Now that my book‘s done and available for sale on Amazon.com, I’m starting to consider how much (or how little) I might actually make off the book. Writing the book made me realize just how difficult writing a book can be even if it’s a technical book rather than a work of fiction. But for all my hard work, I was shocked to realize this week that I make more money selling my book through an Amazon Associates link than I make in royalties as author of the book! Whaaaaat?
Let’s examine the terms of my agreement with New Riders:
- New Riders pays me 10% of net receipts from United States sales or licenses of the work, in English, for the first 10,000 copies, and 12% for any amount over 10,000 copies.
- New Riders pays me 5% of net receipts on sales in foreign languages.
- New Riders pays me 5% of net receipts on sales of the book offered at a discount of 55% off the Suggested List or Single Copy Price.
Amazon, on the other hand, offers me the following referral fee percentages when someone buys a book via an Amazon Associates link off my web site:
- 15% of Qualifying Revenues from the sale of each individually linked book that, on the date of order, is listed at 10% to 30% off the publisher’s list price.
- 5% of Qualifying Revenues for all other Qualifying Products sold by Amazon.com.
Though my book has a retail price of $45.00 (all figures in US Dollars) Amazon.com is currently offering it at a 30% discount ($31.50). This means I make $4.50 on direct sales (10% royalty) as an author, but on sales via Amazon (5% royalty due to discounts offered by New Riders) I make about only $2.25. However, for a copy of my book that I sell via my Amazon Associates link, I make $6.98 ($4.73 referral fee from Amazon + $2.25 royalty from New Riders).
What this means is that I, as an author, make roughly twice as much via a referral link as I make by my royalty from New Riders! Wow. Even if the book isn’t discounted by Amazon, I still make a 5% referral fee…the same amount I make from my royalty! Amazon also has the added advantage that they pay out their referral fees quarterly, whereas New Riders pays royalities biannually in September and March.
The message is clear: if you want to make money in books, stop writing, and start linking!