The best step towards understanding a book royalty calculator is understanding the concept of book royalties. In its simplest form, royalty is a form of payment that the owner of an intellectual property gets for their product. This payment comes when an individual decides to use the property. This payment is usually done to obtain the right to use such property.

Royalties exist for various reasons and have an effect on taxes. The subject of royalties is very broad. So, for the purpose of this article, we will not dwell on just royalties. We will focus our attention on the best book royalties calculator for authors.

It is imperative to know how to calculate your book royalties to know whether your earnings are accurate or not. Let’s get started.

What is a Book Royalty?

A book royalty can be defined as the sum of money an author receives from a publisher. This is usually done to obtain the right to publish the author’s book.

Generally, book royalties are a proportion of the money realized from the sale of a book. This proportion is usually calculated in percentage. A simple example of this is an author might receive 70% of royalties for every print book sold. Also, they could earn 30% of any eBook sold ( this is according to Amazon KDP). More often than not, the royalty for a book is dependent on the format of the book that is sold. We have the ebook format, print format, and hardcover format.

Also, read Self-Publishing a Book: 18 Powerful Steps to Becoming a Best Seller Author

Book royalties are very pronounced in regular publishing. The reason for this is in regular publishing, the author hands the publisher the rights to their manuscript for a fixed amount.

Book Royalties Terms and Agreement

Royalties are majorly associated with book publishing. It exists in both traditional and self-publishing. However, in traditional publishing, the author enters into an agreement on royalties with the publishing firm. However, in self-publishing, the author decides on the book price. This means the author is responsible for the profit margin of his books. The author has the right to change the book price at any time – which is not so in traditional publishing because of contract terms.

The concept of book royalties is beautiful and can help an author earn good money from the sale of their books. However, things do not always turn out right for the author. This happens because when royalties are involved, book publishers do not seem interested in anything about the book in question other than sales.

So, in essence, the book royalties terms depend on the method you choose to publish your book. In self-publishing, you agree to the terms of the publishing platform you are using.

How Does Book Royalties Work

Book royalties work in different ways. So, as a book author, it is up to you to decide what method you feel most comfortable with. A lot of times, there is a minimum amount that can be gotten in royalties. For example, Amazon allows authors to set their ebook price from $2.99 to $9.99.  Also, the best book royalties calculator might not work as the average book royalties calculator. Also, when dealing with a franchise situation, it is up to you to decide if you want fees set as a dynamic percentage of total sales or as a fixed percentage.

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Most times, when a book is newly published, its royalties usually involve a variable percentage. A lot of times, the royalty percentage is not high just at the beginning. However, as the book experiences an increase in sales, there is usually a significant increase in royalty percentage. As time goes on, the royalty percentage increases based on the popularity of the book.

What is a Book Royalties Calculator?

You might struggle to know where to find the best book royalties calculators if you do not know what a Book royalties calculator is all about.

Book royalties calculator is a tool that authors can use to calculate how much they will be made from a book in royalties. With this tool, you can know exactly how much you will earn for the sale of one book. When this is multiplied by the total number of copies you have put up for sale, you can have an idea of how much you should earn from your book.

There are quite a number of factors that play a major role in the amount you earn from a book. While it might be impossible to change these factors, the truth remains these factors are not out of control.

Some of the factors that affect the final result of a book royalty calculator are;

The Retail Price

When you put up your book for sale in partnership with a publishing house, how much do you intend to sell it? With an increase in the price tag attached to your book comes an increase in your royalty per book sale. While lots of authors like the idea of enjoying increased royalty with an increase in price, it is important that you are careful how much you charge. If you put a very high price tag on a book that is of less value to readers, prospective buyers might have no choice but to stay away from your book.

Book Interior

The quality of a book is a strong determinant of its price and hence, the royalties it generates. There are various factors that affect the quality of a book. One of these factors is its interior. As a rule of thumb, books with colored interiors are more expensive than books with black and white interiors.

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While it is okay to have a novel printed in black and white, not every book will turn out well when published in black and white. Most especially books with illustrations. However, books printed in color are more expensive than books in black and white because of the printing cost. Thus, such books are always expensive.

