I have been doing research for my soon-to-be-released book, Author! Author! Write, Publish & Market a Buzz-Creating How-To Book: Sell Your Book in Print, on Amazon, on Barnes & Noble and in the iBookstore, and it occurred to me to share some information with you about the payment policies of the various big book retailers.

As you know, I own Madaket Lane Publishers, a boutique publishing agency. When we begin to work with a new author, we are invariably asked when payments to authors are made. Unfortunately, payment schedules vary. Why? Because the various retailers who carry our books pay us according to different schedules.

If you are self-publishing or working with a boutique publisher, your receivables (incoming payments) are probably similar to ours. To help you figure out when you can expect to be paid, I’ve put together the following remittance information from the some of the larger retailers:

Amazon’s Payment Policy (for Kindle Sales)

Amazon pays out approximately 60 days after the end of the month in which a sale occurred. So, if you sold a book in February, you can expect payment at the end of April. The day of the month is not set in stone. A quick look back at my bank account shows me I’ve been paid on the 23rd of one month and the 28th of another. For US sales. I’ve been paid on different days for European sales. Sales made through Amazon’s other subsidiaries are paid on different dates as well.

You should note that Amazon has a minimum payment threshold of $10.00. This means that unless you have earned at least $10.00, your payment might roll over into the next month.

CreateSpace’s Payment Policy

CreateSpace is the print-on-demand sister-company to Amazon. While the are technically “an Amazon company,” they have their own payment policy.

CreateSpace pays out approximately 30 days after the end of the month in which a sale was made. This means that a sale made in February will generally pay out at the end of March.

Barnes & Noble’s Payment Policy (for NOOK sales)

B&N has the same payment policies as Amazon for Kindle sales. That is, it pays about 60 days after the close of the month in which a sales was made. Additionally, it also has a $10.00 minimum payment threshold.

Barnes & Noble does not have the same reach as does Amazon does. It sells NOOK books in the U.S., Canada and Great Britain. As far as payments go, this means you will not have to keep track of sales in as many territories. I don’t think that is a good thing.

The iBookstore’s Payment Policy

Apple pays about 45 days after the end of the month in which a sale was made. It, too, has a minimum payment threshold, though it is confusing to understand.  It’s publisher agreements suggests that this might be $150, but it makes payments of as little as $10.00.  Here is the pertinent info:

EBOOK AGENCY/COMMISSIONAIRE DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT, Section 5: Commission; Tax; and Reporting, paragraph (c)  “After deducting Apple’s commission, and any taxes collected by Apple under Section 5(f) hereof, from eBook Proceeds, Apple shall either remit to Publisher, or issue a credit in Publisher’s favor, subject to Apple’s standard business practices, including minimum monthly remittance amount thresholds determined by Apple (e.g., $150), the remaining balance by electronic funds transfer (“EFT”) no later than forty-five (45) days following the close of the previous monthly sales period…”

 About Google Books

For now, I do not publish to Google Play. Why? I don’t like the clause in their contract that lets them set the sale price for my books. While the other retailers also state that they can determine the final price of a book, Google states that it will adjust its retail price to be lower than that found at the other big-name retailers. This, then, would put me in conflict with the policies of the other retailers that demand that I not price my books lower elsewhere.   I might change my mind at a later date, but I don’t think we are missing any sales by not being in the Google Play store.

Working with a Publisher

Now, if you work with a publisher, you can probably expect to be paid within a specified number of days after the company gets paid. After all, the publisher will be receiving payments for any number of books by any number of different authors, from any number of different retailers. They will have to verify receivables against sales made and will then have to figure out the royalties due to the different authors.

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I appreciate sleek design. In fact, there was a time when just the thought up buying a Mac made me salivate. The artist part of me, especially, wanted one because of all the hype over Apple’s graphic capabilities.

My son, the engineering student, convince me to stick with a PC. In fact, he chose an outrageous Asus gaming computer for me. Not because he wanted to borrow it (he has his own), but because the graphics are amazing and help me both in my art, as well as in the design side of my publishing business.

Why did he caution me to avoid Apple products? Because the sleek design affects performance. Apparently, in order to keep Macs slim and sleek, they cannot have the fans that would keep their processors cool. So, while the processors are fantastic, they have to be “dummed down” or the computers will overheat.  Again, according to my son, the engineering student.

I have to admit, I love my Asus. It has four processors and the fans to keep them cool. And the screen? 18 inches. Oh, and it’s a laptop, so I can take it with me when I travel. Though, I admit, I have to carry it in a special backpack because it is heavier than your average laptop. Not that I mind.

OK, back to why I am mad at Apple and why I am not happy with certain iBookstore policies.

First of all, when you want to sell your books in the iBookstore, you first have to be “approved” by Apple. That I get. That, I do not have any problems with. If I owned a store, I would be careful about the products I stocked. Quality products come from quality manufacturers and Apple, apparently, does not want crappily-made books in its store.

Fine.

No, what I am really ticked off about is the fact that, when uploading to the iBookstore, you HAVE to upload from a computer that runs on Apples mountain lion platform, OS X. Meaning, you have to either own or have to borrow a Mac.

