Don’t get the royal shaft on royalties.

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Some self-publishing companies try to impress potential customers with the prospect of earning big royalties on each book sold. If you earn a “royalty” of 50 cents or $6 per book, but you’ve already paid $300 or $3,000 or $13,000, you’re really just getting your own money back -- very slowly.



Some publishers are vague or misleading about how royalties are calculated. They may offer what seems to be a very high percentage, but it’s based on the wholesale price of a book, not the retail “cover price.”

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50% of $8 is not better than 20% of $20.