The Royal Truth About Royalties

I recently saw a Facebook ad for a company touting their "magic" formula to earn massive royalties for your published books. They started with, "Most authors only make 5% royalties on their books. I can teach you how to make 70% without ever writing a word." They continued with the horrid facts that traditional publishers take all your rights, money, and first-born child. The ad concluded its dystopian speech saying, "It's no wonder there aren't more authors in the world."

Well, there are plenty of authors. Thousands toil over pads and keyboards to transform their ideas into reality. Sometimes, they forego published books in favor of magazines and literary journals. Yet, the company wants you to believe we live in a literary desert.

I digress. After telling us the hard "truth," the ad made its sales pitch. They could get you 70% in royalties on books you publish. Heck, you didn't even have to write one. You could make money on material with nary a word produced by you. Translation -- have generative AI whip up a mediocre manuscript or create low-content material.

I didn't see one positive comment about this company. Rather, they chided the company and its shyster owner. Others reported the ad as misleading.

Okay, it was me. I reported it as misleading.

I usually ignore these social media ads. However, this one irked me. Mostly because it falsified the facts right off the bat.

Royalty Rates

According to publishdrive.com, authors who publish with traditional presses receive 10-15 percent royalties for each unit sold. Yes, book sales must match the advance value before the author receives royalties. "Advance" doesn't mean free money. It means a loan of sorts toward the book's completion.

A publishing house worth its salt promotes the heck out of a new book to make beyond the advanced amount. After all, they stay in business through sales. Plus, if they see a long relationship with the author, they don't want to have them demand their rights back and publish independently or with another company.

Online publishers like Kindle Direct (KDP) offer higher royalties since they don't have as much overhead. The going rate for print books is around 35%. Meanwhile, eBook royalties can be as high as 70%.

Traditional publishing isn't evil. Plenty of presses, big and small, nurture you and your book toward success. How you want to go depends on timelines and available time.

Don't go for any of these quick-money schemes that seem too good to be true. Truth be told, they are too good to be true. Instead, rely on your creativity and research to discover the best ways to publish your works and reap the rewards.