Here's a real-life example:
Time to write the book |
1
year |
Desktop typesetting, page layout, putting in foreign-language accents, help obtaining ISBN and Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data, preparing PDFs for the printer |
$1000 |
Printing 3000 copies (124,000 words, 304 pages, good paper, full-color laminated cover, shipment of all books to the author) |
$9000 |
Average cost per copy of producing the book |
$3 |
Cover price of the book |
$15.95 |
Author/self-publisher's net earnings per copy |
$12.95 |
Copies that must be sold at cover price to pay all production expenses |
627 |
Period in which these copies were sold |
14 months |
Total revenue if all 3000 copies are sold at cover price |
$47,850 |
Net profit (total revenue less production expenses) |
$37,850 |
Number of copies that would have to be sold by a big publisher in order for the author to earn the same amount (at $2 royalty per book) |
18,925 |
So there's the magic: a big publisher has to sell more than six times as many books for the author to earn the same net profit.
You can make a profit by self-publishing and selling one-sixth of the copies that a traditional publisher would have to sell. Here's how.
Profiting from the Long Tail: Publish Your Own Book!
The Problem with Newspapers & Magazines
