Karen Fox - Show Me the Money

Please send your royalty/sales information to Brenda so that this survey can be kept up-to-date. You can view the latest version at her site. Email it to her at BrendaHB@aol.com.

What do the various romance publishers pay? Here's the best info I've been able to glean from four years of surveying authors who were generous enough to volunteer their figures. Note that I am no longer including the outdated information from the old RWA surveys. Royalty percentages are based on cover price unless otherwise noted, and are for U.S. retail sales. (Foreign and book club sales, if any, typically have lower royalty rates.) In the interests of anonymity and accuracy, publishers are only included if I had at least two responses for that publisher. Similarly, n/a means that specific information wasn't available. I've added ranges for advances and earnouts, where appropriate, to control for the skewing that a very few numbers might have. I make no claim to statistical significance--I simply averaged what I had, with extra weight given to more recent figures, operating on the assumption that some information is far better than none at all.

Avalon	number of titles included: 17
Average advance (first book):	$1,000
Average advance (subsequent books):	$1,000
Advance range:	$1,000 - $1,2000
Standard royalty percentage:	10%
Average earn-out	$1,200
Range:	$1,000 - $2,100

Avon/Harper Collins	number of titles included: 62
Average advance (first book):	$13,500
Average advance (subsequent books):	$24,000
Advance range:	$3,500 - $100,000
Standard royalty percentage:	8%
Average earn-out	$26,000
Range:	$7,000 - $100,000

Baker/Revell	number of titles included: 3
Average advance:	$10,000
Standard royalty percentage:	8% of net
Average earn-out	n/a

Bantam/Dell	number of titles included: 12
Average advance (first book):	$10,000
Average advance (subsequent books):	$13,700
Advance range:	$7,500 - $25,000
Standard royalty percentage:	8%
Average earn-out	n/a

Barbour & Co. (Heartsong Presents)	number of titles included: 7
Average advance (first book):	$2,600
Average advance (subsequent books):	$2,700
Advance range:	$2,500 - $2,800
Standard royalty percentage:	8%
Average earn-out	$2,750
Range:	$2,500 - $3,600

Barbour & Co. (novellas)	number of titles included: 7
Average advance (first book):	$1,000
Average advance (subsequent books):	$1,000
Standard royalty percentage:	2.5%
Average earn-out	n/a

Berkley/Jove	number of titles included: 47
Average advance (first book):	$6,100
Average advance (subsequent books):	$7,675
Average range:	$3,200 - 8,500
Standard royalty percentage:	4% - 8%
Average earn-out	$6,500
Range:	$3,200 - $10,000

Changeling Press (novellas)	number of titles included: 3
Average advance:	none
Standard royalty percentage:	35% (digital)
Average earn-out	$1,200

Dorchester/Leisure	number of titles included: 52
Average advance (first book):	$1,950
Average advance (subsequent books):	$8,700
Advance range:	$1,000 - $60,000
Standard royalty percentage:	4% - 6%
Average earn-out	$6,800
Range:	$2,000 - $15,000

Dutton/Signet/NAL (single title)	number of titles included: 16
Average advance (first book):	$8,750
Average advance (subsequent books):	$33,000
Advance range:	$7,500 - $85,000
Standard royalty percentage:	7.5 - 8%
Average earn-out	n/a

Ellora's Cave	number of titles included: 111
Average advance :	none
Standard royalty percentage:	37.5% digital/7.5% print
Average earn-out:	$2,900
Range:	$700 - $11,000

Ellora's Cave (anthologies/novellas)	number of titles included: 29
Average advance :	none
Standard royalty percentage:	varies by number of authors
Average earn-out:	$1750
Range:	$400 - $6,200

Fiction Works	number of titles included: 5
Average advance :	none
Standard royalty percentage:	30%
Average earn-out	$150
Range:	$0 - $350

Five Star/Thorndike (hardcover)	number of titles included: 6
Average advance:	$1,200
Standard royalty percentage:	10%
Average earn-out	$1,275

Genesis	number of titles included: 6
Average advance (first book):	$650
Average advance (subsequent books):	$2,000
Advance range:	$500 - $2,500
Standard royalty percentage:	6% "of invoice"
Average earn-out	n/a

Harlequin American	number of titles included: 25
Average advance (first book):	$4,200
Average advance (subsequent books):	$4,800
Advance range:	$4,000 - $5,500
Standard royalty percentage:	6%
Average earn-out	$10,000
Range:	$7,300 - $16,000

