To calculate how much money you can make from your children’s book, let’s assume that you paid $10,000 to publish your children’s book. Your book will retail for $19.95. With a 40% royalty, you would need to sell 1,254 copies of your book to make your money back.
Sales Estimations and Market Considerations
It’s important to talk about exactly how many children’s books an author sells, although this does vary a lot based on the book itself. A lot of blogs online estimate this figure based on US data, which is quite unreliable in the Australian market. Writing a children’s book is a big investment, and it would be nice if book sales recouped some of that investment. It’s difficult to know where to spend money (editing, illustrations?) and how much money to invest.
Ebook Royalties and Costs
If you are selling ebooks on Amazon, they offer a 75% royalty for anything between $2.99 and $9.99. Now, with color images, they’ll charge you for bandwidth costs – so figure maybe $7.00 in royalties from a $9.99 book. An average royalty of about $6 for each book sold, digital or hard-copy, is a typical expectation.
Publishing Costs and Potential Advances
Between illustrations and printing costs, publishing a children’s book could easily cost you anywhere between $1,000 to $10,000. Traditional publishers offer an advance payment, which is an upfront sum paid before publishing. Printed children’s books likely sell more because children need a physical book to learn faster and more effectively. E-books offer less interaction between parents and children.
Profitability of Children’s Books
Children’s authors who choose the traditional route can expect an advance of between $1,000 and $10,000 for their book, plus royalties for every copy that sells. Royalties vary between publishers, but are usually around 5 to 7 cents on the dollar for printed books and up to 25 cents on e-book sales.
Key Factors for Success
- Research the market thoroughly and tailor your book to reader demand
- Invest in high-quality writing, illustration, and production
- Market effectively to reach your target audience
Conclusion: Making money selling children’s books can be done but requires business savvy and dedication. Thorough market research, quality production, and effective marketing are key. Children’s books can provide ongoing royalty income over time. However, the children’s book market faces increasing competition from online alternatives.
Author Earnings Per Book
First, calculate how much money you can make from your children’s book. If your book retails for $19.95 and you receive a 40% royalty, you’d need to sell 1,254 copies just to recoup your costs.
Royalties for printed books are around 5 to 7 cents per copy sold. E-book royalties can be up to 25 cents per sale. To cover a $10,000 publishing cost at 5 cent royalties, you would need to sell 200,000 copies – a challenging goal, especially in Australia.
Thorough market research, quality production, and effective marketing are keys to profitability. With the right approach, children’s books can provide ongoing royalty income over time. However, the online children’s book market faces increasing competition, making sales challenging without an unusual or rare angle.