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  1. Ant

    Ant New Member

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    Sales Figures / Making a Deal

    Discussion in 'Publishing' started by Ant, Feb 10, 2011.

    Hello All

    I am new to this thread and to the world of writing but i wanted to ask you a question in light of a new non-fiction submission that seems to be making much headway with a major publisher.

    So far we have been told sales of a non fiction book are generally low, in the region of 10,000 worldwide and if we are successful with a deal it seems that we will be offered an advance of £3000 - £5000 and then a 10% royalty fee based on the net profit of each book sold.

    Of course before agreeing to any deal we would like to clarify this information but I have found that that it is extremely hard to establish this and the estimated sales figures for any type of book worldwide. I know Nielsen offer a sales tracking service but it costs a great deal especialy if you want them to cover every terrritory for every book.

    Does anyone have any advice on this matter I am sure other people in this situation must have faced this dilema before?

    Thankyou for your time.

    Ant
     
  2. Trilby

    Trilby Contributing Member Contributor

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    If we are talking a major reputable publisher - then in today's economic climate I would be inclined to trust them.
    Three to five grand in the hand and 10% thereafter, for a non-fiction book seams fair to me. Don't take my word for it wait until you get more opinions. Mammamia knows her stuff and will be able to answer your question better than I can.
    Best of luck!
     
  3. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    3-5k pounds [almost $5,000 to $8,000 USD] would be an extremely good advance for any new writer's first book, even more so for a non-fiction title... and a 10% royalty could be good, depending on how that 'net profit' is calculated...

    but few publishers nowadays offer new writers any advance for non-fiction and those that do, don't go very high, unless the author has a following or is an acknowledged expert in the field dealt with in the book...

    those opinions are based on info i have in re us practices... in the uk the situation does seem to be a different ball game, if that advance range is the norm...
     
  4. Ant

    Ant New Member

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    Example of a Non Fiction Sales Figures / making the deal

    Thank you Mammamaia (enjoyed your site!) and Trilby for your feedback - much appreciated!

    Ok, I guess the remaining question in this scenario is how well techncial non fiction books sell worldwide?

    This publisher was thinking this book would do very well in Asia, UK, US and Canadian markets but does anyone have any examples / stats of non- fictional titles showing how many books have been sold in any country or worldwide ?

    Thank you once again

    Ant
     
  5. Elgaisma

    Elgaisma Contributing Member Contributor

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    It depends on what you are writing and for whom. If you are writing the technical manual for something specific, or a textbook that can be used in schools etc it will have a wider audience. Also a lot will depend on the price you can charge for it, some specialized books sell for £60+ (probably an awful lot more)
     
  6. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    have you googled for 'global books sales stats'?

    i'm glad you enjoyed the site!

    hugs, m
     
  7. Ant

    Ant New Member

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    Sales figures / Making The Deal

    Hello All

    Thank you all for your advice but if you google 'global books sales stats' unfortunately it seems you get close (just the amount of books listed sold per genre per country) but you never get the real deal of any titles.

    So its dawning on me now that there is no source for any direct or non direct comparisons of published titles e.g.

    "Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to" (retailing at $44.99):
    Sold 15,000 units in Asia, 4,000 units in North America e.t.c
    (or even global figures e.g. " 19,000 units worldwide to date" would be good)

    That way there is some way to aproximate an estimate for the revenue and negotiate the deal with a publisher, otherwise surely your clutching at straws and potentially agreeing to a bad deal?

    Any advice would be gratefully appreciated..

    Ant
     

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