You, the author, set the retail price. When orders are received by the Amazon.com website for example, they will be “sold” with Amazon receiving 30% of the retail price. Your royalty is 100% of the “gross margin” (net sale amount less the printing cost). For example, the cost to print a 160- page (Demy) paperback book with a gloss laminated color cover at our print shop is £3.30 for a quantity of one. If you set the retail price of such a book at £11.99, Amazon (for example) process the customer’s credit card for the full amount, and deducts £3.60 for its services (30% of the retail price). Net sale amount is £8.39 The gross margin would be the net sale amount of £8.39 less the single-copy print cost of £3.30. The gross margin is therefore £5.09.

In this example, you would receive a royalty of £5.09 per book, which represents 100% of the gross margin. That is much higher than conventional publishers’ royalties of 6 to 10%. Soon you’ll be sitting back, contemplating your next book as the royalties start rolling in.