For paper books, the publisher covers cover art, design, and layout. They cover promotion (although authors complain they have to do their own these days). Most importantly, it covers printing, making the physical book, and shipping it to the stores. 50% margins is pretty common for goods.
Authors get higher royalties for ebooks, 20-25%. The big part is that the Amazon wants a large cut for running the store.
I read the self-publishers get 30-35% royalties (Amazon offers 35% or 70%). But for that they need to pay in advance or do it themselves for production. And the editing can be bad on self-published books.
Authors get higher royalties for ebooks, 20-25%. The big part is that the Amazon wants a large cut for running the store.
I read the self-publishers get 30-35% royalties (Amazon offers 35% or 70%). But for that they need to pay in advance or do it themselves for production. And the editing can be bad on self-published books.