Negotiating Royalties on a Self-Published Book. Any Help?
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I’ve decided to pursue illustrating a book with an entertainer who visits and presents at several hundred schools a year. He has experience selling books or other things to remember him by, and he wants to work with me on creating a book that will correlate with a show he wants to do. I love the premise of the book, and may have some sway on the writing, too. Instead of doing a flat fee, I want to focus more on earning a percentage of the book as it is sold. We are in agreement on this. Any advice on how a payment method like this can be set up and managed?
This feels way out of my area of expertise—I’ve never even worked with a traditional publisher yet, so I don’t know how certain contracts work, but I think I’m willing to jump in on this and learn from it.
https://sarahvandam.art/
Instagram: @sarahvandam.art and @artistsandbox.etsy -
@Sarah-VanDam how are the books going to be printed?
Print on Demand or off-set printing or digital downloads? -
@davidhohn Originally, the person I’m partnering with wanted to go through Mascott publishing services. I’m trying to convince him, though, that we should predominantly copy-paste Will’s strategy for the pickleball book (I sent a link to one of Will’s YouTube videos, and am waiting to hear back on his thoughts on that). He does want hard-back copies to sell at schools.
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@Sarah-VanDam Note that you don't have to choose between a sum in advance or royalties. Because books take a very long time to make, publishers who offer royalties also offer an advance to get the illustrator started... and their living expenses covered during the months they work on the boo. When you earn back your advance, you start getting royalties as well.
vanessastoilova.com
instagram.com/vanessa.stoilova/Check out my Youtube channel for tips on how to start your career in illustration! www.youtube.com/c/ArtBusinesswithNess
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@Sarah-VanDam this sounds like an interesting opportunity, and exciting for you if it's your first book.
However, it's wise that you're thinking things through before jumping in.
It sounds like the author has done this before and has a solid marketing plan. Have you talked about what royalties might look like? What percentage of royalty is he offering on sales? Is he offering an advance, as Ness recommends?
Picture books take a LONG time to illustrate. How are you going to pay your bills while you're working on his book? Do you have a second job or additional household income so you won't have to worry about that?
This is a business partnership. Before agreeing to anything, it's a good idea to get a clear picture of what the agreement will look like, what will be expected of you, how much time & effort is required, and how much money/royalties you can realistically expect to make. Discuss how records will be kept, how royalties will be paid out, and how you will be able to keep track of sales.
I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I will say that it would have to be an exceptional circumstance for me to agree to illustrate a book only for a percentage of sales. Personally, I prefer (and recommend to others) working for a flat fee for self-publishers. That way I know that I'll have something coming in to cover my living expenses while I'm illustrating the book and I know for sure how much I'll earn. And it's just a lot less hassle.
The reality is that most self-published books don't earn enough to pay royalties. This situation might be the exception, but how do you know that? In 12 years of working with self-publishers, I think that there's only 1 book that has sold enough copies where I would have started receiving royalties, and it would have been 1 or 2 years after the book was published. Depending on production expenses, I would expect that most self-published books would have to sell at least 2,000 copies for the illustrator to earn out their advance and start receiving royalties. (That's estimated on an author not paying much of an advance.) Most of the self-published books that I have illustrated have sold less than 500 copies.
This is where I'm coming from, and it's based on my experiences and personal circumstances. What doesn't work for me might work for you. Just don't be afraid to ask questions, have difficult discussions, and negotiate for terms that will work for you. Wishing you all good things!
illustrator - author - smiley person
mbaileyart.com
instagram.com/mbaileyart/ -
@NessIllustration Yeah, I’m thinking about taking a small advance just to get me through, and then earning it back before receiving my percentage of sales.
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Agree 100% with @Melissa_Bailey
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@Melissa_Bailey Thanks, Melissa! Yeah, my main questions concern record-keeping and how the percentage will be paid out to both of us.
I’m not sure, yet, what my percentage will be—I think we need to nail down the book production cost and retail price first. I’m pretty set on going with earning a percentage since it will incentivize both of us to market it (note, he’s got a HUGE upper hand on me in this respect), and in this case, I’m suspecting I could make a lot more over the long term than what I’d feel comfortable asking for as a flat fee. It would be cool to establish a longer-term connection with him and other people in his field, anyways.
