Author Royalties

Who is Getting Paid and How?

Social-Media

YouTube, Apple, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn – you name it:  We should make a public outcry (and maybe even sue them) when any business asks a creative professional to work for free.

“The charade of inviting artists to participate in a faux gift exchange while a web platform makes money through side deals (advertising) ought to be exposed for what it is—a shameful tool of economic exploitation,” writes Ted Gioia.

Participating in Social Media
“Journalists and bloggers give away their writing via social media. Even in the arts, we have seen impressive victories over formidable adversaries. YouTube is the most powerful force in music today, but it makes its money from advertising—once again, the songs themselves are just an unfortunate cost of doing business.”

“In the music world, for example, secret deals—such as those scams that reclassify payments to record labels as catalog licenses in order to avoid sharing the money with musicians—simply can’t be allowed. No merchant or trader, no matter how greedy, ever dared do that in the past.”

 

Successful Investigations
“The payola getting funneled to playlist curators needs to be exposed, just as it was by congress back in its 1959 investigations of the radio industry. Merely casting a bright light on duplicitous practices will have a powerful cleansing effect.”

Working for Glory? Read the whole article by Ted Gioia here
https://imagejournal.org/article/gratuity-who-gets-paid-when-art-is-free/

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How Much Do Authors Really Earn?

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Million-Dollar-Question

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“It doesn’t help authors to say that 70% of the book market is in print if only a small fraction of that money ends up in authors’ pockets.  What we want to see is the combined effect of royalty rate, sales volume, and sale price.  These three factors combine to give us a true picture of comparative earnings, as shown in our pie charts” says Hugh Howey, founder of Author Earnings.
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A Fantastic Report About Author Earnings
He explains: “Sports stars, musicians, actors— their salaries are often discussed.  This is less true for authors, and it creates unrealistic expectations for those who pursue writing as a career.  Now with every writer needing to choose between self-publishing and submitting to traditional publishers, the decision gets even more difficult. Online Book Retailers, such as Barnes&Noble or Amazon don’t share their e-book sales figures.”
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Website for Authors, by Authors
Author Earnings, a website by authors and for authors looks at independent authors, small/medium publishers, Amazon published, Big Five published and uncategorized Single-Authors.  All the pie-charts on Author Earnings are divided into all the types of publishing.  The purpose is to gather and share information so that writers can make informed decisions.  Another mission is to call for change within the publishing community, for better pay and fairer terms in all contracts. 

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Some of the Findings

• Big-5 publishers are massively reliant on their most established authors – for 63% of their e-book revenue.
• Roughly 46% of traditional publishing’s fiction book dollars are coming from e-books.
• In absolute numbers, more self-published authors are earning a living wage today than Big-5 authors.
• Readers are interested in both: the quality of a book and the price
• Very few authors who debut with major publishers make enough money to earn a living—and modern advances don’t help.
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Publishing in Print or Digital – or Both?
Author Earnings:
“How much money is being spent on print overall and how much on Amazon’s digital storefront?  Before we got to money, we looked at actual unit sales, which came out to be 61% digital and 39% print.  That’s a total different picture, comparing versions at a retailer that sells both: ebooks and print books.”
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These, so far, nine extensive reports – chock-full with charts, explanations and publishing tips – are a valuable resource for every author.  Here is the latest from October 2014:  Author Earnings.

Another question: Why should you have a print book and not the digital version only?  In a former blog post we gave you all the reasons to offer both: e-book and print. Check these reasons if they are valid for you too.

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,100 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following us on these Social Networks:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

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http://www.international-ebooks.com/

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Tagged: Author Central, Author Earnings, Hugh Howey, Kindle Direct Publishing, print book sales, Sales Rank Express, The 7K Report

Amazon Pays Advances for Your Book?

