| Copyright (c) 2007 Gail Richards | | | | be one method of marketing for that business. |
| Especially if you self-publish, you will want to set up a | | | | Big chain stores and have significantly changed the |
| financial model. While no one can tell you with any | | | | publishing industry over the past decade. The good |
| certainty how many books you can expect to sell, you | | | | news for the consumer: Books are less expensive |
| can be precise about what you will spend to get an | | | | and more readily available than ever. regularly |
| idea of how many books you must sell to break even | | | | discounts 30 percent off the retail price of books. |
| and then turn a profit. | | | | Where does this 30 percent come from? It comes |
| More important, you need to consider opportunity cost. | | | | directly from the publisher's profits and ultimately from |
| The time away from your business that you spend | | | | the author's royalty. It is estimated that only 10 percent |
| authoring a book will be time away from clients. But it | | | | of books published are profitable to both publishers and |
| is time invested in the intended return of more and | | | | authors. Because this leaves about 90 percent of |
| usually larger client projects once you are recognized | | | | books that either break even or lose money, publishers |
| as an author. | | | | have had to decrease their costs in order to stay in |
| It is a reasonable strategy to decide to break even on | | | | business. Cost reduction usually takes the form of |
| a book (or possibly take a loss) on your first book on | | | | offering fewer services to authors, especially first-time |
| the basis of book sales alone. Your real financial gain | | | | authors. Unfortunately, they are essential services that |
| may be to your primary business, and your book may | | | | formerly helped increase the odds of success. |