Quote:
Originally Posted by speakingtohe
I'm confused by the quote. Are they saying that publishers are making 30% profit for every $1 an author makes? Could be true for ebooks but is it true for pbooks? (And yes I know it explicitly states ebooks in the quote, just trying to see the overall picture)
My understanding, which could be wrong, is that traditionally the B&M stores made 50% of the cover price if selling at that price?
I am not saying that authors were ever fairly paid except for the most popular and prolific, because I do not think that, but I am not sure I can see publishers as any more avaricious than other large businesses or providers of professional services etc.
Helen
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What he is saying is that most publishers make 3 *times* what the author makes. At least.
And yes, traditionally, B&M retailers get about a 40-50% discount off list but that's not their profit--that is their gross margin. From that they pay their own costs and decide how much discount to offer buyers. Whatever remains is their profit. For pbooks, the amount of the discount depends on things like volume and whether the books will be returnable if they don't sell in a specified period.
Finally; no, publishers as a whole are not unusually greedy, but some publishers go way beyond the pale in exploiting writers. Their names and their ploys are generally known. Lawsuits are in process even as we speak.