Books & rights
Royalties from publishers
A percentage of each copy sold, once the advance has been paid back.
Royalties are the classic writerly income: a slice of every sale. In British trade publishing they are usually a percentage of the recommended retail price on print, and a percentage of the publisher's receipts on ebooks. They arrive twice a year, trailing the sales by months, and they are smaller than civilians imagine.
- Typical pay
- Hardback often 10% of RRP (sometimes escalating); paperback 7.5–10%; ebook commonly 25% of net receipts. After the advance, if anything is left.
- Ceiling
- Solid ceiling
- Speed
- A long game
- Effort
- Light extra work
- Needs
- Needs a book
How it works
- 01
Your contract sets a royalty rate for each format, and often an escalating rate after a sales threshold.
- 02
The publisher accounts to you (or your agent) on a fixed cycle, deducting returns, discounts, and any unearned advance.
- 03
High-discount sales — supermarkets, export, remainders — often pay a lower rate. Read that clause.
How to start
- 01
You cannot start royalties without a published book and a contract. Get those first.
- 02
Keep every statement. Errors in royalty accounts are not rare; they are a genre.
- 03
Join the Society of Authors once you have a contract. Their contract-vetting is worth more than a dinner.
Watch out
- 01
Royalty on 'net receipts' is a smaller number than royalty on RRP. Know which you have been offered.
- 02
Reserve-against-returns can sit on your money for a year.
- 03
If you have an agent, their commission comes off the top of royalties too.
I have published enough books, on both sides of the contract, to say this plainly: royalties are how you get paid if the book keeps selling. They are not how you eat in year one. Treat the advance as the money, and royalties as a pleasant rumour until the statement arrives.