When you are a big shot author, how much money do you make off an ebook sale? Snap, let's start at the beginning...
I really liked the show Witches of East End on Lifetime (I actually watched this on Netflix. Hey Netflix, here's an idea, YOU continue the show.) and it has been cancelled by Lifetime. I noticed that it was based off a book so I dashed to Amazon because I was going to get the books and read them. The paperbacks were a little pricey and since I am not a Prime member anymore, I would have to pay for shipping. Then I thought I would get the Kindle version because it SHOULD be cheaper. The first one in the series was on $3, so I purchased it. The other two were a lot more, I think one was 8 or so and the other was 10 or more. Are they crazy? Of course the price was set by the publisher. Stephen King's new book Finders Keepers was $15 for the Kindle edition and I bought the hardback for $17 at Sam's Club. And chances are if the other two Witches of East End books are at Wal- Mart, I can get the paperback for less then ten bucks a piece if not closer to five, which is what I would pay for an ebook.
As an author who publishes on Kindle, I know what Amazon pays me for royalty. I am not a fancy pants writer so I price accordingly. Which leaves me wondering who is making the money for an ebook sale? I read somewhere that the publisher covers the cost of printing the books, advertising, editing, etc. These expenses are paid for by the sales of the book. The publisher takes their cut, then the author gets whatever they are supposed to. Am I right on this? But when it comes to ebooks, there are no printing costs. Even if you pay for a formatter, it is one cost at the beginning.
Am I wrong to assume that these publishers are setting high prices for ebooks so they can turn a larger profit or does the author actually make more for ebook sales? Someone tell me the answer! Anyone out there in the world that can shed some light on this topic?
I know publishing books is a business and if you aren't making money, then why do it? Not many companies would keep running in the red.
And really I have nothing else to say about anything at the moment. I tell you what this post sounded a lot better in my head. Sometimes that happens, maybe I should have wrote the post hours ago when it was perfect in my head.
Next week is my birthday and I will be 35. I look back at my life and the number doesn't seem all that big, but I know I already done so much in my life. Now I am at the golden age for being a fancy pants writer with the rest of them. So for my birthday, I wish to be a successful author. <Blowing out the candles>.
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