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You could increase your profits by up to 400% over other publishers (and have more control over your retail price) by taking the time to set your own pricing.
Outskirts Press puts YOU in control. If you want a different retail price than what is shown, enter it in section 3 below. If you want a different royalty than what is shown, you can change that, too. You can even change the distributor discount. Your new pricing is shown instantly in section 2 when you make a request.
If you have questions about any section, click the button that looks like this:
You may indicate your book's length in word count or page count. For page count, you have two choices: single spaced at 8.5" x 11" or at the format size indicated in the format drop-down box. The 8.5" x 11" choice is helpful for unformatted manuscripts that you have written into your word processor. This last choice is helpful when comparing books that are already published.
There are 17 different size/binding combinations to choose from (9 paperback formats with black/white interiors, 2 paperback formats with full-color interiors, 3 laminated casebound hardbacks with black/white interiors, and 3 cloth-stitched hardbacks with wraparound dust-jackets and black/white interiors.
The size of your book dictates your paper type:
The pricing grid below defaults to exhibit the lowest retail price possible that still provides you Ingram distribution and delivers a 20% retail royalty.
Of course, at Outskirts Press, you are welcome to change these prices however you want. The calculator will indicate if your pricing choices cannot be met.
Note: The figures below are ESTIMATED based upon your supplied manuscript length and may change when your book is formatted.
The retail price is the book's cover price, also known as its SRP. Outskirts Press allows the lowest retail prices in the on-demand industry. You can set it to whatever you want above the wholesale price. The wholesale price is the book's book cost + your profit. Our default retail pricing ends in .95 cents as book industry standard, but you can set your price to whatever you want it to be.
This is your cost when buying copies for yourself. You can buy in quantities as low as 5 at a time. With Outskirts Press, it is not necessary to buy massive quantities of books to get a discounted author price. Your price is ALWAYS below wholesale.
Royalty is the percentage of the book's retail price that you earn in profit. Unlike other publishers who base their royalties on the wholesale price or net profit, Outskirts Press bases royalty on the retail price. You may increase or decrease your royalty to whatever you want, and the calculator will adjust the other numbers accordingly.
The distribution discount is otherwise known as the trade discount. This is the percentage of the retail price that goes to the book trade (wholesalers, distributors, retailers) for listing and selling your book.
A distribution discount is not the same as a retail margin. The retail margin will always be lower than the distribution discount because the distributor or wholesaler takes a "piece" before reselling the book to the retailer. The relationship between the trade discount and the retail margin is based upon the proprietary negotiation that takes place between the different wholesalers and different retailers.
The higher the distribution discount, the greater the potential for distribution. Our default is 20% which ensures listings online with Barnes & Noble and Amazon and is the lowest discount possible for distribution. The maximum is 55%.
This is basically the same as your royalty, just represented in an actual dollar amount so that you can easily see the amount of money you make. Many publishers claim 50-80% royalties based upon wholesale price or net profit. Be sure you know the dollar amount you are earning, regardless of what "royalty" you are earning.
