A person in one of my writing groups posted a comment that sparked a fair amount of engagement. She was disappointed because she had priced her book at $18.50 and her royalty was only $3.56. As a business owner, she expects a profit of 40%.
One person’s comment: “Welcome to being an author.”
One might think that as a businessperson, she would have done some research into the potential return on investment BEFORE she spent months writing the book and sinking dollars into the actual publishing. But hey, maybe that’s just me.
Low Price, Small Profit
You don’t need an MBA from Harvard to figure out that the dollar amount of profit on a low-priced item, even if the profit percentage is high, is going to be small. The dollar return on an individual book sale is generally small because books, in the grand scheme of things, aren’t expensive. A low price means you have to sell a lot of widgets. (And yes, you can sell books in bulk, especially if you write the book with an eye to doing that.)
At an average profit of $3 to $5 per book, you’re going to have to sell a lot of books to earn a living. If you have a publisher with great marketing and distribution channels, you’re ahead of the game. But most mid-level authors aren’t raking it in on one book. Most are lucky to make back whatever pittance of an advance the publisher gave them.
I reminded her (couched as gentle advice, but really, I was at least thinking snarky), as a businessperson (which authors are), you would have a marketing plan in place for your book, understand who your target market is and how to reach them. The royalty figure should not have been a surprise; she should have had that in her calculations.
In fiction, the trend is to write in series so that your books can gain traction as you go along, to build a back catalog of books so that when a reader finds and likes you, they will look for and buy your other books. Fiction writing is a long game.
While a standalone book can turn a profit, it needs an available, hungry market, a fairly good product, a marketing budget and plan. Just like any other product. It can happen, but probability of financial success is low.
But Business Books Are Different
That’s because the goal of a business book is different. The book is the beginning of the sales relationship, not a one-and-done transaction.
With business books, the goal of the book is to bring in clients who buy higher priced goods and services from you. Your business book is a marketing tool. In the initial sessions I have with book clients, we discuss exactly how they want to use their book, what their goal is in writing it. Do they want a lead magnet? A handbook to help clients? Something to increase their visibility or credibility in the market place? A subtle guide to help new clients prepare to work with them?
Usually, the goals are a combination of these things. But the underlying knowledge is that the money from books sales, at $3 to $5 per book, will probably not be a major income stream. In fact, if it’s done right, book royalties will be a small income stream compared to revenue from the clients that book brings in. The book itself can be a self-liquidating offer: The money generated by the book sale covers the cost of customer acquisition.
Do people make money from their business books? Absolutely. As a speaker, you can sell the book at the back of the room or have the event promoter buy your book for all the attendees. (I have a client who made over $25,000 in 18 months from those types of sales.) You can also look for bulk sales opportunities, where a corporation buys your book as a training guide for their employees, or as a free giveaway to customers, or as a value-add with their own products.
You want to know what you want your book to do for you and your business before you start writing. From there, you can explore all sorts of marketing angles and possibilities.
Don’t get me wrong: It is an amazing achievement to write any type of book. (Nine out of ten people who start don’t finish.) But having a goal for your book and realistic expectations will allow you to make the most of your hard work.
Thinking about writing a book for your business? Let’s talk about how you can best position your book to your optimal advantage. Find out more: Work With Me
