Received: from nobody by stodi.digitalkingdom.org with local (Exim 4.91) (envelope-from ) id 1gw9I5-00016H-2f for lojban-newreal@lojban.org; Tue, 19 Feb 2019 09:34:45 -0800 Received: from mail-3-165.rch001.net ([52.124.3.165]:35013) by stodi.digitalkingdom.org with esmtps (TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:256) (Exim 4.91) (envelope-from ) id 1gw9Hz-00013P-V3 for Lojban@lojban.org; Tue, 19 Feb 2019 09:34:44 -0800 From: "Martin Foner" To: "Lojban@lojban.org" Reply-To: Subject: This Issue: Serious Revenue Enhancing Ideas for Publishers X-BPS1: 7022839 Feedback-ID: 2269790:e3f358ff3e2f409298df36d6dac03a14:marketing:reachmail X-BPS2: 73291 Message-ID: <7339a14b-f1d7-4e96-a1a4-149d17a236fe@a.sc02.rmdlvry001.com> List-Unsubscribe: , X-Mailer: RM Mailer (v5.4.944.0) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="=-Py4OyUQvkkdbGg/K7nz4Yw==" Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2019 11:34:39 -0600 X-Spam-Score: 0.1 (/) X-Spam_score: 0.1 X-Spam_score_int: 1 X-Spam_bar: / X-Spam-Report: Spam detection software, running on the system "stodi.digitalkingdom.org", has NOT identified this incoming email as spam. The original message has been attached to this so you can view it or label similar future email. If you have any questions, see the administrator of that system for details. Content preview: Having trouble viewing this mail? Click here to view it in your browser. http://link.rm0004.net/v/R0WNvsO08j3_Df625KV6RQ2 Make sure that you always get our messages: Add martin@ppgcpublishers.com to your contacts. Content analysis details: (0.1 points, 5.0 required) pts rule name description ---- ---------------------- -------------------------------------------------- -1.9 BAYES_00 BODY: Bayes spam probability is 0 to 1% [score: 0.0000] 0.0 URIBL_BLOCKED ADMINISTRATOR NOTICE: The query to URIBL was blocked. See http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/DnsBlocklists#dnsbl-block for more information. [URIs: nplconsult.com] -0.0 RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE RBL: Sender listed at http://www.dnswl.org/, no trust [52.124.3.165 listed in list.dnswl.org] -0.0 SPF_HELO_PASS SPF: HELO matches SPF record 0.0 HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS From and EnvelopeFrom 2nd level mail domains are different -0.0 SPF_PASS SPF: sender matches SPF record 2.0 HTTPS_HTTP_MISMATCH BODY: No description available. 0.0 HTML_MESSAGE BODY: HTML included in message 0.0 LOTS_OF_MONEY Huge... sums of money 0.0 T_MONEY_PERCENT X% of a lot of money for you This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --=-Py4OyUQvkkdbGg/K7nz4Yw== Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Having trouble viewing this mail? Click here to view it in your browse= r. http://link.rm0004.net/v/R0WNvsO08j3_Df625KV6RQ2 Make sure that you always get our messages: Add martin@ppgcpublishers.= com to your contacts. Click here to unsubscribe or update your email address. http://link.rm0004.net/subscription/?t=3DR0WNvsO08j3_Df625KV6RQ2 Martin Foner's Publishing Newsletter Volume 24, Number 4 Because You're Serious About Publishing Success... OR You're Not This Issue: Serious Revenue Enhancing Ideas for Publishers Hello, Everyone... Well, it's February already. It is difficult to feel sorry for the 75%= of the country buried in snow and freezing cold. I did it for many ye= ars before I took action. Now, where I am, a nasty day is 60 degrees a= nd rainy, and as the song says "It never rains in California". Otherwi= se, for as supposedly crazy as California is, much to my surprise, thi= s is just a great place to be. An hour to the mountains; an hour to th= e desert; and hour to the beach; and an hour to downtown L.A. What mor= e can you want? (How about no traffic?) I am going to repeat this. I have opinions. If you don't like them, yo= u are welcome to unsubscribe, or you may hit the delete key each issue= . Unsubscribing means you LOSE the benefit of a successful publisher's= over 40 years in the business. Deleting means you can pick and choose= . My award-winning newsletters are filled with valuable advice and ins= ight and many, many of my readers anxiously await their arrival. Survival in business, as in the publishing business, is far more than = increasing revenues and reducing costs. It includes understanding issu= es like recessions, currency, international copyrights, day to day bus= iness operations, politics, and even new tax laws that will impact you= whether income or sales tax. So, with my personal history as a Tax CP= A specialist and financial advisor, I often have sidebar commentary on= these issues as well as publishing concerns. FYI... I have ragged on every President since Bill Clinton. When I don= 't like what they are doing, or if what they are doing puts people and= more importantly, publishers, at risk, I used to be the first one to = sound the alarm. Now, or at least since 2015, if I sounded an alarm, I= was occasionally threatened. Unfortunately, there are so many things = to sound alarms about, but someone needs to have the guts to speak up. So, right after the main topic of this newsletter, which is Serious Re= venue Enhancing Ideas for Publishers, I have an alarm or two to sound.