Royalties and Sales
How is the retail price of my book determined?
We shall provide a proposed retail price for the sales of your work in the distribution channel. However, if you purchase the option to set your own price, if offered, or if we otherwise permit you to set your own price, the retail price we suggest will be a proposed price for your work, and you will be responsible for accepting our suggested retail price or setting a different retail price for each format of the work, as long as the final retail price is within the limitation that we have set.
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Can I change the price of my book later?
After the Retail Price is set, we reserve the exclusive right to modify the retail price of the work, should production costs change or market conditions warrant. You must approve such retail price change prior to it taking effect. If you do not approve the retail price change or we cannot contact you to obtain approval for the retail price change, all or certain formats of the work will be removed from distribution.
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What discounts are available on Xlibris books?
Xlibris offers author discounts ranging from 30% to 60%, reseller discounts up to 48%, and discounts on direct sales. We try to make it as easy as possible for you, your customers, and book retailers to purchase copies of your published book.
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How does Xlibris calculate Royalty payments?
Please note that Royalties are paid to you on all sales of your Work EXCEPT: (a) sales of used copies of the Work; (b) sales of the Work to yourself; and (c) copies of the Work given to any person or entity (e.g. the media) free of charge.
Xlibris gives authors a royalty rate of
ten percent (10%) through our distribution channels for print formats. Royalties are based on the payments we actually receive from the sale of printed copies of your book, less any shipping and handling charges or sales and use taxes. Also, we offer discounts to retail and wholesale customers, so the royalty amount you receive depends on what type of customer (i.e. retail or wholesale) bought your book and any discount they received. For each royalty-qualifying sale in print format through our website bookstores, you will receive twenty-five percent (25%) of the retail price.
For audio formats, you will receive one hundred percent (100%) of the difference of the Suggested Retail Price less the discounts (deductions) taken by any distribution channel for each sale of the individual Work. These deductions include promotional discounts, distribution discounts, and sales discounts.
Here's an example of a common sales transaction of a printed book:
- The retail price (list price) for your paperback book is $15.95.
- Your Xlibris royalty rate for retail transactions is 10 percent.
- A retailer, such as Amazon, places an order for your book through Ingram Book Company, a wholesaler.
- Ingram then resells the book to the retailer.
Your royalty on this retail sale is calculated as:
Paperback list price
$15.95
If your book is sold directly through the Xlibris bookstore, you receive a higher royalty amount. Your royalty on this sale directly through the Xlibris bookstore is calculated as:
Paperback list price
$15.95
For each royalty-qualifying sale of your work in digital format (e-book), you will receive 50% of the digital net, less any returns. The digital net equals the retail price less promotional discounts, distribution discounts, and sales taxes.
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What is the minimum amount for release of payments?
If your quarterly determination of royalties in any calendar year exceeds the threshold as specified in your Author Agreement, the payment shall be issued according to the quarterly payment schedule. If the quarterly royalties due are equal to or less than the threshold as specified in your Author Agreement, the quarterly royalty amount will be carried forward and added to the subsequent quarterly royalty amount due. Until the cumulative author royalties exceed the threshold as specified in your Author Agreement, each quarterly author royalties will be carried forward and added to the cumulative author royalties. Cumulative author royalties at the end of a calendar year will be issued to you by 28 February.
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How am I paid for my royalties?
Royalties are calculated each calendar quarter, and payments are processed per the following schedule: first quarter (for sales January through March) payment by 31 May, second quarter (for sales April through June) payment by 31 August, third quarter (for sales July through September) payment by 30 November, and fourth quarter (for sales October through December) payment by 28 February of the subsequent year. The timing of actual receipt of the payment by the author may occur after these issuance dates, due to a variety of factors including, but not limited to, transit time in the mail.
If your quarterly determination of royalties in any calendar year exceeds the threshold as specified in your Author Agreement, the payment shall be issued according to the quarterly payment schedule. If the quarterly royalties due are equal to or less than the threshold as specified in your Author Agreement, the quarterly royalty amount will be carried forward and added to the subsequent quarterly royalty amount due (cumulative author royalties). Until the cumulative author royalties exceed the threshold as specified in your Author Agreement, each quarterly author royalties will be carried forward and added to the cumulative author royalties. Cumulative author royalties at the end of a calendar year will be issued to you by 28 February.
