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There is no such thing as royalties

Books*Authors*Pubs Add comments

…in self-publishing.

Self-publishers do not “earn royalties.”

Stop thinking in terms of royalties.

It’s called “profit.” There is overhead. There are COGS. There is revenue.

Why? Self-publishers manufacture a product*; they have not licensed a product.

Sales – COGS = gross profit.

Gross profit – overhead = net profit (aka ka-ching)

There are no royalties.

Royalties do not exist.

Say it with me now: Self-publishers do not earn royalties; they have profit. Now put all that “royalties” BS out of your head.

And Amazon? I know you know this, but you use the term deliberately to blur the lines between your retail business and your POD service. You know very good and well you don’t pay royalties. You give us a rebate on our rental fee for your stalls, you know, like at a flea market.

*A lot of authors don’t like having their babies compared to widgets. A lot of authors don’t like having books compared to babies. My books are my babies. They are also my widgets.

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November 20th, 2009  
Tags: Amazon, direct publishing, independent publishing, publishing, self-publishing

10 Responses to “There is no such thing as royalties”

  1. Tweets that mention There is no such thing as royalties | -- Topsy.com
    November 20th, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Moriah Jovan, Wm Morris. Wm Morris said: "My books are my babies. They are also my widgets." says @MoriahJovan — http://moriahjovan.com/mojo/there-is-no-such-thing-as-royaltie [...]


  2. Brent Robison
    November 21st, 2009 at 9:13 pm

    Yes. Let’s hear it for clear thinking and truth telling! My widget-baby and I thank you.


  3. MoJo
    November 21st, 2009 at 9:17 pm

    Thanks, Brent.

    But yanno, the fact that I have to explain this is problematic.


  4. Zoe Winters
    April 15th, 2010 at 5:20 pm

    I’m glad somebody said it. This has been annoying me forever. I think Amazon does it mainly for simplicity’s sake. so many self publishing authors truly are tards. I mean I hate to say that but we only have to look around to know that it’s true.


  5. Dude
    April 15th, 2010 at 6:29 pm

    Dude doesn’t know any self-publishers that are ‘tards……but then, Dude only knows 1 publisher .


  6. Zoe Winters
    April 16th, 2010 at 8:02 pm

    Yes, your sample is skewed fully away from the tard side of the spectrum. Mojo is a little smartie.


  7. Dude
    April 16th, 2010 at 11:08 pm

    Dude says she is waaaaaay more than a little smartie !


  8. Th.
    December 29th, 2010 at 3:50 pm

    .

    Weirdly, this makes me wish I went to law school.


  9. MoJo
    December 29th, 2010 at 3:52 pm

    Well, there I go, into my monthly I-shoulda-gone-to-law-school meltdown…


  10. Dude
    December 29th, 2010 at 11:53 pm

    Dude thanks Th. for that. It will take weeks for recovery.


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