Avoid 3rd Party E-book distributors

 

 

I dare not preach – but I bring a warning of using 3rd Party E-book formatters and distributors that take a slice of your royalties.

I’ve got nothing against persons/companies that convert your manuscript into the Epub or Mobi format for E-book consumption. Yup – no problem at all. I pay someone to convert my novels into Epub/Mobi for a single charge of £20. And they do a cracking job within a few days. Will share details if asked – or tweet me: @flickimp 

My issue is around companies that either charge a walloping amount to format and distribute for you – or they don’t charge initially, and instead take a cut of your royalties later.

Let me explain.

Cost to convert manuscript into e-book = £0 [Woohoo]

Cost to upload to Kindle/Apple = £0 [Even better]

Cost when an e-book is sold =  20% of sale price.

Stop. Did you notice that? They don’t charge 20% of the royalty rate – but 20% of the sale price. If (with Kindle) – you’re making 35% royalty from a sale – then this company have taken a slice of that- thus meaning your earnings will be 15% of the sale price.

Of course – by the time you hit the 70% royalty rate, you’ll earn more than you pay the company as commission – but the amount you could lose out just can’t be ignored.

Look at the blue column:

You’ll earn 70% royalty on a novel set at 2.99

Of the 2.09 royalty received – you’ll pay 0.60 to the company – and that brings your earnings down to 1.50

You’ll probably say “so what” – because you’re earning more than them. Yes. True. But if sales pick up – you could be paying out for more than the service received.

Let’s say you sell 100 books in Month 1. Your received earnings (before tax) = 149.50, and the company receive 59.80.

But what if you sell 100 books per Month for a year? Then the company will receive 717.60

Whoa !!! Hold on. You’ll give 717.60 for a service that I can get for a one-off charge of £20?

The chances of selling that many e-books is low – and few hit the headlines as success stories – but spare a thought for what you’re paying out. Can you imagine the excellent critique, advice, or editing that you could get done if there was an extra 717 in your pocket?

Be careful.

There’s already lots of help out there to get your novels onto Kindle. It’s free.

One last point.  When a company goes bust, they’ll usually terminate distribution. And although you could re-upload – you’re likely to lose the 50 Amazon reviews you’d gained over the time that you were the company.

This post is not aimed at any company or the hard work that some put in. But I’ve seen and heard of many tales where the unsuspecting get taken for a ride. Spend your money on good covers, editing, critiques, proofing, and marketing, rather than feeding the few that are waiting … in the shadows … with their claws out …