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Worldwide-Book-Rights

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Writers everywhere get excited about an email from Amazon, where they explain a glimpse into offering a new program, a crowd-sourcing program:  
Your readers and followers can decide if an e-book / audio-book will be published by Amazon – and you can keep the print rights.  There will be a (small) advance, royalties and certainly Amazon’s tremendous marketing power.  Here are the first details:
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  • Focused formats: We acquire worldwide publication rights for the e-Book and audio formats in all languages. You retain all other rights, including print.
  • Submit your complete! (means edited) never-before-published book and cover.
  • After a few days, we will post the first pages of each book on a new website for readers to preview and nominate their favorites.
  • Books with the most nominations will be reviewed by our team for potential publication.
  • Should you be selected for publication you will receive benefits that include:
  • Guaranteed advance & competitive royalties: You will receive a guaranteed $1,500 advance and 50% royalties on net eBook revenue.
  • 5-year renewable terms, $5,000 in royalties: If your book doesn’t earn $5,000 in royalties during your initial 5-year contract term, and any 5-year renewal term after that, you can choose to stop publishing with us.
  • Easy reversions: After two years, your rights in any format or language that remains unpublished, or all rights for any book that earns less than $500 in total royalties in the preceding 12-month period, can be reverted upon request – no questions asked.
  • Early downloads & reviews: One week prior to release date, everyone who nominated your book will receive a free, early copy to help build momentum and customer reviews.
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Update:  Not Yet Worldwide …

Amazon sent out this information (October 2):
We’ll be welcoming submissions for English-language books in Romance, Mystery & Thriller, and Science Fiction & Fantasy genres. Any adult with a valid U.S. bank account and U.S. social security number or tax identification number is eligible.

Here are the things that you should prepare to successfully submit your book:
Complete, never-before-published manuscript & book cover image – We’re looking for 50,000 words or more in Word format and a book cover image that reflects the essence and uniqueness of your book. Make sure your work is ready for others to read. Only the first pages will be posted to the website (approx. 3,000 words).

Book one-liner – A very short pitch (no longer than 45 characters) for your book that will be used on the homepage and throughout the website. Think of examples like “Space opera meets the Middle Ages” or “How far will one woman go to save her family?”

Book description- Help readers understand the content and quality of your book. Keep the description to 500 characters or less.

Your bio & picture – Give readers a chance to learn more about you. You will also have a chance to answer relevant questions regarding your book and personal story in a short Q&A section.
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We’ll also ask you to review and accept our submission and publishing agreement that grants us a 45-day exclusivity period to post your excerpt and tally nominations. If chosen for publication, you will receive a $1,500 advance, 5-year renewable term, 50% eBook royalty rate, easy rights reversions, and Amazon-featured marketing. If not, you automatically get all your rights back at the end of the 45-day exclusivity period.
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Read Behind the Lines:
The titles selected for this Amazon program will not have their books published by Amazon Publishing. This is mainly why they are not offering book editing or cover art design. Instead, Amazon is hoping to give authors another reason to exclusively publish with them and forgo submitting their titles to the trade publisher competition. Net-Royalties could be 10% of gross list after deducting everything the publisher can charge to the project – including salaries and marketing…

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Hybrid Between Trade Publishing and Self-publishing
Higher royalty rates might lead to the expectation that some of those functions are the author’s responsibility.  Not only are the royalties higher than normal trade publishing royalties, Amazon offers very liberal release terms, both for rights not exercised within two years by the publisher and for situations in which the royalties are lower than expectations.  Amazon will put extracts of the books on a website and call for the audience to vote for their favorites, with the most popular going on to be considered by an Amazon panel for publication.

The rights cover ebooks and audio, but you get to keep the print book. The length of term depends on how much your book makes. If the book has earned less than $500 in royalties in the previous year, then you can get the rights back after two years and if the book doesn’t bring in $5,000 royalties in the first five-year term, then you can also quit.
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Author Comments:
“As an indie author almost anything short of my soul would be worth Amazon having an interest in my book and advertising it FOR ME. We all know, selling more of one book means selling more of your other books. Usually hardcore Amazon advertising is reserved for large publishing houses with huge budgets. We get bones tossed to us when we do a good job, but a targeted campaign? When Amazon wants to sell something they do a fantastic job of it. The big attraction is the fact that Amazon can push any book into their best-seller lists with their email campaigns and promotions. For sure, it will generate more name exposure, which could lead to more sales of your other books.”