= And these are for everyone, particularly those of us in publishing, a= n industry I am committed to preserving! SERIOUS REVENUE ENHANCING IDEAS FOR PUBLISHERS I am going to go back to a few comments from the last newsletter and e= xpand on them to get us started. You still have to make money to stay in business. It doesn't matter ho= w whiz bang your products or processes are, if you aren't profitable, = you aren't going to be in business very long, or you will be limping a= long for more years than you should have to. Ok, what does this mean to you? First... you have to, absolutely have to, understand a basic Profit & = Loss statement. In order to increase revenues, you need to know what i= s involved in your revenues. Second, you have to understand what costs are involved in assembling y= our primary products... books.... before you can begin to price them (= revenue). For example, there used to be an old rule of thumb that you priced a b= ook at eight times its print cost. Now that is great if you are printi= ng at least 1,000 copies. But if you are doing POD and your 'onesie' c= ost is $3.20... then eight times that would be over $25. Not effective= for a 200 page paperback book? Or is it? And now to be competitive, you include free shipping as part of your d= eal. Have you added this cost to your print cost and production cost a= nd pre press to come up with a final cost per copy? And if you decide to eBook everything and ONLY do a physical book on P= OD and on order, you still have all the same costs PLUS 30% of the ret= ail price as a commission to the eBook seller. Third... Can you run your company on what is left over? How do you kno= w? Have you run the numbers every month to figure it out...and to dete= rmine what you have to do to increase your revenues to the point where= you break even? Do you even know what your break even point is? By the title and for t= he entire company each month? If you can't rattle off these numbers, or at least go to an Excel shee= t and read them off from there... you are likely already in trouble. Are you better off to skip the trade and go it alone? Sell less books = but much higher margins per book? Can you embrace Bulk selling and mak= e it one of your primary revenue sources, and how do those numbers com= pare? In order to understand all of this you need BOTH a sharp CPA/Accountan= t... many accountants who aren't CPAs are just fine for what you need.= And, you need a rock solid Publishing Consultant. Someone who can exp= lain and navigate the eccentricities of the industry...why you can spl= it hairs and give ten different discount levels to ten different class= es of customer... explain a short discount and see if you can use this= vehicle... and when it isn't profitable to sell to a specific custome= r... then don't! And most critically... when is it appropriate to RAISE PRICES on your = products and MAKE MORE MONEY? The old view is that if you raise prices= you will lose sales and thus maybe lose money on raising prices. The = math generally DISAGREES with this view, and says you CAN create more = revenues AND profits by raising prices... so don't be afraid to do it,= with the help of a Publishing Professional. This is one of the BIG SE= CRETS of business... raising prices actually makes you money! So, what do you do if you answered most of these questions in the nega= tive? Get working on gaining knowledge ASAP! Then start using that kno= wledge to help your company stabilize first, grow second, and then thr= ive. In the next newsletter, I will cover how to divide a large title into = salable smaller pieces and how to reissue an older but profitable (the= n) title. When to do it and when to let it go. As always, if you have questions, comments, don't understand something= , or have a different take on a subject... my direct email is=C2=A0 mf= oner@nplconsult.com mailto:mfoner@nplconsult.com =C2=A0. Feel free to = contact me, as many have done each issue in the past. Keep it clean, s= pare me the bashing, I am here to advise and help, not jam my ideas do= wn your collective throats. Above all, my recent goal over the last tw= enty five years or so is to work hard to keep the publishing industry = relevant. I intend to continue. And yes, if you feel you have questions or wish to discuss your own si= tuation with me, in terms of Strategic Planning, improving your revenu= es, profitability, growth, Exit Strategy, or whatever... I am happy to= do so, and beyond, would be happy to be your publishing consultant, f= or a few hours, a day, or long term, and guide you to achieving your o= wn Strategic Goals in publishing. Simply email me at=C2=A0 mfoner@nplc= onsult.com mailto:mfoner@nplconsult.com =C2=A0. I have been located in= sunny Southern California now for the last seven years, and if you ar= e close by, we can arrange to meet in person. COMMENTARY When a government decides to attack 'the free press', this is step one= and a huge one, toward authoritarianism or dictatorship. Step