Have you ever considered being an author of a children’s book? Do you wonder what sort of royalties authors of children’s books receive? If these are the sort of questions you have then you have found yourself coming to the right article.
Here we will be taking an in-depth look at the benefits of being a children’s book owner. So without any further do, let’s dive right into it.
Table of Contents
Contracts
From the surface, many people out there believe that almost every author out there receives royalties for being a children’s book author, but that is not the case. Typically an author receives royalties based on the type of publisher they choose and the contract they choose to sign up with.
Some offers out there only include a flat fee for illustrating the book and no further rewards are given beyond that.
It is worth mentioning that regardless of how many copies your book sells, one thing that you will get without a doubt is an advance payment from the publishing company you choose to work with. The advanced payment can be given to the publisher once the book hits a record and has made a reputation for itself.
It must be kept in mind that an advance can be further broken down. Advances are usually broken down either into two, three, or even four payments. The payments are to be given once the sketch of the book cover is completed, or when the contract is signed and the book is ready to be shipped and sold to markets, etc.
Understanding royalty rate
When it comes to talking about royalty included in children’s books, you must keep in mind that the contract you choose to sign includes the royalty rate. A huge proportion of individuals out there do not know this, but royalty rates for children’s book authors range between 3.5 to 6%.
However, this rate might be different if you are an author as well as an illustrator, as in such a scenario, the royalty rate would be between 7% to 12%. You must keep in mind that the advance you receive at the time of your book being published is against your royalty.
Now what this essentially means is that your book must be able to earn sufficiently in royalties before you are awarded royalty payments for the book. In other words, it can be said that your book must be valuable and worthy enough to fall on the standards of royalty rates and payment.
Earning through royalties
Despite many people out there working tremendously hard to earn some form of royalty payments, the majority of them do not get paid according to their expectations. There are a few reasons behind this.
The most common reason for not earning royalty payment is simply because the book has not been up to the standards of customers in the market; hence the sale decreases exponentially.
According to a survey conducted regarding royalty payments, it was found that only 25.3% of surveyors received royalty payments, and up to 90% of the children’s book authors received up to $10,000 only in one year.
So this goes to show that one must not depend entirely on royalties but rather should focus on finding a high advance payment rate that would not only help them earn money for their hard work but also ensures that in case the book does not sell well, you will still gain something out of it.
Building income sources
You may be extremely surprised to find this out, but the majority of illustrators out there do not trust and depend entirely on royalties but rather shift their focus on choosing different sources of income through their children’s books.
By writing a children’s book, the illustrator focuses on how they could turn the profit gained from advanced payments into a long-term business, only so that they do not have to rely entirely on their creations but also on their hard work.
Many people have seen a tremendous amount of benefit from following this type of business as they know not to treat royalties as though they totally depend on it but rather accept it as a form of reward or bonus.
There is absolutely no doubt that with the high demand for books, various authors, and competition out there, the chances of becoming famous and earning a great deal of money may be extremely less. Moreover, there are many children’s book illustrator jobs out there that aim to help you publish and sell your book; hence it is worth looking around and searching.
Choosing a publisher for children’s book
Now you may be asking yourself the question; how much exactly does a children’s book author make while working with a publisher of any sort? Well, the answer to that is a tricky one. There is no doubt that a lot of traditional publishers hate vanity publishers as they believe they do not treat the author’s work with justice.
If you are someone who has published a book before, despite its success rate and the number of copies sold, you can easily expect to have your future books published too. However, this is not entirely the case for everyone out there, as new and upcoming authors try to publish their children’s books every year.
It is worth mentioning that if you choose to work with a vanity publisher for the first time, you would need to invest money that ranges from $5000 to $20,000, depending on where you reside.
Remember, there is no guarantee that the book will be a success and future copies will be made, but it does, however, ensures that you gain the title of published author.
For instance, if you have paid $20,000 for your book to get published, you would need to sell around 1003 copies at the rate of $20.00 per book in order for you to earn a profit. It may seem like a doable task, but in reality, it can take hours and months of dedication to get your book sold.
That is why it is a good idea to follow on advanced payments that you can receive during the time of publishing rather than rely on in hopes of having your book sold in the future.
The takeaway
So hopefully now you have been able to understand the true purpose of royalty and how much it could benefit you in the future.
It must be kept in mind that publishing a book, whether it be the first time or the third of four times, can take a tremendous amount of time, effort, and determination.
That is why it is always a good option to focus on how you can gain profit rather than choosing investment plans.