“I assume Amazon will put a promotional push behind these books like they do the Kindle First books, especially since Amazon is invested in them. 50% of a promoted book could easily make more than 70% of a non-promoted book. It also means that if you publish an additional paperback, it will indirectly benefit from whatever advertising Amazon does for your e-book and audible.”

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The offer includes an advance payment of $1,500 and 50% royalties on net e-book revenue. A 50% royalty for being published (and promoted) by Amazon sounds a reasonable deal, but “net” doesn’t mean half of the retail price.  If you would like to sign up to be notified when this program launches, Amazon has started a mailing list. Details on this site: http://www.amazon.com/gp/gss/detail/29134490/ref=pe_1148920_123694410_pe_button/1?tag=skim0x9814-20

Most important of all for your success in this upcoming new program, is to have LOTS of FOLLOWERS on SOCIAL MEDIA to vote for your e-book’s and audio-book’s publishing deal with Amazon!

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Read more:
http://rogerpacker.com/blog/authors-got-talent-coming-soon-amazon/
http://the-digital-reader.com/2014/09/22/amazon-publishing-crowd-source-next-books-now-recruiting-kdp-authors/
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/64103-amazon-launching-new-crowdsourcing-publishing-program.html
http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/amazon-unveils-new-crowdsourcing-program-for-kdp-authors

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,100 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: Amazon newsletter, book publishing deal, book royalties and advance paid by Amazon, how to become published, how to publish a book with Amazon, Publishing contract, worldwide publication rights

Did You Write a Kindle Single?

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Kindle-Single

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Many writers have taken a strong 70-page idea and stretched it into a weak 300-page book because that was what the industry demanded. Amazon gave short formats – Singles – an identity.
Any writer can approach Amazon directly, as Stephen King, a prominent author, did with Guns,  a nonfiction essay too long, at 8,000 words, for most newspapers or magazines. Another hit was his Single Mile 81, a top seller.

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Amazon’s Sub-Store
In January 2011, Amazon launched a sub-store on its US website to sell something it called a “Kindle Single” : “Compelling Ideas Expressed At Their Natural Length”, as they call it. The internet giant Amazon pays 70% royalties, for Singles priced between 99 cents and $4.99. “Typically between 5,000 and 30,000 words, Kindle Singles are editorially curated and showcase writing from both new and established voices – from bestselling novelists and journalists to previously unpublished writers.”

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The Guardian explained:
“It may not sound like a call to revolution. But Kindle Singles are. Writers can seldom express ideas “at their natural length”, because in the world of traditional print only a few lengths are commercially viable. Write too long, and you’ll be told to cut it (as Stephen King was when The Stand came in too long to be bound in paperback). Worse, write too short, and you won’t get published at all. Your perfect story is 50 pages long – or 70, or 100?  Good luck getting that printed anywhere.  Commercial print publishers have never liked novellas or novelettes, authors always have. Indeed, many writers have done their best work at that length, despite the difficulty of finding publication.  Hence the revolution.  Because the new length exploits this hole in traditional publishing.”

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How Much Do Kindle Single Authors Earn?
The top-ten list of bestselling Kindle Singles includes a number of big-name writers. But how is the format working for writers who don’t have the brand of a Stephen King or Jodi Picoult? Gigaom.com offers well-researched insights from their interviews:

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Author: Oliver Broudy

Bio: Former managing editor of the Paris Review; writer for Men’s Health
Kindle Singles: “The Saint,” $1.99 (3/2011), “The Codex,” $1.99 (10/2011)
Sales: “The Saint”: 41,826 copies, “The Codex”: 5,009 copies (both figures through January 2012)
Estimated royalties ([price * number of copies sold] * 0.70): $65,241.16

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Author: Frank D. Gilroy
Bio: Author of the 1965 play “The Subject Was Roses,” which won the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award
Kindle Single: “Lake,” $1.99 (11/2011)
Sales: 12,500 as of February 2012
Estimated royalties ([price * number of copies sold] * 0.70): $17,412.50

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Author: Mishka Shubaly
Bio: Musician; bassist for The Freshkills
Kindle Singles: “Shipwrecked,” $1.99 (4/2011), “The Long Run,” $1.99 (10/2011), “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” $1.99 (3/2012). “The Long Run” is the ninth-bestselling Kindle Single overall, by units.
Sales: “Shipwrecked”: 21,024 copies, “The Long Run”: 60,567 copies, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”: 11,406 copies.
Estimated royalties ([price * number of copies sold] * 0.70): $129,544.82

Read the whole story by Laura Hazard Owen in her post: “Exclusive: How Much Do Kindle Singles Authors Make?”