two, so= history tells us over and over again... no this is not 'opinion', but= historical fact... go look it up yourself... is for the same governme= nt to start to attack journalists directly. The next step, so history tells us, is decisive on the path to dictato= rial rule. The government attacks 'educators', generally university pr= ofessors and universities first, and then 'teachers', a broad category= from preschool through community college, give or take. Often the ral= lying cry is either "report these unpatriotic people to the authoritie= s", or, "get these people fired from their jobs". Yes, preschool teach= ers for having what is sometimes referred to as 'liberal, socialist, o= r communist' opinions they are trying to foist on the students. Really= ?? BAD NEWS. We are here now. This week. Today! And if we ignore this 'fi= rst shot over the bow', we are going to get shot, shot, and shot until= this rallying cry also becomes as blas=C3=A9 as 'build the wall' or '= lock her up'. We heard it last week from the progeny of the current Pr= esident. He spoke to the El Paso crowd as a warm up to his father. Link to Wash Post article about speech: http://link.rm0004.net/go/R0WN= vmuQ0IWXvPG57kI1bA2/ http://link.rm0004.net/go/R0WNvmuQ0IWXvPG57kI1bA2= / They say it even better than I, particularly when they refer to curren= t situations around the world where this "step" is one on the way to d= ictatorship. So, what's the point, other than this is NOT the kind of talk we embra= ce in a free democratic society? The next step... In almost EVERY major democracy to dictatorship scenario in the last 1= 00 years, the next step was the government closing of specific newspap= ers and magazines not representative of the government's point of view= . And that, my friends, is US! And shortly after comes the attacks on = publishers who publish materials the government doesn't like. The curr= ent President tried that technique with some of the books that have co= me out critical of him, but we are still a free democracy, so his atte= mpts were unsuccessful. It is time to circle the wagons and start formulating plans for protec= ting publishers from the next wave of an onslaught. And if somehow, in= some aberration of a free society, the current President becomes the = next President... all bets are off and you can plan for the above just= like clockwork. Think I am nuts? Go ahead, study history... most Germans thought Hitle= r was a fringe crazy, until he took over... then it was too late. Talk= to those in Rwanda who were targets of the genocide there. Or the Alb= anian genocide of 1915. The cultural cleansing of Mao? Need something = more current (not including what is in the Wash Post article)... how a= bout the Rohingya in Indonesia? The Roma in Europe? Maybe the 'immigra= nts' flooding Germany? The liberals in Hungary? Let's not forget the o= utliers in the Philippines who are being mistaken for drug dealers, an= d not by accident, and killed to the tune of over 8,000 already. In al= most every case the general population said that I would have been the= crazy one... until it started. One last point in case you believe that upstanding patriotic citizens = will form militias to protect you... only if you are abiding to their = point of view. If you don't happen to be a right wing, god fearing, ab= ortion opposing, law and order, Republican... these militias will shoo= t you as quickly as the government. And, for the record, I used to be = a Republican. WHAT MAKES AUTHORS (AND AGENTS) BELIEVE THAT A 50% ROYALTY IS ACTUALLY= SHARING THE PROFITS WITH THE PUBLISHER? Or better put, what makes authors and agents believe they are entitled= to MORE of the income stream than the publisher?" This is EXACTLY wha= t they are saying when they are making a case for a 50% royalty on eBo= ok sales. That as authors, they are entitled to roughly 60% of the inc= ome flow and the publisher is entitled to roughly 40 % if the income f= low. And what publishers are stupid enough to go to work for their aut= hors, rather than the other way around? So, I am sure you are hearing from authors regarding new contracts for= eBooks, that everyone is getting 50% royalties. Sure. I have a bridge= to sell you too. And then they will make the case that since there is= zero cost to an eBook, you, the publisher, should be willing to share= the net 50/50. And usually this is followed by two threats... one is = that the Authors Guild will be in touch to discuss the problem... now = THAT is a threat... I used to have to deal with their contract people = back in the 1990s... noisy and threatening...but in the end, it is sti= ll YOUR publishing company. And the other is that the author will get = published elsewhere. This might well be the blessing in disguise you w= ere looking for! I have offered every year now for the last almost ten years to sit on = a panel with agents and authors to discuss just how in the hell they b= elieve that 50/50 is fair to the publisher... and I have yet to have o= ne take me up on my offer to discuss it. Basically, because they know = better. So, let's examine