I don’t own a Mac. I do, however, have a stepson who does. I thought about borrowing his for the 10 minutes it would take to upload The Portal’s Choice to the store. In fact, I did ask him. And, he did say yes. The file, which has already passed ePubcheck, is ready to go. 10 minutes would have been more than enough. But, lending out his Mac Book Pro was inconvenient. OK, I understand. I am very picky about who even looks at my Asus (did I mention that I LOVE my Asus?). I get it.

Unfortunately, after a week of inconvenience, I realized I had to find another solution. I had to find another Mac I could borrow. FOR TEN MINUTES.

But then, I thought about all the borrowing I’d have to do in the future. My company, Madaket Lane Publishers, is on target to release 17 more books this year. I do not want to have to borrow someone’s computer 17 more times. Or the 20+ times I will need one next year.

So, I bought a Mac. And I’m mad.

The Mac cost about $1,300. That, my friends, is 650 eBooks sold at $2.99 each.

And, because Macs do not come pre-installed with the software I use (the Windows suite, the Adobe Master Collection Suite, etc), I will have to either invest in those so I can transfer files between my PC and my Mac, or leave the Mac sitting on my desk for those 17 or 20 ten-minute episodes when I will have to upload to the iBookstore.

I KNOW that it would be possible for Apple to write the code that would allow someone to upload to the iBookstore from a PC.  But, they won’t. Because then you won’t HAVE to buy/borrow a Mac.

My Mac arrives tomorrow. I’ll let you know how that goes.

 

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The Portal’s Choice, the new young adult – teen – book by KD Pryor, which is being published by Madaket Lane Publishers, goes on sale tomorrow, Monday, May 6.  The book will immediately be available on Amazon, on Barnes & Noble, and at CreateSpace (print). Soon thereafter, it will be available in the iBookstore as well.

We’ve decided to release the book at an introductory price – just $0.99 for the eBook and $12.99 for the print version. These prices will be for a limited time only. Our goal is to make the price so affordable that people who have never heard of KD Pryor will buy the book, read it, and leave reviews. Because Amazon takes sales volume and reviews into consideration when determining the best sellers in each category, we want to encourage both.

For clarity’s purposes, I want to point out that the print version of the book is a whopping 496 pages long. And, I believe, that won’t be long enough for the many who I predict will fall in love with Tallis Challinor and her story.  To make the value even more clear, that means that the book will be released at just 2 1/2 CENTS ($0.025) per printed page.

I can’t definitively say how long these prices will be available. We’ll be watching the sales every day and will increase the price when we hit some of our target numbers.

For writers like KD Pryor, the ability to quickly manipulate prices is an extremely valuable tool. Just a decade ago, changing prices was a long-drawn out process that had to move from the publishers’ offices, down through sales, out to the distribution companies and then on to the many, disparate retail outlets. With today’s publishing technology, price changes can occur within minutes of having made the decision to do so.

In any case, I encourage you to go to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and/or CreateSpace right away to purchase your copy of The Portal’s Choice. I promise that you will be enthralled – just like I have been through many months of preparation and many, many proofs.

For a sneak peek at the book, visit KD Pryor’s website where she just posted the Prologue.

 

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Authors – How Many Proof Copies of Your Book Are You Ordering?

April 22, 2013
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I don’t know about you, but I go through a lot of proof copies of my books – and of those other authors whose books I publish. It occurred to me, though, that some authors might not follow suit and, if you are one of them, I hope you will reconsider. First of all, what [...]

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Authors – Are You Using Reviews to Promote Your Book?

April 18, 2013
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As part of the promotional lead-up to the launch of KD Pryor’s book, The Portal’s Choice, we spent a lot of time researching qualified book reviewers. For us, reviewers had to: Read and be knowledgeable about Young Adult fiction, Have written a number of fair and thoughtful YA book reviews in the past, Be amenable [...]

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Authors! A Few Notes on Hosting a Goodreads Giveaway

April 5, 2013
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I love Goodreads. It is a great site for authors who want to promote their books directly to the people who matter – those who WANT to read their books. Goodreads, started in 2009 by a husband and wife team out of their living room, was purchased last week by Amazon for a reported $150 [...]

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CreateSpace, Kindle, Nook, iBookstore & Google Play – Authors, Where to Publish your Books?

March 26, 2013
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As you know, lately I’ve been looking into Google Play as a viable publishing venue after having left that site a few years ago when I became disgusted by the quality of the “books” found there. Because I keep getting questions about publishing to Google, I’ve since gone back to research and consider publishing there. [...]

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Do You Publish on Google Books? I’m Looking for Feedback

March 23, 2013
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I’ve been watching the stats for this site lately. This is really something I should do more often, or, at least, more consistently. With Google Analytics, I can see how many people visit the site each day, where they come from, and which pages/posts they spend time on. This gives me great insight as to [...]

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Author! Author! Use this Pinterest Image Size Infographic to Market Your Book

March 22, 2013
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I love Pinterest. It suggests places I haven’t gone but really should. It inspires me to do better, to be better. It makes me laugh. I love Pinterest so much, in fact, that if I’m not careful, it will become an addiction (one shared by many, I’m afraid). Happily, I have a legitimate reason for [...]

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Authors – What To Do With All Those Deleted Scenes

March 19, 2013
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You might have had this same problem – your manuscript tops out at, say, 600 pages, when the “norm” for your genre is closer to 400.  KD Pryor faced this problem with The Portal’s Choice, first book in her The Gatekeepers of Em’pyrean series. Because the series is YA, she could get away with 450-ish [...]

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