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If You Want to Have Your Single Published
Amazon criteria’s – Submission Policies – are:
• Original work, not previously published in other formats or publications
• Self-contained work, not chapters excerpted from a longer work
• Not published on any public website in its entirety
• Currently not accepting how-to manuals, public domain works, reference books, travel guides, or children’s books
“A Kindle Single can be on any topic. So far we’ve posted fiction, essays, memoirs, reporting, personal narratives, and profiles, and we’re expanding our selection every week. We’re looking for high-quality writing, fresh and original ideas, and well-executed stories in all genres and subjects. You also can write to our editors at kindle-singles@amazon.com”
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The latest Kindle Single Bestsellers in a variety of genres can be found at Amazon’s “Singled Out” page.
If you are an author and already published a Single at Amazon, let us know about your experience and success.

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,100 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: Earning of Writers, Frank D. Gilroy, how much can you make with Kindle Singles?, Kindle Single, Mishka Shubaly, Oliver Broudy, Stephen King, top-ten list of bestselling Kindle Singles

Want to Write for Glory? Or for Money?

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Writing-Query-to-Publisher
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At a recent meeting of independent writers I met a young women, who told me about an event she wanted to visit: the “path to publishing”.  The highlight will be a literary agent who accepts query letters from participating aspiring writers.  I asked her why she is querying to publishers. “Do you want to write for glory – to see your book for a couple of weeks in bookstores – or do you want to earn money with your writing?”  I admit, a bit provocative.  I explained her what she can expect as “published” author including the minimal royalty of only 8-10% what an author gets – compared to 70% (or almost 100% for sales from the authors website).  
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  1. Having an established platform and an idea how to brand yourself
  2. The first book has to be successful from day one!  Bookstores give only a couple of weeks for success
  3. Expect an exclusivity clause in your contract for series / similar topics
  4. But first of all:  Proof the publisher you and your book will be a success
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There are some questions that trade publishers and literary agents frequently ask writers before they sign them up. The problem is most writers are caught off guard by these questions and don’t always answer them the way they would’ve liked. So prepare ahead of time!
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Why do you want to be published?
Seems like a simple question, right? The agent isn’t just interested in your answer but your attitude. Let’s take a look as how some of your answers COULD be perceived…
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Answer #1: I just want to get my story on paper.
Agent’s reaction:  Then you don’t need me. If you’re not going to take this seriously and consider writing your new career, I’m not interested.
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Answer #2: I want to share my stories with the world.
Agent’s reaction:  Why would anyone want to read your stories? What makes you more special than any other writer out there? If you don’t know what’s unique about you and you can’t sell yourself, how am I supposed to?
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Answer #3: I want to become a bestseller and make a bundle.
Agent’s reaction: Get real.  Do you know how hard it is to become a bestseller? Do you understand how much work is involved? Why do I get the feeling you’re not interested in the writing, just the possible financial benefit.  Oh, did I mention you will make next to nothing with your first book and possibly every book after that? If you want to become a millionaire, buy a lottery ticket. Your odds are probably better.
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Answer #4: I want to be famous.
Publishers reaction:  That’s not going to happen overnight. Are you willing to put in the time and sweat?  What if you don’t amount to more than being a mid-lister?
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Here are more questions, which could come in many forms:

  • What’s your next book about?
  • What else are you working on?
  • Where do you see this series going?
  • What is your blog about?
  • How many followers do you have on your Social Media sites?