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What do I get if my book is particularly well written or sells well?
The ultimate goal for the majority of authors is to get a publishing contract with a major publishing house. Xlibris supports excellence in both writing and sales. The Xlibris Author Spotlight, Critic's Choice Award and Best Seller Program are all designed to not only recognise your achievements as a writer, but to assist you with all important marketing and publicity for your work. Call your publishing consultant on
1799 455 039 (or
+44 20 3014 4095 if calling from outside Australia) to find out more about eligibility and benefits associated with these programmes.
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When do book sales appear on my sales and royalty page?
For orders made through Xlibris, we add book sales to your sales and royalty page when the books are shipped to the customer. Sales made through our distribution channels will be added once they are submitted to us, which is either monthly or quarterly. Items that have been ordered, but not yet shipped, will not appear on your sales and royalty page. We receive shipping information each day, and as we receive notice that an item has been shipped, your report is automatically updated.
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Why does it take so long for Xlibris to post sales from Ingram or other retail bookstores?
All companies have a month-end close process to collect and validate financial information, and Xlibris is no exception. At the close of each month, Xlibris must collect sales and printing information from each of our business partners. We reconcile book orders and book sales with printing information to ensure that every single copy that is printed is accounted for. Then, we consolidate sales from many different sources into a single monthly statement for each author.
The process of collecting, consolidating, closing and posting sales information from our partners can take more than four weeks. It is important to remember that the sales statements are not final, however, because information posts to them as it is received. This process may take time, but we think it is essential to provide you with information that is 100 percent accurate and to account for each and every sale.
Although we strive to post sales statements as quickly as possible, four times per year it takes us six weeks to post statements due to our royalty payout schedule. During these quarterly payment periods, our staff is busy preparing quarterly statements and arranging individual royalty payments.
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A bookstore ordered copies of my book at the end of last month, but those sales aren't appearing on my monthly statement. Why?
There are two reasons this might occur. First, like many publishers, Xlibris records a sale and pays royalties only after books are physically shipped. We may have an order in process at the end of a month, but if the books haven't shipped that month, then the sale will not be recorded until the following month.
What's more likely, however, is that the bookstore ordered either through the largest wholesaler, Ingram Book Company, or directly through its printing arm, Lightning Source, Inc. (LSI). Ingram and LSI are on a 4/4/5 accounting cycle. This means that they operate on a four-week, four-week, five-week financial calendar rather than a monthly calendar. The financial month-end close always occurs on a Friday and therefore is not always at the calendar end of the month. LSI reports monthly sales to Xlibris according to the Ingram financial calendar, and Xlibris in turn reports those sales to authors in the sales statement. Any sales in a calendar month that occur after the financial month end will not appear on your statement until the following calendar month.
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How long does it take for a sale to be listed in my online “Sales Activity Report”?
The information in the “Sales Report” is updated throughout the quarter to give you an idea of how and where your book is selling. We deliver sales information to you as soon as we can, however this data cannot be updated in real time and may not reflect finalized information.
The time it takes a sale to be listed in your sales report is determined by the type of sale:
Sale
type
|
Time
until listed
|
Xlibris Bookstore
|
72 hours
|
Consumer sales (i.e.,
call-in purchases through Xlibris)
|
72 hours
|
Retail sales (e.g.,
Amazon.com)
|
Four weeks or more
|
Please note: External retailers — Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. — operate under their own schedules, and Xlibris cannot control the frequency with which they report sales information.
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How is the sales and royalty page organised?
The most recent book sales appear at the top of the page and continue down in reverse chronological order to your first sale. The sales are organised by month, with a monthly total row in blue. Within each month, the sales are organised by type of sale (reseller, Xlibris—by phone/by mail, etc.).
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What is an 'Order ID'?
The Order ID is the confirmation number that we give customers when they purchase a book. We have included it on this page so that we can solve any issues that may arise as quickly as possible. If you reference an Order ID, we can access the record easily and quickly. Please make sure to ask for your Order ID at the time you place your book order.
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Why do two items have the same Order ID?
