I am writing a scientific book, and I am reviewing the draft of contract with a publisher. The Royalty Rates, proposed by publisher are 15% for most of publishing products (see table below). My question is: is this is a "fair" rate for authors? I think that in general 15% is a typical % for scintific publishing industry.
Lets consider, for example, the case when scientific book with moderate sucsess, which is a several thousands of copies (say 3000 copies) would be sold to University libraries and individuals. Having the averange price of $100 per book, the net sale would be say $30.000, the author royalty would be $4.500, minus 40% of taxes if you are individual or 18% if you have your corporative business.
So, what do you thing about 15% of author loyalty: is this is fair compensation? What are your thoughts, considerations and experience?
Thank You!
Publisher Editions $
Print hardback 15.00%
Print paperback 15.00%
Digital 15.00%
Other 5.00%
Licensing Revenue
Anthology and quotation rights 50.00%
Book club rights 50.00%
Reprint rights 50.00%
Translation rights 50.00%
Coursepack rights 10.00%
Electronic and mechanical reproduction rights 25.00%
This depends also on the field of research. In small fields, the numbers are very far from 3000 copies. For many scientific books, only a few hundreds or even less than 100 copies are sold, and the author has to pay the publisher instead of getting royalties.
I am writing a scientific book, and reviewing the draft of a publisher'scontract. The Royalty Rates, proposed by the publisher are 15% for most publishing products (see table below). My question: is this a "fair" rate for authors? I think that in general, 15% is a typical % for the scientific publishing industry.
Let us consider, for example, the case when a scientific book with moderate success, for example, thousands of copies (say 3000 copies) would be sold to University libraries and individuals. Having the average price of $100 per book, the net sale would be say $30.000, then the author royalty would be $4.500, minus 40% of taxes if you are an individual or 18% if you have your corporate business.
So, what do you think about 15% of author loyalty: is this equitable compensation? What are your thoughts, considerations, and experience?
Thank You!
Vladimir Burtman I condensed your query, corrected spelling mistakes and simply deleted some unnecessary words. Please consider the changes made and edit your question if you find my remarks pertinent Good Luck Chris.
Chris, thank you for the feedback! Unfortunately, I did not find your remarks pertinent and useful. Good luck with your translation business.
Wolfgang R. Dick, thanks a lot for the very usefull feedback! You have a good point. Thank you again
Vladimir Burtman I don't have a translation service, you did write in English and since your spelling is atrocious see "scintific" I thought as a fellow scientist I thought I'd give you a hand and also point out that you can edit your question... Good day Doctor.
CGY
@Christopher Gerard Yukna. I wrote my question on my cellphone, which is quite old and does not have a spelling option, so there were typo errors. I was looking for prompt input from my colleagues, who were in the same situation in the past, to make up my opinion. As you see, one person helped, and I appreciated his help. It would be very kind of you to respond to a specific question that I asked. However, a fellow scientist prefers to give me a grammar lesson/advertisement instead. You mention that you do not have a translation service, however, your profile reports that you have been working in Generalist Correcting and proofreading science and medical articles since 1995.
Look, I have nothing against professional editing services, and I have sympathy for people, who are trying to survive in the limited notch of professional proofreading, which keeps shrinking after the appearance of Spelling, Grammarly, Google Translator, chat GPT programs, and other software. However, you are trying to advertise your proofreading service/skills in a completely inappropriate place, in an inappropriate manner. In this context, I advise you to learn how to respect scientists and professional websites.