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What Are Publishers / Agents Expecting?  They want to know you’re committed, that you understand this journey is hard, long, and not always rewarding. They want you to dream and to set goals, but they need to believe you are willing to work to attain those goals.
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Must-Read Blog to learn more about agents and how to approach them
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents
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How to Write a Query Letter
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents
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Less than Minimum Wage for Authors?
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/less-than-minimum-wage-for-authors/
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Successful Query Letters
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/5-tips-for-successful-book-submissions/

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,070 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: agent query, How to Write a Query Letter, Literary Agents, Publishing contract, Query Shark, query writing help

The Traps in Publishing Contracts

ebooksinternational:

The key to a good publishing contract is clarity. For authors, it is helpful to keep in mind that most contracts are not take-it-or-leave-it propositions. Be courteous. Be tactful. Knowing what to ask for is critical. Use an agent or attorney who understands the parameters of the typical publishing deal to negotiate your contract. Working through an agent or attorney allows the author to preserve his creative relationship with the editor or publishing house, explains Attorney Lloyd J. Jassin on his website.

 

Originally posted on Savvy Writers & e-Books online:

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Traps-in-Publishing-Contracts
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Traditional Publishing Contracts – Part Two of a Series 

There should be a large neon sign that says: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER sign a contract without having your contract lawyer going over it and explaining it to you in detail – sentence for sentence. The contract clauses described here in this blog post are the “norm” in publishing. It is difficult to see how your publishing agreement will play out in the long term, what you sign today could have profound, long term consequences.

Contract attorney Ivan Hoffman explains in his blog:
“In the US, many contracts that consumers commonly sign, such as for mortgage or auto loans or to
obtain a credit card, are subject to statutory requirements for fairness, clarity, etc.  If some of the clauses and drafting techniques commonly included in publishing contracts used by publishers were found in consumer contracts, those provisions would be…

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Tagged: Advances and Royalties, basketing, Book club publication, joint accounts, Minimum Wage for Authors, Publishing contract, Publishing Deal, Reasonable Reserve, Traps in Publishing Contracts

Less than Minimum Wage for Authors?

ebooksinternational:

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Are you thinking about approaching an agent or publisher for your next book? Do you know what clauses publishing contracts usually contain? How do you read a publishing contract? What your income will be – compared to author-publishing? This blog post and the following two will help you to “take the con out of the work con-tract”.

Wikipedia explains: “A publishing contract is a legal contract between a publisher and a writer or author, to publish written material by the writer or author. This may involve a single written work, or a series of works.” And as with every legal contract, authors are faring better when consulting a lawyer that is specialized in publishing contracts – BEFORE – they sign it.  

 

Originally posted on Savvy Writers & e-Books online:

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Justicia

Justicia

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Traditional Publishing Contracts – Part One of a Series

You might remember an article How Harlequin Publishing Deceives Their Authors from last summer in this blog, about the planned class action suit against the publisher. Today I stumbled about a sequel of J.A. Konrath’s blog: Harlekin Fail, Part 2, where he explains the contract practices of the trade publishers in general, and how they deceive their authors. From today on we will look more closely into these practices.
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When offered the opportunity to publish traditionally, about two-thirds of self-published authors are interested. The supposed prestige of a traditional publisher, the wide distribution a publisher can generate and help with marketing, are the reasons, cited in surveys.
However the perception of traditional publishing is often not up to date in public, as the way of book marketing (and the whole traditional publishing business) has totally…

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Tagged: author-publishing, contract duration, Contract Lawyer, less than minimum wage, out-of-print, Publishing Contracts, Reversion of rights, Rights granted by the author to the publisher, Royalties, Trade Publishing

15 More Online Retailers to Sell Your Book

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Antique-Cash-Register

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Authors: you can sell your books, e-books and audio-books not only through Amazon, but as well on Barnes&Noble, Apple and Kobo websites, to have your “eggs in more than one basket”.  And don’t forget the potentially huge potential market for hardcover books, selling them to libraries all over the country!

