Writing a book is art. Publishing a book is an all-together different animal. Publishing a book is business.
I spent some time meandering around the Internet exploring self-publishing options and came across some significant book pricing discrepancies.
I found that most publishers charge authors the wholesale price (or higher) for their own book unless bought in large, bulk quantities.
In the business of getting books in reader’s hands, how are authors supposed to make any money reselling that book to retailers? The wholesale price is what retailers will expect to pay.
The good news is that there are self publishers out there that offer low author copy base prices. Author copy prices should always be below wholesale.
Most publishers attempt to conceal this by offering “bulk discounts” on large book orders of 100, 200, 500, or more.
Authors shouldn’t have to buy 500 copies at a time just to get a reasonable “per unit” price.
Something to be aware of.
Keep writing…
Karl Schroeder
Self Publishing Advisor 