We often place mixed orders with paperbacks and hardbacks included in the same order. Your royalty pages have such items listed separately since the royalty owed to you is different for the different types of items sold.
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Why do you only show the city or town of the customers who purchased my book?
Due to privacy concerns, we are unable to include the customers’ names along with their addresses. Just as we do not provide your personal information to parties who wish to purchase our author lists, so too do we protect the privacy of customers who purchase books.
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I keep seeing an address with ‘LSI Wholesale’. Who are they?
LSI is an acronym for Lightning Source Incorporated, the print-on-demand subsidiary of Ingram Book Group, which is one of the largest book distributors in the United Kingdom. Almost all book resellers, including Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble, and hundreds of others, purchase Xlibris books through Ingram and LSI. In turn, LSI provides us with a monthly report of all Xlibris sales, which we then list on your sales and royalty report under the ‘LSI Wholesale Discount’ heading.
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What is the pricing for the e-book? Can I control how much to charge?
All e-books have a default price of $9.99. For the e-book Opt-In Initiative, no price change will be allowed.
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What is the royalty percentage for e-books?
The author receives 50% of the digital net payments received from sales of the e-book. Royalties will not be paid on copies provided free of charge or sold to the author. You will always receive 50% of the digital net sale when sold. (Therefore, if sold on Xlibris.com at $3.99, you will receive $2.00. If sold in the retail channel at $3.99, the channel discount [varies by partner] will be deducted from the sales price, and you will receive 50% of what is left.)
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Where can I check my e-book royalties?
E-book sales and royalties can be tracked through your My Xlibris account, just like the printed version. Royalties for both printed and electronic book will be lumped together and sent to you via ONE royalty cheque.
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How does the Set Your Own Price (SYOP) service work?
Xlibris’
SYOP pricing works on three main factors, Your book's final page count, the type of book - Black & White or Full-Colour- and finally whether it is a paperback or hardcover version of your book. If you do not know how many pages your book has, that is ok. Based on the number of words in your manuscript, we should be able to estimate your book's final page count. Before a book is published, someone will contact you to confirm the final number of pages, retail price and royalty amount.
Royalties will always start at 1 dollar earned per book sale. This is true no matter where the book sale is made, whether it be through the Xlibris bookstore or online in the "channels" such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble. For each extra dollar you want to earn per sale, the retail price goes up by two dollars.
For example: You have just ordered a Premium Package for a Black & White book and it is determined that your book is going to be 299 pages long. A 299 page paperback with SYOP will retail for $15.99 and the hard cover for $22.99 with base royalties of one dollar. If you wish to raise the royalty amount to two dollars for each book sold, the new retail prices would be $17.99 for paperback and $24.99 for each hardcover.
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Why should I purchase SYOP?
Purchasing SYOP will allow you to control the retail price of your book to a much greater degree than was ever previously possible. In many cases, authors with SYOP will enjoy much lower retail prices than Xlibris has ever offered in the past.
Authors will also be able to set their royalty amounts to any dollar amount they desire, starting at one dollar. There is no limit to the dollar amount you may set your royalty amount to.
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Can anyone take advantage of SYOP?
Yes! All authors may opt into the SYOP programme. Picture book and Short book authors may want to note that doing so though may result in higher retail prices of their existing titles.
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SYOP is included in my publishing package, do I have to take advantage of this service?
Not at all. Set Your Own Price is included in the Executive and Platinum Packages as an option. You have until you sign the final approval for your book to determine whether you would like to utilize this program or not.
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How often can I change my SYOP book price and or royalty amounts?
As often as you like. One very important thing to note though is that each change will immediately reflect on the Xlibris book store. It will however take up to 6 weeks for any updates to books available through online retailers such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble to reflect on their websites, this is because of their processing and upload time. As such, it is not recommended that you change your pricing more than once every 6 weeks to guarantee that your book is always being bought at its desired price.
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Do my hardcover and paperback royalties have to be the same amount?
No. You are completely free to set royalties earned for each book type independently of one another. If you want to earn $5 for each paperback sold and $3 for each hard cover. Then feel free to set the royalties for these amounts.
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I have a friend who would like to publish with Xlibris, do I get an incentive for referrals?