However, there are way more online retailers for e-books and books than just Apple , Sony, Diesel, Kobo or Barnes & Noble. Oh, yes, and even Google sells e-books, but they pay authors and publishers a lousy royalty. I don’t know anyone, selling books through Google.
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Just to mention a few more online book retailers:

www.Scribd.com
www.booksonboard.com/
www.ebooks.com
www.ebook-store-review.toptenreviews.com
www.ebookmall.com
www.indiebound.org
www.powells.com/ebooks/
www.kobobooks.com/eBooks
www.rbooks.co.uk/ebook.aspx
www.whsmith.co.uk/eBooks.aspx
www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/browse/ebooks/4294964587/

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And here are two more lists of online book stores with even more sales possibilities:
http://www.infoagepub.com/iap-ebook-retailers.html
http://www.the-ebook-reader.com/ebooks.html

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Put Your Eggs Not Only in One Basket
If you don’t want to upload your book yourself, get help from these aggregators for one yearly fee and reap 100% of your books revenue: BookBaby.com or eBookPartnership.com.  Aggregators will handle distribution, sales, accepting payments, and are managing your account with the online retailers.
Avoid aggregators who take a 10 or even 15% commission for every book sold.
Read also about the experience of an author, detailed with all his sales numbers, costs associated and comparison of revenue on several online retailer sites from Amazon, Apple and Kobo to sales on his own website: 
http://andrewhy.de/amazons-markup-of-digital-delivery-to-indie-authors-is-129000/

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/  to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,015 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Tagged: aggregators, B&N, BookBaby, Diesel, eBookpartnership, Kobo, Powells, Scribd, Sony, Waterstone's

Foreign Book Rights: Multiple Sales of Your Manuscript

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Europe
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Foreign Rights as well as translations into other languages can be a great way to leverage the value of your manuscript – but don’t expect big numbers right away. Revenue will be an advance and approximately 6 – 10% royalty of the retail price, minus percentage for the agent. It’s also a long-term project as it takes around 18 months until the book is translated and finally available online and in bookstores.

Foreign rights belong to your book’s subsidiary rights.  Like other sub-rights, such as audio, movies, book clubs, paperback reprints, electronic rights, foreign rights can be sold and separated from your book’s primary rights – which you totally own anyway as an independent author-publisher.
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Before you sign a contract: Always first contact your national writers’ association for further information and get legal advice from a lawyer who is specialized in copyright. This could save you several thousand dollars – if not more.

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Let’s Start With the Revenue You Can Get from Your Book’s Retail Price:
Earning possibilities for your book.

  • If you sell your book on your own website ca. 90 – 95%
  • Selling through Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple or other online retailers: up to 70%
  • Selling your manuscripts to a trade publisher, earns a (small) advance and ca. 8 – 10% royalties – but this will be subtracted from the advance and only if you “earn out” your advance, which means the book is really selling well, you receive royalties.
    For most authors the advance is all they really earn.

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If You Want to Let Your Book Translate in World Languages
You can certainly just translate your book and sell it through online retailers worldwide. Most spoken languages beside English (albeit not necessarily e-book readers) are Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, German, Russian, Russian, Portuguese, Bengali, Japanese according to Wikipedia.
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Start With Maximizing Your Foreign Presence – For FREE
To maximize your presence in overseas Amazon Kindle stores, just set up an Author Central account in each of those country-specific sites where your book is available.  As Amazon divided the world in single countries, announce your Countdown Deals, new book launches or Free Kindle KDP Days in several languages: Order at http://www.Fiverr.com a short translation of 10 tweets in Spanish, French, German etc. for $5 / 200 words. The countries with the most usage of eReaders, according due to a survey of Bookboon are USA, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark etc.
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A good idea would also be to join ALLI   
New rights services are growing up online to help authors meet rights buyers directly without having to travel to a book fair and using technology to extend reach. ALLi now has an arrangement with one of these, Pubmatch. Members have access to Putmatch’s premium service through ALLI (usually $79.99) at the deeply discounted rate of $9.99.  Pubmatch will facilitate communication, data warehousing and the simplification of rights marketing for publishers, agents, authors and others, making it the go-to place for the international publishing community to find new titles and new talent.
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International Book Fairs
Do not just turn up at an international book fair, hoping to sell your book. Meetings are arranged well in advance (4-6 months) with acquisitions editors at international publishing houses, to whom new projects are pitched, and new potential publisher customers can be discovered.  
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Top Publisher for French Foreign Rights
If you want to talk about foreign rights with a French publisher one of the biggest in the world, Hachette who are also partnering with Phoenix Publishing & Media Group in China and holds a 25% share of Atticus in Russia.
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Top Publisher for Spanish Foreign Rights – Good for U.S.A. too!
Planeta leads the world’s Spanish-language publishing markets in Spain and Latin America. The company has further strongholds in Portugal and France, where it owns Editis, the country’s second-largest group. Grupo Planeta is present in 25 countries, with more than 100 imprints and a catalogue of 15,000 titles.
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Major agencies, specialized in Foreign Rights:

