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Originally Posted by MaggieScratch
She said some publishers are pushing for rates like 25% of net (this would be as part of the initial deal). Print royalties are usually paid on cover price, no matter what rate the book sells for*. It's a lower rate (8-15%, usually on a sliding scale depending on copies sold), but the cover price is set. Net (the profit after costs) can be much lower. 100% of 0 = 0.
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I'm afraid you're losing me here....
I was under the assumption that royalty rates are roughly 10% for hardcover, 7.5% for trade, and usually change after x number of copies have sold. So I'm not sure what "25% of net" refers to in this context, or what the typical ebook royalty rates are.
I assume the royalty is based on the wholesale price. E.g. Ballantine wholesales 1 copy of Book X for $10, and the author gets say 10% of that price, regardless of whether Amazon charges $5 or $15 for it.
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Originally Posted by MaggieScratch
Advances are generally based on the number of books they think will sell.....
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Yep, which still kind of brings me back to my original query. Namely, why would
advances be the hold-up, unless the publisher is trying to, for example, include international ebook distribution rights? I can see how authors would be slow to line up behind ebooks if their
royalty rates are inferior, but that is not what the author of the article is saying -- he is specifically saying that authors are balking at ebooks because the advances are not increasing.
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Originally Posted by MaggieScratch
Another issue that e raises: when is an ebook out of print? Because an author can renegotiate a new contract if the book goes out of print...
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Probably never.... I'd think a smart publisher would try to hold the ebook rights for the life of the copyright. A smart author might not allow that, though.