The book’s Trim Size and number of pages

The size of a book and the number of pages in a book will not always have an effect on its profit. However, it is generally expected that larger books attract more royalties.

Book Cover

Will you be covering your book with a hardcover? If yes, then, it is important you give it some protection by adding a dust jacket. Beyond adding some protection, dust jackets give room for some extra text. This might be beautiful. However, it is beyond just beautiful. It could cost extra money which might ultimately reduce how much you get in the form of royalties.

What Binding The does the Book Come With

When looking to print a book, you can decide to get it bound in paperback or hardcover. When your book is bounded in hardcovers, it will stand out from other books in a store. However, you might not make as much in royalties as a lot of money goes into this type of binding.

Why Book Royalties Calculator is Important in Book Publishing

Book royalties calculators are important in book publishing because they help an author understand how much they stand to gain from the sale of their book. Additionally, an author can have an idea of how many books they need to sell to meet their financial goal for the book being sold.

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With this, it becomes easy for the author to find out if the book was really worth publishing Also, it could help the author consider other avenues of earning from the book. Some of these avenues could be going for speaking engagements events, improving on their brand, etc.

Best Book Royalties Calculator

As an author that is looking to have a clear idea of how much you can earn from a book, you will need to make use of a book royalties calculator to know the number of books to sell to make a profit. Also, you should not just make use of any royalties calculator. lt is important that you make use of the right tools. Below are some of the best book royalties calculators that an average author can rely on to have a good understanding of how much they will be making from the sale of their book.

That said, below are some of the best book royalties calculators.

1. KDP Printing Cost and Royalty Calculator

This is one of the latest development in Amazon KDP. It is still in the BETA version presently.  This book royalty calculator is very easy to use and can be trusted to help you find out how much royalties you will get from your book sales without issues. The good news about this software is that it is developed by Amazon. This means we could be seeing something that could give a near-perfect result.

The KDP printing cost and royalty calculator functions in a very simple way. It works by allowing you to add your book type, interior and paper type, and page count. It also allows you to choose your preferred marketplace and also list the price of your book.

In return, the KDP book royalty calculator will show you the list price ( the price you listed your book), the minimum list price, the printing cost, and the estimated book royalty. It is very simple to use

The price gotten from this book royalty calculator should not be taken too seriously. It should be used for carrying out estimates since it is still in the Beta version. Check KDP Printing Cost & Royalty Calculator

Others include;

2. Publishwide KENP Royalty Calculator 

On Amazon is a plan known as the Kindle Unlimited. When a book is included in this plan, you will earn royalties for books read. However, beyond just earning increased royalties, it is vital that you know how to calculate your Kindle unlimited royalties. One of the platforms that offer readers an avenue to calculate their kindle unlimited royalties is Publishwide  The website allows users to add their number of page reads and in turn, the software will display the estimated amount of book royalties.

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It works by multiplying the number of page reads 9 found in your KDP sales dashboard)  by the current available rate to estimate your earning.

Having tested the software, I cannot guarantee that it is perfect. But it is very good and easy to use.

3. Authors Insiders Club Amazon Kindle Royalty Calculator

This is yet another platform that has a kindle sales calculator. The book calculator on this platform is divided into two; the ebook and the print version.

In the ebook royalty calculator, users are allowed to insert their book price and in return, the website will display the estimated book royalty.

The print version section is almost the same but with a slight difference. The platform allows users to enter their print book price together with their book file size (megabytes) and in return, it will display the estimated book price.

However, this result is for books sold in the USA only. Visit Authors Insiders Club

4. Self-publishing Book royalties Calculator

Self-publishing website is another platform that integrated an amazon book royalties calculator. The website will require users

• To select the mode of publication, whether traditional publisher, self-publishing platform, Indie publisher.
• Select the book version, that is print version or ebook.
• Add the book retail price.

The software will in turn calculate your royalty. Although I can’t say whether their result is accurate but you can try the website.

5. I am ToolBox

There is no much information about this website online but they have a KDP royalty calculator. Looking at it, it shows that it is for the kindle print version. You can visit the site HERE

The Takeaway

Now that you know the best book royalties calculator, your days of struggling to know what you should earn from a book are gone.

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