http://knightagency.net/

http://nelsonagency.com/foreign-rights/

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Choose your foreign rights agent carefully!
Most agents charge 20% (or sometimes even 25%) on foreign sales. This 20% rate is justified because normally two agents are involved (the second one being in the foreign country), and they end up splitting the commission. If you are not represented already, why not try to find agents or even publishers yourself in other countries, especially if you speak more than one language?
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There are things to watch when negotiating foreign rights deals – hopefully an agent will keep an eye on these, but it’s worth knowing about it:

  • Term of the deal:  Five years is most common, anything longer then you should be expecting a premium from the publisher.
  • Country / Territory for the contract: You might sign away Portuguese language rights without realizing that it will include publication in Brazil (and Mozambique, Angola, Macau, Cape Verde etc).  Also, giving worldwide Spanish language rights could cause friction with any United States publishing deal, as there is a large Spanish reading audience in the US.
  • Tax situation in your and the potential publishers country: While there are now many treaties which allow for uninhibited flow of money between countries, you could lose some of your advance to a foreign government’s tax.
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Before signing a contract with an agent or a publisher, how can an author tell if the company is good with foreign rights? Ask about their previous sales!  Contact authors who work with that publisher or agent and ask them about their experience. It’s also possible to find out the name of foreign publishers and go to their web sites and see what books they have recently published.

Find out what authors the agency represents overseas, then ask those authors about their own experiences. Again, foreign rights are only a portion of an author’s income, so that’s something to bear in mind. Check your agreement with a translations rights agent carefully.  Never, ever! give world rights away as standard, and you should also insist in a large upfront payment.
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Read more:

How to Sell Foreign Rights
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/how-to-sell-foreign-book-rights/

In Gwen Ellery’s article are tips from foreign agents about the cultural difference – something very important!  http://www.gwenellery.com/your-books-foreign-rights/

John Penberthy, a successful writer, who searched the internet, found contact addresses of agents in other countries and contacted them directly.  http://axiomawards.wordpress.com/2008/09/05/selling-foreign-rights-around-the-world/

Morris Rosenthal gives also great, detailed tips in his article about book contracts. http://www.fonerbooks.com/contract.htm

Importance of Foreign Rights
http://www.columbinecommunications.com/articles/the-importance-of-foreign-rights/

How You Can Sell your Rights or Split Your Book into Single Articles: http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/why-you-should-split-your-book-apart/

John Kremer sells helpful lists and reports for authors and an e-book with an extensive list of foreign rights agents  http://www.bookmarket.com/foreign.htm

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Tagged: book sales territories, Foreign Book Rights, Foreign Right Sales, foreign rights, foreign rights agent, foreign rights lawyer, John Kremer, North American first serial rights, publisher overseas, Second serial rights

Best and Worst About Literary Agents

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Literary-Agent-Search
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Most US writers have to go through an agent – over 80% of all publishing deals are made through a literary agency. Publishers in the USA don’t want to deal directly with authors. In Canada, only ten percent of authors / books are agent-ed. Aspiring and established authors successfully submit the majority (10,000 plus) of the titles published every year directly to editors at publishing houses.
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IMPORTANT:
Study the agents’ website and submission guidelines carefully and learn how to write a query.
Be prepared when meeting for the first time with the agent for questions like this, that can make or brake your contract:

  • How are going to market your book?
  • What’s your platform
  • Why do you want to be published?
  • What’s your next book about?
  • What else are you working on?
  • Where do you see this series going?