the argument that publishers have zero costs to doin= g an eBook, and should share revenues 50/50 with the author. Who pays to edit the book? Who pays to proofread the book? Who pays to lay out the book? Who pays for cover design? Who pays for gathering endorsements and reviews for the book? Who pays for converting the text to an eBook format or multiple format= s? Who pays for the publisher to then recheck and reproof the final book = once in all the eBook formats? Who pays for putting the eBook up on the publisher's site? Who pays for maintaining the website, security, and ecommerce function= s? Who pays for the merchant fee when a customer purchases on a credit ca= rd? Who pays for staff time when something goes wrong on the site? Who pays for the time it takes to solicit eBook sites to sell the book= ? Who pays for the time it takes each month to review purchase informati= on, validate it, and handle the internal reporting of that data to the= author? Who pays for the same efforts for the publisher's own website sales? Who pays for the handling the deposits of third party sites, credits, = refunds, and other back office issues related to sales? Who pay for writing the checks for author royalties, mailing, recordin= g, etc? Who pays for the time when an author complains about the report they h= ave received, reporting issues, and what more the publisher can do to = sell the author's book? Now, to balance this... what exactly does the author pay for once the = manuscript is turned into the publisher? Answer: NOTHING. So, the publisher has an up front overhead of easily $3,000-$6,000. Th= en, it is just staff time of 3 to 6 hours a month depending on how suc= cessful the eBook becomes. On top there are charges for sites, ecommer= ce services, banking charges, and office supplies. So with this up fro= nt of $3,000-$6,000, we can add $100 a month for staff time and anothe= r $50 a month for services and supplies. Now, let's make it interesting. Take a $5.00 eBook retail ($4.99 is to= o much math) and deduct 30% for the site seller =3D $3.50 remaining. Now, let's assume in two years the eBook sells 5,000 copies, and the u= p front production is $5,000 to make it simple. Let us not add any pub= site sales, because that would further reduce the net by 3% for credi= t card fees. Sell 5,000 eBooks and the author gets 50% $3.50 x 50% =3D $1.75 x 5,000 copies =3D $8,750. Sell 5,000 eBooks and the PUBLISHER gets 50%...well, not exactly The same start of $8,750 from the split, less $5,000 for up front prod= uction, less $150 a month in costs for 24 months or $3,600... and the = publisher is left with $150.00 Yep, that's it. Author nets $8,750 and Publisher nets $150. Or, better put, the Author gets 98.3% and the Publisher gets 1.7%. I don't work for 1.7% of any number unless it has at least six zeroes = after it. And none of the books we are discussing are EVER going to ha= ve six zeroes after it. So, when an author or agent hands you this bullshit... hand it right b= ack. If the author REALLY wants to make a fair division... the royalty figu= re is 25%. Do the math. 25% of $17,500 in this example is $4,375 for t= he author, and after everything, $4,500 for the publisher. Close enoug= h to 50/50. There is no earthly reason for you to EVER go beyond 25%..= . and I don't normally see an author as a business partner since they = haven't put in the time, capital, and grief to qualify. But if you wan= t to do a 50/50 REAL deal... then 25% royalty is your number. If you are asking... my personal professional opinion on eBook royalti= es?... First off, I don't publish eBooks, as you know. But if I did, I= am still fine with a number of roughly 15%. I am not in the business = of having authors as partners. But you are welcome to do as you see fi= t. Thanks for reading. Copyright Martin Foner, 2019. CAN SPAM Legal Information: There should be an unsubscribe button somewhere at the footer of this = email, but if there is not, simply email me directly at=C2=A0 mfoner@n= plconsult.com mailto:mfoner@nplconsult.com , and I will have you remov= ed from future emailings. If you don't unsubscribe, we will consider you as approving us to cont= inue to send you newsletters and related publishing information. If yo= u do not approve, you need to unsubscribe. NPL Publishing Consultants, a division of Professional Publishers Grou= p Corporation, Post Office Box 1010, Ventura CA 93002. www.nplconsult.com http://link.rm0004.net/go/R0WNvmp0NduQECBWkgEQuw2/ mfoner@nplconsult.com mailto:mfoner@nplconsult.com This email is being sent to Lojban@lojban.org. Use this link to be deleted or to update your email address http://link.rm0004.net/subscription/?t=3DR0WNvsO08j3_Df625KV6RQ2 This message was sent by NPL PUBLISHING CONSULTANTS, a Division of Pro= fessional Publishers Group Corporation | POST OFFICE BOX 1010 | VENT= URA, CA 93002 --=-Py4OyUQvkkdbGg/K7nz4Yw== Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Having trouble viewing this mail? Click here to view = it in your browser.
Make sure that you always get our messages:= Add martin@ppgcpublishers.com to your contacts.

