PSA: Bookselling, Book Buying, and Kind Readers

[rolanni]

We're fortunate in our readers -- I mean that most sincerely. You guys have stuck with us and supported our work for years, and we're grateful.

So, the below is not a complaint, but an explanation, because there seems to be confusion growing about how certain parts of the authoring and bookselling biz actually work. Part of the confusion is our fault, since Steve and I are also our own publishing house -- SRM Publisher -- and because we have promulgated or been involved in various odd situations throughout our career, such as the web serialization projects and the signed hardcover program from Meisha Merlin.

Because our readers look out for us, we've had some questions (en blog and by email) since the announcement that Mouse and Dragon and The Dragon Variation were available for pre-order from Amazon. Our readers want to make sure that we receive the most benefit possible from their purchase of those books, and assume that the best way to do that is to buy them from us.

Except...that's not the case.

See, neither Mouse and Dragon nor The Dragon Variation will be published by SRM Publisher; they (like Fledgling, Saltation, Longeye, and Duainfey, all of the upcoming omnibi, Carousel Tides, and Ghost Ship, too) will be published by Baen Books.

In order for SRM or Lee and Miller to sell Mouse and Dragon, for instance, Direct to the Public, we would have to buy a Whole Bunch from Baen, at 40% off cover, just like a bookstore would do, for a lump sum that we probably don't have, and then sell them through the SRM website, at cover, just like a bookstore would do. So, not only would we not make more money, we would have more hassle, and less time to write.

We get, I think it's 10% (the paperwork's in the bottom file drawer and I'm too lazy to look right now), of cover on all retail sales -- whether the sales come from Amazon, your local bookstore, or the drugstore down the street. That's fixed by contract. There is no way for us to get "more" than the contractual percentage, except by selling a certain number of books (also defined in the contract) and driving the percentage to the next level.

Now, we do get a tiny bit of extra compen$ation when someone clicks on the links on the sidebar and buys that book from Amazon.com, because we're Amazon Associates. The amount is not so large that I'm going to demand that people only buy our books from Amazon.com. We have urged and continue to urge people to buy from their local bookstores; we believe in and value local bookstores and the only way they can continue in business is if people continue to patronize them.

We probably did muddy the waters with Fledgling and Saltation, which were atypical; not Traditional Publishing at all. We had promised people who donated $25 or more to the web serialization projects a signed copy of the finished book. Our original intent had been to have SRM print trade paperbacks sufficient to satisfy the subscriber base. When Baen took the books under contract (which is Good, because Baen has Much, MUCH better distribution than SRM), our advance included books sufficient to cover those subscribers. This is not how it usually works; the contract for Mouse and Dragon and all other books bearing the Baen imprint are traditional book contracts.

I hope this helps clear things up.

We love you guys.

Comments

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Thanks. One thing, though, you say 'cover'. Is this the price printed on the book, even if people like Amazon sell it for a lot less than that? So if someone is selling it at a discount (like Amazon) that comes out of their profits? I must admit I've always felt a little guilty buying from Amazon etc.

Also, do you get the same percentage from hardcovers as from mass market, or do they adjust it so that you get the same amount per book irrespective of format?

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Is this the price printed on the book, even if people like Amazon sell it for a lot less than that?

The cover price for Fledgling is $24. Bookstore discount is typically (noting here that Amazon is not typical) 40%, which means the bookseller pays $14.40, sells for $24, makes $9.60 on each book.

Rumor has it that Amazon demands a much higher discount rate (I've heard 50% -- 60% of cover), at least from the smaller presses, to the point where a publisher could go broke providing books to Amazon. I don't know what the story is with the larger presses and Amazon. I assume that Amazon makes its money by gambling that it will sell more at less profit. It's not out of the range of possibility that they have a slightly higher discount rate -- say 45% as opposed to the standard 40% -- but that's not really helpful, because the publisher has to eat that extra 5%, which means it has less money for its expenses, such as buying more books from more authors.

Also, do you get the same percentage from hardcovers as from mass market, or do they adjust it so that you get the same amount per book irrespective of format?

Mass market royalties are, I think, 8% and the number of books that must be sold to trigger the jump to the next level is much, much higher.

Electronic royalties -- at least with Baen -- are a straight 20%, no matter how many copies sold.

[amm-me.livejournal.com]

"
Electronic royalties -- at least with Baen -- are a straight 20%, no matter how many copies sold. "

Ah. I was wondering about this, since presumably Mouse and Dragon will be in the June '10 Webscription (ordering is so far only available up through May). I don't know how they handle the monthly bundles, but the single titles tend to be $6. So you receive twice the royalty on one quarter the cover price, leading to half the income. Obviously it's better for the Cat Farm for us to buy those heavy awkward pointy-cornered hardbacks. OK, I'll think about that.

I know there are some hard-core Baen fans who get the e-arc, and the webscription, AND the hardback. Little too extravagant for my budget.

[oberon.livejournal.com]

I've been quite happy you guys signed with Baen since I read about it. I catalogued my books a while back and out of the 2,000 or so titles I have right now, I realized a significantly disproportionate amount were Baen or Tor... so obviously their marketing is working on me, at least.

I've also read other authors describe their relationship with Baen in quite positive terms, so I hope it works out well for you guys.

[amm-me.livejournal.com]

But reading it over and over again is what the e-book is for.

Pushing to your friends, acquaintances, and strangers on the street is what the paperbacks are for. ;-)

[reedrover]

Thank you! This is useful and helpful to know.

[keristor.livejournal.com]

And the paperback fits a lot more handily into my rucksack, and being lower price I don't mind buying several copies if they get wet. (One of the reasons I'm still not happy with getting an e-book reader is the price -- if a paperback or two are in a bag that's stolen or trashed that's not much, but a reader which costs fifty times as much...)

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Having seen the prices at which supermarkets sell new books compared to the cover price I assume that they are getting at least a 50% discount, so it wouldn't surprise me if Amazon got around the same. Although on many of their books they are only doing around 20% off list price, so maybe not. But as long as you get the $2.40 per book regardless of discount, that's a problem for Amazon and the publishers.

Mass market being cheaper anyway it sounds as though your royalties from those may be similar to those from the e-books then. But presumably you sell more of them than hardcovers (at least to me, I think I have triplicates of all of the Liaden softcovers now, certainly most, and I'll be buying the new omnibi when they come out).