Even more in your favor will be when you are already working on your second book and have at least the outline for the third. Your manuscripts don’t have to be a part of a series but should be in the same genre as the book the agent will pitch.This will show both the agent and publisher that you have the potential of becoming a career author. Have a sense of how long it takes you to write a book, including all of its editorial stages. This way, you will know what kind of delivery commitment you can make.
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Agent’s Fees
As an author trying to find a literary agent you have heard or read from, is not an easy task. And you might find an agency describing itself as “non-fee-charging” but then nevertheless wants money up-front. Most professional agents’ associations adopted policies prohibiting members from charging fees, called “reading fees” or “evaluation fees”.
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Reputable agents will NOT charge you a fee up front to represent your book. They earn their living by selling your book to a publisher and gaining a commission. That commission is a percentage of the proceeds your book earns. For one thing, this gives the agent an incentive to actually market your book around to various publishers likely to buy it for publication. This is another reason why many agents pick submissions carefully. They know what publishers are looking for and they will not accept anything which is not ready for submission or close enough that a few days of editing will make the difference.
Most agents these days charge 15% commission on domestic sales (North America).
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A literary agent gets his commission AFTER the book contract with a publisher is signed and the first money flows. If they charge reading or evaluation fees or any of the following fees – author beware:

  • marketing fees
  • submission fees
  • travel fees
  • legal fees
  • advance fees
  • or “per hour” fee
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Have a look at the do’s and don’ts of both sides:
Never under any circumstances should you pay expenses or any fees up front: Agents only receive money by deducting his or her 15% commission from your eventual earnings. Should an agent tell new writers that she/he was charging 15% commission plus expenses — that’s a rip-off; don’t agree to it. The Association of Authors Representatives (professional organization of literary agents) also forbids the charging of “reading fees.” If an agent asks you to pay a fee for his or her “evaluation” of your manuscript, refuse!
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So, what could you encounter?
Some agencies pressure authors into various additional services and charge fees for websites, sample cover mock-ups or illustrations or social media listings.
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AgentQuery (Database of Literary Agents) wrote on their website: Industry Red Flags:
“Be wary of any literary agent that contacts you out of the blue, especially if you have not queried that specific agent and do not have a public platform or presence. Fiction writers should be particularly cautious unless the agent has a logical reason to contact you, like you’ve recently won a prestigious writing contest, or they’ve seen your blog or read your published stories, etc..”

“Beware of agents that offer representation for a fixed fee, offer representation only if you pay them money to edit your manuscript, or charge you up-front fees in the range of thousands of dollars to off-set the cost of submitting your manuscript to publishers. These are all warning signs—unethical behavior from an unprofessional scammer. Scammers will tempt you, especially if you are desperate and inundated with rejections. They will tell you how fabulous your manuscript is and you will want to believe them.”

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WRITER BEWARE notes: 
“Not all agents who charge marketing fees are dishonest. Some are simply inexperienced or inept. But scam or amateur, the bottom line for the writer is the same: a lighter wallet and no book contract.”

Remember, that many of these publishers operate under more than one name and as “in-house” referral services. This means they always find a reason to refer you to another company which they also own… Editors Nielsen-Hayden summed it up: “Writing may be an art or a craft (or both), but publishing is a business. It’s best to know the business before diving in.”
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Resources and More blog posts regarding Literary Agents:
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How Agents work and How to work with Agents
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/how-agents-work-how-to-work-with-agents/
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Must-Read Blog to learn more about agents and how to approach them
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents

Database of Literary Agents
http://www.agentquery.com/
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What Literary Agents Want to Know From You
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/what-literary-agents-want-to-know-from-you/
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How to Write a Query Letter
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/5-tips-for-successful-book-submissions/
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100′s of Links to Publishers and Agents
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/100s-of-links-to-publishers-and-agents/
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Which Literary Agent is Right for You?
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/which-literary-agent-is-right-for-you/
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Association of Author’s Representatives (lists agents)
http://aaronline.org/

Lynnette Labelle Editorial Services
www.labelleseditorialservices.com
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Visit often and get the latest alerts from WRITER BEWARE:
http://www.sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/alerts/
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Tagged: Agent fee scams, AgentQuery.com, commission on domestic book sales, Editors Nielsen-Hayden, How to find and agent?, literary agent, Literary Agents, QueryShark, Which Literary Agent is Right for You, Writer Beware