Click here to unsubscribe or = update your email address.
3D""

 

Martin Foner’s Publishing Newslett= er

Volume 24, Number 4

Because You’re Serious About Publish= ing Success… OR You’re Not<= /span>

Th= is Issue: Serious Revenue Enhancing Ideas for Publishers

 

Hello, Everyone= …

Well, it’= s February already. It is difficult to feel sorry for the 75% of the c= ountry buried in snow and freezing cold. I did it for many years befor= e I took action. Now, where I am, a nasty day is 60 degrees and rainy,= and as the song says “It never rains in California”. Othe= rwise, for as supposedly crazy as California is, much to my surprise, = this is just a great place to be. An hour to the mountains; an hour to= the desert; and hour to the beach; and an hour to downtown L.A. What = more can you want? (How about no traffic?)

I am going to r= epeat this. I have opinions. If you don’t like them, you are wel= come to unsubscribe, or you may hit the delete key each issue. Unsubsc= ribing means you LOSE the benefit of a successful publisher’s ov= er 40 years in the business. Deleting means you can pick and choose. M= y award-winning newsletters are filled with valuable advice and insigh= t and many, many of my readers anxiously await their arrival. <= /p>

Survival in bus= iness, as in the publishing business, is far more than increasing reve= nues and reducing costs. It includes understanding issues like recessi= ons, currency, international copyrights, day to day business operation= s, politics, and even new tax laws that will impact you whether income= or sales tax. So, with my personal history as a Tax CPA specialist an= d financial advisor, I often have sidebar commentary on these issues a= s well as publishing concerns.

FYI… I h= ave ragged on every President since Bill Clinton. When I don’t l= ike what they are doing, or if what they are doing puts people and mor= e importantly, publishers, at risk, I used to be the first one to soun= d the alarm. Now, or at least since 2015, if I sounded an alarm, I was= occasionally threatened. Unfortunately, there are so many things to s= ound alarms about, but someone needs to have the guts to speak up.

So, right after= the main topic of this newsletter, which is Serious Revenue Enhancing Ideas for Publishers<= /strong>, I have an alarm or two to sound. And these are for everyone,= particularly those of us in publishing, an industry I am committed to= preserving!

 

SERIOUS REVENUE ENHANCING IDEAS FOR PUBLISHE= RS

I am going to g= o back to a few comments from the last newsletter and expand on them t= o get us started.