Of course. If you introduce friends or family to the benefits of publishing with Xlibris and they decide to publish a book with us, we will gladly give you a referral fee of $100. To Refer-A-Friend simply fill out the on-line form with the names and contact information of authors who could benefit from Xlibris' services. You will receive $100 for each referred author who publishes a book with us. The referral bonus will be sent to you by check once your referral's book is completed.
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Am I eligible to refer a friend?
Yes. Whether you're an Xlibris author or not, as long as you have a valid email address, you're able to participate in the programme.
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Who can I refer?
Anyone! You may know a writer, an author or someone who just likes the idea of publishing his own book, novel, cookbook or family photo album for pleasure. Whatever their interests, we have a publishing solution that will suit their needs.
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What qualifications should my friend have to get referred?
Your friend will be eligible for referral as long as he/she has not already signed up with Xlibris or our mailing list, and is not an existing Xlibris author.
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How easy is it to join Refer-A-Friend?
Extremely easy! Just fill out the Referral Form and you'll be up and running in no time at all.
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How much does Refer-A-Friend cost?
It doesn't cost you anything. Our programme works on a "commission" basis—which means Xlibris will reward you $100 for each referred friend that becomes an Xlibris author. Once your friend's book is published and it becomes available on the Xlibris online bookstore, you will receive a full Refer-A-Friend credit.
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Is there any limit on the number of people I can refer?
Definitely not. We would like you to refer as many interested friends and authors as possible. You will be issued a credit for every successful referral that publishes their book with Xlibris.
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What counts as a successful referral?
We class a successful referral as when someone recommended by you under this programme purchases an Xlibris publishing package, goes through the entire publishing process and becomes "Publication Complete" (their book becomes available in our online bookstore).
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Are there any usage limits?
No. Some referral programmes may have a different reward structure depending on how many referrals are sent per month. But with Xlibris' Refer-A-Friend programme, there is no limit on the number of referrals you can send to us each month.
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Is it possible to send a referral to several friends at the same time?
Sure. Refer-a-Friend is designed to be user friendly and easy to navigate. If you would like to send a referral to multiple recipients, you can enter their information in the fields provided. To prevent spam and bulk mailing we have a built in measure that allows a maximum of 25 referrals per day.
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What should my friend do when they are referred?
If your referral is interested to find out more about publishing their book with Xlibris, they may contact Xlibris by:
- Responding to the Refer-A-Friend email
- Calling us on
1800 455 039 (or
+44 20 3014 4095 if calling from outside Australia)
At the time of application, please ask your friend to provide referral information (included in the Refer-A-Friend invitation email), which identifies YOU as the referrer, so you will be eligible to receive the $100 reward. They can provide any one of the following pieces of information:
- Your name
- The title of your book
- The valid contact number we have on file for you
- The valid e-mail address we have on file for you
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How can I ensure my friend's privacy will not be infringed upon?
Xlibris understands the importance of protecting the information of all users, and will never share either you or your friend's account information with any third party.
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When can I get my $100 referral fee?
As soon as we have accurate confirmation from our database that the person you referred is now "Publication Complete", we will immediately process your referral reward and send your check through mail.
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Why is the online bookseller (or retailer) selling some of my books as “Used” even just days after my book was published?
Online booksellers (or retailers) have a practice whereby they may classify books as “used” and sell them at a discount even if those books have never been purchased or printed. We understand that this practice can be misleading. Online booksellers may start showing “used” copies of your book even just days after your book comes to market. It does not mean that these books have been purchased or printed. This practice by online booksellers may lead authors to have an inaccurate estimation of the sales of their book. If a new book is printed, the author will be compensated accordingly.
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The online bookseller (or retailer) shows that it has several copies of my book in stock. Doesn’t this mean that they have purchased it, and that therefore I should receive royalties?
No. This is known as a “virtual stock” policy. All copies of your book that are ordered by customers are through Print-on-Demand or filled through offset printing when this is applicable (generally for very large orders). An online bookseller’s (or retailer’s) policy of having “virtual stock” does not mean that your book has been purchased. It is a marketing tactic used by the online bookseller (or retailer) to generate purchases and show inventory.
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