2023-04-23 16:06:22
Writers are forced to combine several jobs to survive. Publishers make a risk investment in them for which they receive between 7% and 15%
Writers tend to think that they work by vocation, not to earn a living. The literary profession is one of those weighed down by a romantic conception that falls on the figure of the author and on everything that surrounds him, including his editor. In fact, only 15% of authors can dedicate their time exclusively to producing.
“It is very difficult to live only from literature. Almost all authors have other jobs. And we do not charge large amounts, even when the book is well paid for,” explains the writer. Montse Barderi. It is not surprising, if one takes into account that the profit that the writer receives for his book rarely exceeds 10% of the net sale price. That is: if 3,000 copies are sold at 20 euros each, the author would charge 6,000.
How does the publishing world work? The law grants authors exclusive rights to exploit their works that belong to them throughout their lives: copyright. After his death, they are inherited by his relatives for 70 years. Then they become public domain. When the writer completes a work, and even before, he usually assigns the rights to a publisher so that they bake it and finally put it into circulation.
Agreement between the parties
And when published, how are the profits distributed? Although there are different formulas -self-publishing is taking off more and more-, the literary business revolves around this deal between the publisher and the author, who is not regulated by law. It sets the percentages that one and the other will receive, calculated on the number of copies that are sold -not those that are printed-. Often the writer receives an advance on this forecast, which will be set in stone. There are also literary agents, intermediaries, who defend the interests of the author.
The printing industry usually remains between 15% and 20% of the total. The distributor, between 35% and 40%. And the publisher, between 20% and 25%. This is where the marketing, promotion and maintenance campaigns of the editorial structure come from. Thus, “a normal net margin, satisfactory to the publisher, would range from 7% to 15%,” he assumes. Ernest Folcheditor, journalist and owner of the Navona publishing house.
In this way, publishers are involved in a business that involves certain risks. “The financial one is the highest because we anticipate the money. And between the fact that you contract the copyright, print the book, distribute it and collect, it can take more than a year. In addition, they have the right to return our books”. In short, “nobody works as a publisher to get rich”, says the professor of Cultural and Creative Industries at Esade Jose Maria Alvarez de Lara.
First of all, the editor places a bet on the author, which in the case of newcomers is blind. It is he who decides how many copies are going to be printed and bears the cost of the advance. If in the end that number of printed books is not sold, the publisher is not entitled to receive the advance back. “If a publisher publishes 10 books, one or two will be a success, four or five will be average, and one or two will be a failure“, Explain Lara’s. “It is a risky investment -he continues- in which those books that sell better finance those that do not.”
Volumes that don’t sell end up on the guillotine. Otherwise, there is a risk that they will enter the black market
“It is a trial and error business, where many times you lose,” he warns Fox. That is why many filters go through: the percentage of books that reach a publisher and that are finally published is less than 5%. In Navona, for example, the six editors that make up the staff publish an average of 60 books per year. Editing them costs between 4 or 5 euros per copy. That is, with an average print run of 3,000 copies, approximately 15,000 euros.
a painful decision
The prices of the books are set by the publisher and are fixed. If they are not sold, the discount strategy cannot be used. And even setting a price is quite a complex task, because “a book is not worth the amount of paper it has, but rather its content.” Commonly, they are set based on the prices of the competition.
In the case of returned books, the publisher can offer them to the author at cost price. Or resell them to secondhand bookstores. Also donate them. But the most normal thing is to pass them through the guillotine. “The publisher can and should destroy those copies, even if it hurts,” he says. Lara’s. Because, otherwise, “the covers are cut and enter a kind of black market; the author does not charge for those sales,” he explains. Raquel Xalabarderdirector of the Law and Political Science studies at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC).
Win the physical world
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“We are almost the last redoubt of the cultural sector that still distributes in physical form”, comments the Fox. In fact, between 70% and 80% of the books that are sold are still in paper format. The audiobook “is not very successful in Spain,” he adds Lara’s. Neither the digital versions, despite the fact that they are cheaper.
Nothing seems to be able to against this millennial sector, promoted during the pandemic. According to the latest figures from the Federation of Publishers Guilds of Spain, 79,000 titles were produced in 2021, with an average circulation of 3,590 copies. And the turnover grew 5.6% annually, up to 2,576 million euros. “It is evident: the printed book will not die”, concludes Lara’s.
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