You still hav= e to make money to stay in business. It doesn’t matter how whiz = bang your products or processes are, if you aren’t profitable, y= ou aren’t going to be in business very long, or you will be limp= ing along for more years than you should have to.

 

Ok, wh= at does this mean to you?

 =

First&= hellip; you have to, absolutely have to, understand a basic Profit &am= p; Loss statement. In order to increase revenues, you need to know wha= t is involved in your revenues.

 =

Second= , you have to understand what costs are involved in assembling your pr= imary products… books…. before you can begin to price th= em (revenue).

 =

For ex= ample, there used to be an old rule of thumb that you priced a book at= eight times its print cost. Now that is great if you are printing at = least 1,000 copies. But if you are doing POD and your ‘onesie&rs= quo; cost is $3.20… then eight times that would be over $25. No= t effective for a 200 page paperback book? Or is it?

 =

And no= w to be competitive, you include free shipping as part of your deal. H= ave you added this cost to your print cost and production cost and pre= press to come up with a final cost per copy?

 =

And if= you decide to eBook everything and ONLY do a physical book on POD and= on order, you still have all the same costs PLUS 30% of the retail pr= ice as a commission to the eBook seller.

 =

Third&= hellip; Can you run your company on what is left over? How do you know= ? Have you run the numbers every month to figure it out…and to = determine what you have to do to increase your revenues to the point w= here you break even?

 =

Do you= even know what your break even point is? By the title and for the ent= ire company each month?

 =

If you= can’t rattle off these numbers, or at least go to an Excel shee= t and read them off from there… you are likely already in trouble.

 =

Are yo= u better off to skip the trade and go it alone? Sell less books but mu= ch higher margins per book? Can you embrace Bulk selling and make it o= ne of your primary revenue sources, and how do those numbers compare?<= /span>

 =

In ord= er to understand all of this you need BOTH a sharp CPA/Accountant&hell= ip; many accountants who aren’t CPAs are just fine for what you = need. And, you need a rock solid Publishing Consultant. Someone who ca= n explain and navigate the eccentricities of the industry…why y= ou can split hairs and give ten different discount levels to ten diffe= rent classes of customer… explain a short discount and see if y= ou can use this vehicle… and when it isn’t profitable to = sell to a specific customer… then don’t!

 =

And mo= st critically… when is it appropriate to RAISE PRICES on your p= roducts and MAKE MORE MONEY? The old view is that if you raise prices = you will lose sales and thus maybe lose money on raising prices. The m= ath generally DISAGREES with this view, and says you CAN create more r= evenues AND profits by raising prices… so don’t be afraid= to do it, with the help of a Publishing Professional. This is one of = the BIG SECRETS of business… raising prices actually makes you = money!

 =

So, wh= at do you do if you answered most of these questions in the negative? = Get working on gaining knowledge ASAP! Then start using that knowledge= to help your company stabilize first, grow second, and then thrive.&n= bsp;

 =

In the= next newsletter, I will cover how to divide a large title into salabl= e smaller pieces and how to reissue an older but profitable (then) tit= le. When to do it and when to let it go.

 =

As always, if y= ou have questions, comments, don’t understand something, or have= a different take on a subject… my direct email is = = mfoner@nplconsult.com . Feel free= to contact me, as many have done each issue in the past. Keep it clea= n, spare me the bashing, I am here to advise and help, not jam my idea= s down your collective throats. Above all, my recent goal over the las= t twenty five years or so is to work hard to keep the publishing indus= try relevant. I intend to continue.

And yes, if you= feel you have questions or wish to discuss your own situation with me= , in terms of Strategic Planning, improving your revenues, profitabili= ty, growth, Exit Strategy, or whatever… I am happy to do so, an= d beyond, would be happy to be your publishing consultant, for a few h= ours, a day, or long term, and guide you to achieving your own Strateg= ic Goals in publishing. Simply email me at mfoner@nplconsu= lt.com . I have been located in s= unny Southern California now for the last seven years, and if you are = close by, we can arrange to meet in person.

 

COMMENTARY

        &nb= sp;   When a government decides to attack ‘the = free press’, this is step one and a huge one, toward authoritari= anism or dictatorship. Step two, so history tells us over and over aga= in… no this is not ‘opinion’, but historical fact&h= ellip; go look it up yourself… is for the same government to st= art to attack journalists directly.

