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The Society of Authors' plans to increase its recommendations for e-royalties to make them "more favourable" for writers. But the proposals have already been called "unrealistic" by publishers.
Currently the society's guide for e-books says authors "should receive at least 25% [royalties], preferably 35%, rising at an agreed level of sales. Some publishers offer 50% of net receipts, most others offer 15% to 25%. Resist anything less than that."
But general secretary Mark Le Fanu said the society was reviewing its general stance on e-books, and that 25% was not "good enough" in cases where the publisher was selling the book through a third party. "This figure will certainly not be revised downwards. We are looking at revising it upwards," he said, although he declined to specify what figure would be recommended. He added: "If e-book sales match or overtake print sales, we certainly think there should be a steeply rising scale for author royalties, as they have in ordinary books. We think the scale should be more favourable to the author."
Le Fanu said publishers were being "extremely elusive" about the economics of digital publishing, which made it hard to "establish more facts". But he argued that once the initial investment in a digital programme had been made, the cost of creating and selling an e-book would be "tiny".
But a publisher who did not wish to be identified said that authors were "being completely unrealistic". "They just don't understand the margins we are working to," the publisher said. "There has to be a realistic approach to this. Even if the digital product becomes the primary edition, it's still unrealistic."
Pan Macmillan digital director Sara Lloyd said it was "premature . . . to look at a revision to the rate at this stage in the market's evolution, but of course we will discuss authors' concerns and questions openly with them". But she added that digital royalty rates should not be looked at in isolation. "When we work out the economics we look at the overall model, including print, and what will work for the business." Henry Volans, head of Faber Digital, said: "One of the main things as I see it is to allow the market to develop and not be hung up about royalty rates—that is much less important than getting on and publishing."
David Roth-Ey, director of digital business development at HarperCollins, said the publisher's royalty structure was "very fair", as it works on an "even-handed" flat rate system. He added: "It is one we will be looking at reviewing in time to come, but we're in line with rates that are paid by other publishers. We offer generous royalty rates—I don't think we are cheating anyone."