Push 1 @ Six Months
I just ran the numbers on the first six months sales of Push vol 1. A PDF of the spreadsheet I'm using (which hopefully you'll be able to understand) is posted here.
An Overview
44 print sales: GenCon
62 print sales: Lulu
22 print sales: IPR (and sold at least 28 more since then)
36 pdf sales: Paypal + Email
128 print sales TOTAL
164 TOTAL COPIES SOLD
$1302.09 TOTAL PROFIT (about $7.95 a copy)
Now, looking at these numbers makes me want to run some other, more complicated figures, because I suspect we may not actually be making any money off sales to retailers through IPR. The additional tier of IPR's costs is not the problem; it's the 40% cut to retailers that is basically taking all our profit. If that is true, that's pretty significant and could spell a little trouble in paradise. Right now we're making slightly less than $3 on every copy sold through IPR (as opposed to $8-9 through other kinds of sales), but that includes about 1/3 sales to individual customers who don't get the 40% discount. Without those sales, our profits through IPR are even lower. Damn that extra tier.
In any case, I'll run those numbers this weekend and get back with what I can figure out. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what our options might be if we really are making zero money (or worse, losing money) through retailer sales. It seems difficult to raise the price of the book only when it comes to retailers. And raising the price across the board at IPR seems less than swell too. Bailing on IPR completely is totally the last resort; hopefully it won't come to that. In any case, let that be a heads up to people. Getting your books to retailers sounds great, but the cost of doing that, even using great folks like IPR and Key20, can still be pretty staggering.
I'll try to put a month-by-month breakdown or graph together too.
An Overview
44 print sales: GenCon
62 print sales: Lulu
22 print sales: IPR (and sold at least 28 more since then)
36 pdf sales: Paypal + Email
128 print sales TOTAL
164 TOTAL COPIES SOLD
$1302.09 TOTAL PROFIT (about $7.95 a copy)
Now, looking at these numbers makes me want to run some other, more complicated figures, because I suspect we may not actually be making any money off sales to retailers through IPR. The additional tier of IPR's costs is not the problem; it's the 40% cut to retailers that is basically taking all our profit. If that is true, that's pretty significant and could spell a little trouble in paradise. Right now we're making slightly less than $3 on every copy sold through IPR (as opposed to $8-9 through other kinds of sales), but that includes about 1/3 sales to individual customers who don't get the 40% discount. Without those sales, our profits through IPR are even lower. Damn that extra tier.
In any case, I'll run those numbers this weekend and get back with what I can figure out. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what our options might be if we really are making zero money (or worse, losing money) through retailer sales. It seems difficult to raise the price of the book only when it comes to retailers. And raising the price across the board at IPR seems less than swell too. Bailing on IPR completely is totally the last resort; hopefully it won't come to that. In any case, let that be a heads up to people. Getting your books to retailers sounds great, but the cost of doing that, even using great folks like IPR and Key20, can still be pretty staggering.
I'll try to put a month-by-month breakdown or graph together too.
posted by Jonathan Walton at 11:18 PM
2 Comments:
This is 100% typical for retail sales. The reason to be in retail is outreach, not profits, especially for a periodical. I would raise the price across the board if this is a big concern for you.
Yeah, Mike, that's what I'm beginning to think as well. I'm okay with making very little money through retail sales. But I'm not okay with losing money. As long as we're still in the black, I'm okay.
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