The next step, so history tells us, is decisive on the path to dic= tatorial rule. The government attacks ‘educators’, general= ly university professors and universities first, and then ‘teach= ers’, a broad category from preschool through community college,= give or take. Often the rallying cry is either ”report these un= patriotic people to the authorities”, or, “get these peopl= e fired from their jobs”. Yes, preschool teachers for having wha= t is sometimes referred to as ‘liberal, socialist, or communist&= rsquo; opinions they are trying to foist on the students. Really??

BAD NEWS. We are h= ere now. This week. Today! And if we ign= ore this ‘first shot over the bow’, we are going to get sh= ot, shot, and shot until this rallying cry also becomes as blasé= ; as ‘build the wall’ or ‘lock her up’. We hea= rd it last week from the progeny of the current President. He spoke to= the El Paso crowd as a warm up to his father.

Link to Wash Post article about speech: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ed= ucation/2019/02/16/why-donald-trump-jr-loser-teachers-comment-was-a-ch= illing-moment-educators-around-world/?noredirect=3Don&utm_term=3D.= bc72bf11fd89

They say it even better than I, particularly when they refer to cu= rrent situations around the world where this “step” is one= on the way to dictatorship.

So, what’s the point, other than this is NOT the kind of tal= k we embrace in a free democratic society? The next step…

In almost EVERY major democracy to dictatorship scenario in the la= st 100 years, the next step was the government closing of specific new= spapers and magazines not representative of the government’s poi= nt of view. And that, my friends, is US! And shortly after comes the attacks on publishers who pub= lish materials the government doesn’t like. The current Presiden= t tried that technique with some of the books that have come out criti= cal of him, but we are still a free democracy, so his attempts were un= successful.

It is time to circle the wagons and start formulating plans for pr= otecting publishers from the next wave of an onslaught. And if somehow= , in some aberration of a free society, the current President becomes = the next President… all bets are off and you can plan for the a= bove just like clockwork.

Think I am nuts? Go ahead, study history… most Germans thou= ght Hitler was a fringe crazy, until he took over… then it was = too late. Talk to those in Rwanda who were targets of the genocide the= re. Or the Albanian genocide of 1915. The cultural cleansing of Mao? N= eed something more current (not including what is in the Wash Post art= icle)… how about the Rohingya in Indonesia? The Roma in Europe?= Maybe the ‘immigrants’ flooding Germany? The liberals in = Hungary? Let’s not forget the outliers in the Philippines who ar= e being mistaken for drug dealers, and not by accident, and killed to = the tune of over 8,000 already. In almost every case the general popul= ation said that I would have been the crazy one… until it start= ed.

One last point in case you believe that upstanding patriotic citiz= ens will form militias to protect you… only if you are abiding = to their poin= t of view. If you don’t happen to be a right wing, god fearing, = abortion opposing, law and order, Republican… these militias wi= ll shoot you as quickly as the government. And, for the record, I used= to be a Republican.

 

WHAT MAKES AUTHORS (AND AGENTS) BELIEVE THAT= A 50% ROYALTY IS ACTUALLY SHARING THE PROFITS WITH THE PUBLISHER?

Or better put, = what makes authors and agents believe they are entitled to MORE of the= income stream than the publisher?” This is EXACTLY what they ar= e saying when they are making a case for a 50% royalty on eBook sales.= That as authors, they are entitled to roughly 60% of the income flow = and the publisher is entitled to roughly 40 % if the income flow. And = what publishers are stupid enough to go to work for their authors, rat= her than the other way around?

So, I am sure y= ou are hearing from authors regarding new contracts for eBooks, that e= veryone is getting 50% royalties. Sure. I have a bridge to sell you to= o. And then they will make the case that since there is zero cost to a= n eBook, you, the publisher, should be willing to share the net 50/50.= And usually this is followed by two threats… one is that the A= uthors Guild will be in touch to discuss the problem… now THAT = is a threat… I used to have to deal with their contract people = back in the 1990s… noisy and threatening…but in the end,= it is still YOUR publishing company. And the other is that the author= will get published elsewhere. This might well be the blessing in disg= uise you were looking for!

