A Debut Author’s Royalty Statement
I dunno why we’re so afraid of talking about money- but you know, initially I shared my royalty statement with the 2009 Debs, complete with the admonishment, omg, please don’t share this.
But Kimberly Pauley is asking, and S.L. Viehl showed off hers and I’m wondering- why not?
So yes, I’m a debut author this year. I wrote Shadowed Summer in 2002. I sold it in January 2007. It came out February 2009, from Delacorte Press. My advance was $15,000. And this is my royalty statement for January – June, 2009: PDF here
Kristin Nelson says that Random House gives the most complete royalty statement, so you might not have this much detail on yours. I still don’t know what my initial print run was- it looks from this like it was 5500-6000; I know my second printing was 1500.
The Junior Library Guild sale (on the last page) counts toward the advance (you see it on the 18.99 HC page as BkCL NR = book club, non returnable) but it doesn’t count toward my copy tally.
And I’m not ashamed to say that most of the rest of the numbers confuse me a bit. Using Kristin Nelson’s guide, I can kind of puzzle it out. Still, this is my first royalty statement ever, so a lot remains a mystery. But THIS is something I can tell you concretely.
This statement ends on June 30th, 2009. I’ve earned out half of my advance at this point, and my total royalty-eligible copies sold is listed at 3,456. According to Bookscan, as of October 30th, 2009, I’ve only sold 1144 copies. It’s my understanding that Bookscan doesn’t capture library sales, and since I’m a YA author, schools and libraries are a significant part of my market.
I guess the most useful thing debut authors can take away from this is- hey, this is what a royalty statement looks like, and if you’re especially good at math, you can figure out how many books you have to sell at my royalty rate to earn out an advance. I’m not particularly good at math. :)
What I hope might be MOST useful out of this is a more public awareness of how much authors really make, over what period of time. Because I feel like a lot of people hear a big number for an advance (and $15,000 was VERY big for my family and higher than industry standard!) but don’t realize the time span involved. I haven’t sold any foreign rights or film rights, so this is the entirety of my income for this book. I won’t see royalties unless I earn out my advance- I still have $7500 to go.
So yes, I made 15k in a lump sum- but I made it for work I did from 2002 to 2009. That’s $2100 dollars a year- not a living wage at all. Most authors aren’t Stephenie Meyer or Stephen King- this is what the midlist looks like. I hope you find this useful!
November 22nd, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Since I am not an author, I am wondering if you don’t sell enough to cover the cost of the advance if you have to give some of it back?
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Saundra Reply:
November 22nd, 2009 at 2:34 pm
No. My advance is mine to keep, whether I earn out or not. That’s the publishing company gambling on my book- and the publisher can make money on my book, even if I don’t earn out. Though obviously, we’d all prefer it if I did!
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November 22nd, 2009 at 4:24 pm
[...] http://saundramitchell.com/blog/?p=2277 Reply [...]
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Thanks, Saundra! I followed your lead and posted my first year + one month as well. Hopefully a few others will join us!
http://kimberlypauley.com/2009/11/21/a-challenge-for-my-fellow-authors/
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November 22nd, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Wow, thanks for sharing this. I’m like you — not so good at math — and my eyes started crossing at looking at all the figures, but I’m really grateful (as an unpublished author) that people are willing to share their royalty statements and demystify this a bit.
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November 22nd, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Oh, and I’m with you on having no clue what the initial print run was. I still have no idea. I do know I went into a second printing in the hardcover, but that’s all I know!
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November 22nd, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Hey, follow up question — how do you find out any numbers through Bookscan?
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November 23rd, 2009 at 1:48 am
My first book is out on sub right now and I’ve been wondering what sort of advance a debut author would get. Thanks for sharing yours. People are SO reluctant to talk about money.
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December 7th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
[...] to the generous and brave posts of authors such as Lynne Viehl, Kimberly Pauley, Saundra Mitchell and others, something truly shocking has finally come to light: most successful mainstream-published [...]
December 8th, 2009 at 3:00 am
[...] liquidada: 25.12$ Derechos netos obtenidos: 9.044,63$ (menos 4.000,00$ del anticipo) = 5.044,63$ Saundra Mitchell sobre Shadowed Summer: Mi adelanto fueron 15.000$ […] Todavía no sé cuánto fue mi tirada [...]
December 8th, 2009 at 11:13 am
[...] in part: Thanks to the generous and brave posts of authors such as Lynne Viehl, Kimberly Pauley, Saundra Mitchell and others, something truly shocking has finally come to light: most successful mainstream-published [...]
January 5th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
Thanks for posting this. I have tweeted the link because I think it’s really valuable for writers to have an idea what the average novel earns.
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February 4th, 2010 at 3:08 am
Thanks for this…I was wondering what to expect when my book was finished and I was off to try and sell it. I had no idea that an advance was just that… an advance…that they expected you to pay back in royalties what they gave you before you start to actually earn royalties for yourself.
How.. weird.
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