimate of typical editing costs ($3,000), cover design costs ($1,500), and typesetting costs ($2,000), as well as the fee the Author's Publishing Cooperative charges for the huge number of steps required to take the whole project from manuscript to national distribution ($14,800). Including print costs and publicity costs, a typical self-published book might require an initial capital outlay of $25,000 to $30,000, with the author's net income from those 5,000 books averaging $30,000. Once the book sells over 5,000 copies, and all the one-time initial costs are in the past, the author is able to make a great deal more money from self-publishing than from royalty publishing, as you will see from the right-hand column. The first copy costs $25,000; the second copy costs $1.50!
			Contact: Author's Publishing Cooperative 1490 Mark West Spring Road Santa Rosa, CA 95404 707 525 9292 Dawson@AuthorsPublishing.com