AUTHOR KIT - Sales Payments

How Are My Book Sales Calculated and Credited?

Your Net Sales Profit dollars (called publishing royalties at other companies) from sales through Dog Ear Publishing are paid on a monthly basis.

There are TWO types of sales - Distribution Sales and Direct Sales.

Sales payments from books sold through a Retail or Wholesale customer, are called DISTRIBUTION SALES, (typically Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Ingram, etc.). Sales payments from books sold directly by Dog Ear to an end consumer are called DIRECT SALES. The profit for these sales is paid after receipt of the payment from the customer, typically processed 180 days after the month in which the sale has been made.

Here is the Author Net Sales Payment Schedule for DISTRIBUTION SALES (e-book, retail and wholesale sales) and DIRECT SALES (author websites, direct bookstore sales, Dog Ear author pages, etc)

Remember, since in most cases we are producing books one-at-a-time (via print-on-demand) to fill incoming orders from customers, you won't have any out-of-pocket expense for book printing after investing in the initial book publishing package - you simply receive a Net Sales Profit on every copy sold, every month. In the traditional book publishing world - due to arrangements allowing booksellers to return unsold copies, trade publisher royalties are paid much less frequently and generally for a period that ends up to twelve months previously - and you have NO control over the per book profit amount.

But - we do our book sales a little bit different (and we think far better) than our self publishing competitors.

We don't pay you publishing royalties per se... It's YOUR BOOK! We simply charge you the cost of printing your book (and in rare cases any handling or shipping fees - see below). You may make as little or as much money as you like on each book - and you are in control of that by how you set your retail price.

REMEMBER: There are typically TWO ways books get sold:

1) Through "distribution" - which are places like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, other retailers and wholesale distributor outlets like Ingram. All e-books are sold through partner sites, including Amazon (Kindle), Barnes & Noble (Nook), and Google (Google Editions); Dog Ear does not sell e-books direct to the end consumer.

2) Direct to consumer - books can also be sold direct to the consumer via one of our marketing tools such as our Open for Business author e-commerce site.

Here's how we calculate your Net Sales Profit for each type of sale:

Distribution Sales - (also called Wholesale Orders)

Print Book Sales - via DISTRIBUTION

You may choose (and most authors do) to allow "volume pricing" and "wholesale pricing" on your book. This allows Retailers and Distributors to buy your book at a discount so that they may then in turn sell it to others. The downside is that you get less for each book - the upside (which most often far outweighs the down) is that you get tremendous exposure, you may sell more books, and in general become rich, famous, and live happily ever after - well, maybe not ALL those things, but the sales process is very very simple. Most self publishing companies force you to set the discount for wholesalers, retailers, and distributors at or above 50%. Due to our unique relationships, we can work with you to set a discount that is appropriate for both your market and your book - typically recommending a wholesale discount of 40%.

Here's the scenario:

Barnes & Noble calls and wants 500 copies of your book. Or, Amazon sends us an automated order for 1 copy of your book. Or, Ingram orders 5 copies of your book. As long as it's a Retail or Wholesale account, the math is the same.

Wholesale Order sales profit is calculated like this:

Retail Price minus Wholesale Discount minus Print Cost equals Net Sales Profit.

Let's say you have set a Retail Price of $14.95

You are offering a Wholesale Discount of 40% (which you have also set)

Your book has a Print Cost of $4.28 (based upon format and page count - see our Book Printing Prices page for more details)

$14.95 - 40% ($5.98) - $4.28 =  $4.69 per unit Net Sales Profit - PAID TO YOU

Your net sales profit is $4.69 per book.

PRINT BOOK SALES - Direct to Consumer

These sales are sold direct to end consumers via one of our author web sites or using our Open for Business service.

Sales made direct to end consumers are almost always the most profitable - because you've essentially eliminated the "middle-man" and the wholesale discount he receives.

For Direct sales, profit is calculated like this:

Retail Price minus Print Cost minus Credit Card Fees minus Processing Fee equals Net Sales Profit.

Let's also say your book is sold at its full Retail Price of $14.95 and through our Open for Business site.

The Print Cost is $4.28 per copy

The Credit Card processor charges 5% ($0.75 approximately in this example, since this fee is charged against the TOTAL ORDER, including freight)

Our Processing Fee is $2.00 (our cost for packaging, putting the book in the box, and arranging mailing)

That's over a 50% profit on each book sold at the retail price - and almost twice as much as your profit for a sale through Distribution.

Considering that an 8% Royalty is HUGE in the traditional world, 50% is amazing. As a matter of fact, the way we credit sales to our authors is unique in the industry and gives all our authors the chance to make as much money as they feel is fair.

e-Book Sales

e-Books are only distributed via our e-retailer partners; Amazon (Kindle), Apple (iBookstore), Barnes&Noble (Nook), and Google (Google Play / Editions). Dog Ear does not sell e-books direct to the end consumer.

Exact profit on e-book sales can be complex, due to the many levels of Wholesale Discount applied and the various fees assessed by our partners. In general, however, the Net Sales Profit on an e-book sale is calculated much like that of a print book. e-Book sales are also PAID on the 'Distribution' timing - meaning about 120 post sale.

Unlike print books, please note that we have NO control over the level of Wholesale Discount required for your book to be listed with a specific retail outlet. In most cases, each retailer has their own requirements.

Retail Price minus Wholesale Discount equals Net Wholesale.

Net Wholesale minus Digital Distribution Fee equals Net Sales Profit.

Let's say you have set a Retail Price of $9.99 for your e-book

The retailers require a specific Wholesale Discount, which can vary; let's use Apple's of 30%

Your book has a Digital Distribution Fee of 20% of Net Wholesale (meaning 20% of the price paid by the Retailer)

$9.99 - 30% ($3.00) =  $6.99 per unit Net Wholesale

$6.99 - 20% (the Digital Distribution Fee ($1.39)) = $5.60 - PAID TO YOU

So - your net sales profit is $5.60 per book.

Would you like a bigger profit on your books? If the market allows it and you feel your book can command it - set a higher price!

updated March 27