Xulon Press Self-Publishing Royalty Rates

Understanding Your Royalty Rates

Royalties is just a fancy word for profits. It's the money that's left for the author after a book is sold and all the associated costs of things like printing, shipping, a share to the retailer, etc. have been subtracted from the retail price. With a traditional publisher (and unfortunately most self-publishers), that profit gets shared between the author and the publisher with the publisher keeping the majority of the profits. At Xulon Press, we think the old way of doing business is wrong. You did most of the work! Why should your publisher keep most of the profits?

So, what does Xulon Press pay? We are one of very few publishers who pay 100% of the net profits on all books sold through 3rd party retailers like Family Christian Stores, Lifeway, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, etc. Retailers typically keep about 55% of the retail price. Once you subtract the cost of printing, shipping and the share the retailer keeps, the rest is yours. We keep NOTHING so you earn as much as possible from your work!

You also have an opportunity to earn an even higher profit when your book sells through our retail channels. We'll sell your book on our online bookstore, our toll-free order line and through our book sales representatives. When we sell your book we only charge a 25% retailer fee versus the typical 55% paid to 3rd party retailers. This means you earn even more for every book sold. In fact, your profits on books we sell are usually more than DOUBLE that of books sold via 3rd party retailers! Xulon Press is the only publisher that can offer this to authors.

How to Calculate Your Royalty (Examples below are based on a $15.99 retail priced book.)

In it's simplest form, Retail Price - Retailer Charges - Production Costs = Royalty (or Profit).

Production costs include things like printing, shipping, taxes, etc. These costs vary widely depending on things like order volume, page count, hard versus soft cover, etc.

Retailer charges are the portion of the sale that the booksellers keep to cover their costs and make a profit. What's left is the profit that the author shares with their publisher (Remember, with Xulon Press the publisher's share is 0%).

What does that mean for you in actual dollars? The two examples below are based on an average book retailing for $15.99 with an average production cost of $3.90.

3^rd Party Retailers The first step in calculating your profit on a 3^rd party sale is to subtract retailer charges. On average 3rd party retailers keep 55% of the retail price of a book. The retail charges on our $15.99 book would be $8.79 so that leaves $7.20. The second step is to subtract the production costs. Our example book costs $3.90 to produce so that leaves $3.30 in profits from our $15.99 book. Since Xulon Press pays you 100% of the profits, that $3.30 goes directly to you. Here's how the math looks all together:

$15.99 - 8.79 - 3.90 = $3.30 profit.

Xulon Direct Retail Sales Again, the first step in calculating your profit is to subtract the retailer charges. The great news is that our direct retail channels only charge 25% of the retail price to cover our costs. The retail charges on our $15.99 book would only be $4.00 so that leaves $11.99. Next, subtract the $3.90 in production cost so that leaves $8.09, which is paid to you. On average, you make 250% more on book sales through Xulon retail channels. We think that's a good thing.

$15.99 - 4.00 - 3.90 = $8.09 profit.

eBook Royalties

Royalties on eBooks work pretty much the same way except there aren't any production costs and the 3rd party retailer charges vary widely. Retailers keep from 30% to 70% of the cost of the eBook. As with sales of hard copies of your book, you keep 100% of the net profits. So, on a $7.99 eBook, an author's net royalty can range from $2.40 to $5.60.

If we sell your eBook through our retail channels, we are only going to charge the same 25% as with paper copies to cover our costs. So, if that same $7.99 eBook sells through the Xulon's bookstore, you would receive $5.99.

Royalty Payments

If all of this seems overwhelming, don't worry. The great news about tracking book sales and royalties is we do all the work. We get reports from all the distributors, bookstores, website and other retailers that are carrying your book. You'll get an easy to read statement that shows exactly how many copies sold, when they sold and what your net profit is. We now offer monthly statements and quarterly payments so you can keep track of what's happening with your book and how much you're earning. We also have a Royalties Specialist available to help with any questions that you may have.

Questions?

Still have questions about royalties? Call us at 866-381-BOOK (2665). We would be happy help.