Hello Ed (and whoever else is interested),
Computer book deals are usually structured such that the
author gets a percentage of net sales. Net sales reflect the
wholesale price of the book. A $40 book will wholesale for
somewhat less than $20. Let's be generous, and use $20. A
10% royalty rate would then result in the author getting
$2/book. Discounts are often greater than 50%, so reality
isn't quite as good as I've just described. Some publishers
are more willing to discount than others.
If you would like a good walk-through of a contract, I
invite you to visit the following URL where you can find a
description of the contract we use at O'Reilly. We have,
btw, a very short, two-page contract.
http://www.oreilly.com/oreilly/author/ch03.html
We pay the same rate regardless of where, or how, the book is sold.
We pay the same rate regardless of how much the book is
discounted. We pay the same rate for foreign sales that are
not translations. So if you write a book in English, and we
sell an English-language copy in Zambia, you get the full
rate. We don't hold back anything for returns, and we don't
charge indexing fees.
Oh, what else, what else. There's a lawyer I know named Ivan
Hoffman who specializes in intellectual property issues. He
has some great articles on his website that discuss various
issues of interest to writers and publishers. His site's URL
is: http://www.ivanhoffman.com/. You might also visit Studio
B's web site. They have an article page at:
http://studiob.com/content.asp?keyword=ART. I found the one
titled "Negotiating your first computer book deal" to be
very helpful when I was negotiating my first computer book
deal<grin>.
Even though money may not be your #1 reason for writing a
book, you shouldn't discount it entirely. I find that the
advance check I get when I hit a major milestone tends to
renew my enthusiasm for whatever project I'm working on at
the time.
Best regards,
Jonathan Gennick
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * 906.387.1698
http://Gennick.com * http://MichiganWaterfalls.com * http://MetalDrums.org
Thursday, June 07, 2001, 2:31:30 PM, you wrote:
HE> Jonathan,
HE> Everyone has there own reasons for wanting to write a book. For me, the
HE> reasons are:
HE> 1. Credibility with peers / clients
HE> 2. Sense of accomplishment
HE> 3. Enjoy sharing information with people
HE> 4. Some extra cash
HE> I would certainly say that the first 3 are TRUELY the reason that I would
HE> consider such a project, but the extra cash is always a plus!! I certainly
HE> am not interested in getting into anyone's personal finances...but could you
HE> give us some indication / range of what an author could expect to receive
HE> from a book deal? I'm sure it varies depending upon the topic and
HE> salesability...but what's a good range? How are book deals typically
HE> structured?
HE> Thanks,
HE> Ed Haskins
HE> Oracle DBA
HE> Verizon Wireless
HE> -----Original Message-----
HE> Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 1:26 PM
HE> To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
HE> Wednesday, June 06, 2001, 4:53:21 PM, Christopher Spence wrote:
CS>> I hope your not doing it to get rich :)
HE> Chris brings up a good point. It's *extremely* difficult to
HE> predict book sales in advance. Editors get surprised all the
HE> time. Books we think will sell well, don't. And sometimes
HE> it's the other way around. It's best to go in with low
HE> expectations, and hopefully you'll come out pleasantly
HE> surprised.
HE> Best regards,
HE> Jonathan Gennick
HE> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * 906.387.1698
HE> http://Gennick.com * http://MichiganWaterfalls.com * http://MetalDrums.org
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