Publication Information
| Cover |
|
|
|
| MSRP (USD) | $14.99 | $4.99 | $12.00+ |
| Release Date | August 31, 2021 | August 31, 2021 | June 11, 2021 |
| Publisher | Tordotcom Publishing | Tordotcom Publishing |
The Aurumque Network (self-published) |
| Editor | Jonathan Strahan | Jonathan Strahan | Jonathan Strahan |
| Cover Artist | Kuri Huang | Kuri Huang | Anni Roenkae |
| ISBN | 9781250792983 | 9781250792990 |
9781662199479 (retail) 9781662199486 (library) |
| Size | 5 inches × 8 inches | 3.4 MB | 448.1 MB |
| Length | 192 pages | 38,000 words | 5 hours 11 minutes |
Aggregated Royalties
Key statistics
Total Units Sold
4,600
all formats and distributors
Total Royalties Earned
$8,825.30
all formats and distributors
Total units sold (all formats and distributors)
- After an initial spike, rate of sales has slowed substantially.
Total royalties earned (all formats and distributors)
- Tordotcom Publishing offers two royalty options: a $0 advance with 20% royalties on the trade paperback edition and 40% royalties on the eBook edition, or a $3,000 advance with 17% royalties on the trade paperback and 25% royalties on the eBook edition.
- Although a $3,000 advance provides an initial boost, royalties from a $0 advance outperform the higher advance by the first statement, and the gap between the two options increases over time.
- Takeaway: Forgoing an initial advance secures more long-term earnings over time.
Format breakdown
- After an initial boost, trade paperback sales have plateaued significantly.
eBook sales are robust.eBook sales have also plateaued as of December 16, 2022.- However, eBooks and audiobooks are nonreturnable, making negative royalties in those categories impossible.
Royalties earned by format
Royalties earned by format over time
Print & eBook – Tordotcom Publishing
Key statistics
Total Units Sold
4,332
Print & eBook
Total Royalties Earned
$8,129.03
Print & eBook
Net Sales
$30,905.70
Print & eBook
Trade Paperback Royalty Rate
20%
$14.99 MSRP
eBook Royalty Rate
40%
$4.99 MSRP
Most Recent Statement
09/30/2022
Print & eBook
Market breakdown
- The unusually low price point for eBooks on non-US and non-Canadian platforms is likely why Elsewhere royalties are a notably smaller share of the full royalty payout when compared to their relative unit share.
Units sold by market
Royalties earned by market
Format breakdown
- eBooks earn more royalties overall despite lower figures for unit sales and a lower price point.
Units sold by format
Royalties earned by format
Statements
Print – Direct sales
I received 15 author copies through Tordotcom at no cost, which I have both gifted and put up for sale through WooCommerce. I am also able to buy discounted author copies that I can then resell.
Expenses and income
Sold out of initial author copy set on December 12, 2022. Time to sell out since acquisition: 469 days (15 months, 13 days). Sales accelerated significantly after I started building out my website more in October 2022.
inthewatchful.city
On December 7, 2022, I purchased the domain name inthewatchful.city to move the landing page for my novella to. I broke even on the domain name purchase in a single day after mentioning and promoting it on Twitter, and building an immersive reading experience for "As Dark As Hunger" that I launched on December 9, 2022 subsequently led to a high-value sale.
Takeaway: Innovative marketing can make up for a lack of publicity from even a traditional publisher.
Direct sales surpassing Tordotcom royalties
Books tend to have an initial sales boost on release, then diminishing sales over time. A year after publication, the paperback of In the Watchful City is no longer stocked at my large, local indie bookstore Vroman's. Other bookstores like Barnes & Noble don't even stock Tordotcom novellas unless they're special-ordered or there's a particularly invested bookseller curating stock.
Now that my royalties that I earn through Tordotcom have diminished to a trickle, direct sales have a proportionately larger impact. I am now earning—at least for one royalty statement so far—more royalties via direct sales than via my traditional publisher.
Takeaway: Don't rely on your publisher to market your back catalog. Slower direct sales with smaller numbers can still be sustainable when each direct sale is a quality one at a good value.
Direct sales vs. Tordotcom royalties
Audiobook
Key statistics
Total Units Sold
232
all audiobook channels
Total Royalties Earned
$516.29
all audiobook channels
Past Break-Even Point
$52.41
all audiobook channels
Audiobook royalties over time
- Production bill paid on July 2, 2021 for $463.88. Break-even point reached on September 25, 2022. Time to break even: 450 days (14 months, 23 days).
Platform breakdown
- Author's Republic distributes to several platforms and offers a percentage of sales as a royalty.
- Gumroad and Woocommerce are direct sales platforms through which I can retain 100% of the payment for a purchase (minus payment processor fees), and I have enabled name your price on both platforms, allowing buyers to pay above the retail price.
- Although the direct sales platforms sell few units numerically, they make up almost half of all total earnings for audiobooks.
Units sold by platform
Royalties earned by platform
Author’s Republic
Key statistics
Total Units Sold
221
all channels
Total Royalties Earned
$308.91
all channels
Average Royalty Per Unit
$1.57
all channels
Royalty Rate
70%
all channels
Most Recent Statement
10/01/2022
all channels
Channel breakdown
- Author's Republic distributes extremely widely and classifies sales into four channel types: digital retail, digital library, rental, and pay-per-listen, with a 70% royalty rate across channels.
- Author's Republic does not offer disaggregated data that details which platform the sale was from.
- Library requests net the highest royalties per unit.
Units sold by channel
Royalties earned by channel
Average royalty per unit by channel
Statements
Gumroad
- Store closed as of December 16, 2022. Gumroad has been stagnant and has an interface that I find clunky; my efforts are better focused on WooCommerce.
Key statistics
Total Units Sold
5
Gumroad
Total Royalties Earned
$102
Gumroad
Average Royalty Per Unit
$19.60
Gumroad
Most Recent Sale
10/31/2021
Gumroad
Statements
WooCommerce
Key statistics
Total Units Sold
13
WooCommerce
Total Royalties Earned
$285.38
WooCommerce
Average Royalty Per Unit
$18.62
WooCommerce
Most Recent Sale
12/12/2022
WooCommerce
Statements
Changelog
March 22, 2023 | v3.0.0
- Converted to Beaver Builder
- Converted wpDataTables to Ninja Tables
December 16, 2022 | v2.1.1
- Added direct sales analysis
Archived
Version 2 of royalty dashboard
- Designed in Spectra for Astra
- Replaced with Beaver Builder page builder for improved accessibility
Version 1 of royalty dashboard
- Designed in Airtable Interfaces
- Scrapped due to inaccessibility