I have offered = every year now for the last almost ten years to sit on a panel with ag= ents and authors to discuss just how in the hell they believe that 50/= 50 is fair to the publisher… and I have yet to have one take me= up on my offer to discuss it. Basically, because they know better.

So, let’s= examine the argument that publishers have zero costs to doing an eBoo= k, and should share revenues 50/50 with the author.

Who pays to edi= t the book?

Who pays to pro= ofread the book?

Who pays to lay= out the book?

Who pays for co= ver design?

Who pays for ga= thering endorsements and reviews for the book?

Who pays for co= nverting the text to an eBook format or multiple formats?

Who pays for th= e publisher to then recheck and reproof the final book once in all the= eBook formats?

Who pays for pu= tting the eBook up on the publisher’s site?

Who pays for ma= intaining the website, security, and ecommerce functions?

Who pays for th= e merchant fee when a customer purchases on a credit card?

Who pays for st= aff time when something goes wrong on the site?

Who pays for th= e time it takes to solicit eBook sites to sell the book?

Who pays for th= e time it takes each month to review purchase information, validate it= , and handle the internal reporting of that data to the author?=

Who pays for th= e same efforts for the publisher’s own website sales?

Who pays for th= e handling the deposits of third party sites, credits, refunds, and ot= her back office issues related to sales?

Who pay for wri= ting the checks for author royalties, mailing, recording, etc?<= /p>

Who pays for th= e time when an author complains about the report they have received, r= eporting issues, and what more the publisher can do to sell the author= ’s book?

 

Now, to balance= this… what exactly does the author pay for once the manuscript= is turned into the publisher? Answer: NOTHING.

 

So, the publish= er has an up front overhead of easily $3,000-$6,000. Then, it is just = staff time of 3 to 6 hours a month depending on how successful the eBo= ok becomes. On top there are charges for sites, ecommerce services, ba= nking charges, and office supplies. So with this up front of $3,000-$6= ,000, we can add $100 a month for staff time and another $50 a month f= or services and supplies.

Now, let’= s make it interesting. Take a $5.00 eBook retail ($4.99 is too much ma= th) and deduct 30% for the site seller =3D $3.50 remaining.

Now, let’= s assume in two years the eBook sells 5,000 copies, and the up front p= roduction is $5,000 to make it simple. Let us not add any pub site sal= es, because that would further reduce the net by 3% for credit card fe= es.

Sell 5,000 eBoo= ks and the author gets 50%

        &nb= sp;   $3.50 x 50% =3D $1.75 x 5,000 copies =3D $8,750= .

Sell 5,000 eBoo= ks and the PUBLISHER gets 50%...well, not exactly

        &nb= sp;   The same start of $8,750 from the split, less $= 5,000 for up front production, less $150 a month in costs for 24 month= s or $3,600… and the publisher is left with

        &nb= sp;           &= nbsp;           = ;           &nb= sp;           &= nbsp;    $150.00

Yep, that’s it. Author nets $8,= 750 and Publisher nets $150.

Or, better put, the Author gets 98.3%= and the Publisher gets 1.7%.

I don’t w= ork for 1.7% of any number unless it has at least six zeroes after it.= And none of the books we are discussing are EVER going to have six ze= roes after it.

 

So, when an aut= hor or agent hands you this bullshit… hand it right back.

If the author R= EALLY wants to make a fair division… the royalty figure is 25%.= Do the math. 25% of $17,500 in this example is $4,375 for the author,= and after everything, $4,500 for the publisher. Close enough to 50/50= . There is no earthly reason for you to EVER go beyond 25%... and I do= n’t normally see an author as a business partner since they have= n’t put in the time, capital, and grief to qualify. But if you w= ant to do a 50/50 REAL deal… then 25% royalty is your number.

If you are asking&helli= p; my personal professional opinion on eBook royalties?... First off, = I don’t publish eBooks, as you know. But if I did, I am still fi= ne with a number of roughly 15%. I am not in the business of having au= thors as partners. But you are welcome to do as you see fit.

Thanks for read= ing.

© Martin F= oner, 2019.

 

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