Harlequin Blaze	number of titles included: 23
Average advance (first book):	$4,000
Average advance (subsequent books):	$6,000
Advance range:	$4,000 - $10,500
Standard royalty percentage:	6%
Average earn-out	$12,200

Harlequin Historical	number of titles included: 46
Average advance (first book):	$5,000
Average advance (subsequent books):	$6,700
Advance range:	$5,000 - $15,000
Standard royalty percentage:	6%
Average earn-out	$13,300
Range:	$6,500 - $24,000

Harlequin Intrigue	number of titles included: 24
Average advance (first book):	$4,000
Average advance (subsequent books):	$6,000
Advance range:	$3,500 - $7,000
Standard royalty percentage:	6%
Average earn-out	$17,000
Range:	$11,000 - $18,000

Harlequin Mills & Boon	number of titles included: 4
Average advance (first book):	$2,250
Average advance (subsequent books):	$2,500
Standard royalty percentage:	4-6%

Harlequin Romance	number of titles included: 8
Average advance (first book):	$2,600
Average advance (subsequent books):	$2,800
Advance range:	$2,600 - $3,000
Standard royalty percentage:	6%

Harlequin Superromance	number of titles included: 55
Average advance (first book):	$5,000
Average advance (subsequent books):	$5,900
Advance range:	$5,000 - $6,000
Standard royalty percentage:	6%
Average earn-out	$21,800
Range:	$10,000 - $58,000

Harlequin Temptation	number of titles included: 51
Average advance (first book):	$4,100
Average advance (subsequent books):	$5,000
Advance range:	$4,000 - $10,000
Standard royalty percentage:	6%
Average earn-out	$13,700
Range:	$11,000 - $18,000

HQN	number of titles included: 2
Average advance (first book):	$8,500
Average advance (subsequent books):	$10,000
Standard royalty percentage:	6%

ImaJinn	number of titles included: 5
Average advance (first book):	$25
Average advance (subsequent books):	$85
Standard royalty percentage:	8-10%
Average earn-out	$180

Kensington	number of titles included: 130
Average advance (first book):	$3,700
Average advance (subsequent books):	$5,500
Advance range:	$1,750 - $17,500
Standard royalty percentage:	6% - 8.5%
Average earn-out	$5,200
Range:	$2,500 - $17,500

Kensington (novellas)	number of titles included: 21
Average advance (first book):	$3,000
Advance range:	$750 - $9,000
Standard royalty percentage:	2% - 2.67%

Mira	number of titles included: 9
Average advance (first book):	n/a
Average advance (subsequent books):	$105,000
Advance range:	$15,000 - $450,000
Standard royalty percentage:	8%

New Concepts Publishing	number of titles included: 13
Average advance :	none
Standard royalty percentage:	9.5% - 40% elec., 4% - 11% print
Average earn-out:	$350
Range:	$50 - $1100

Pocket	number of titles included: 19
Average advance (first book):	$15,000
Average advance (subsequent books):	$21,000
Advance range:	$7,000 - $50,000
Standard royalty percentage:	8%

Red Dress Ink	number of titles included: 3
Average advance (first book):	$12,000
Average advance (subsequent books):	$15,000
Standard royalty percentage:	7-7.5%

Red Sage (novellas)	number of titles included: 3
Average advance:	$350
Advance Range:	$50 - $1000
Standard royalty percentage:	1.5%
Average earn-out:	$3500

Renaissance E-Books	number of titles included: 4
Average advance:	None
Standard royalty percentage:	27 - 40%
Average earn-out	$1,300
Range:	$400 - $4,000

St. Martin's Press	number of titles included: 27
Average advance (first book):	$6,300
Average advance (subsequent books):	$16,000
Average range:	$4,500 - $150,000
Standard royalty percentage:	8%
Average earn-out	$25,600
Range:	$6,800 - $51,000

Silhouette Bombshell	number of titles included: 11
Average advance (first book):	$4,000
Average advance (subsequent books):	$8,750
Standard royalty percentage:	6%

Silhouette Desire	number of titles included: 19
Average advance (first book):	$4,500
Average advance (subsequent books):	$8,850
Advance range:	$4,000 - $15,000
Standard royalty percentage:	6%
Average earn-out	$20,000
Range:	$15,000 - $28,000

Silhouette Intimate Moments	number of titles included: 14
Average advance (first book):	n/a
Average advance (subsequent books):	$5,900
Advance range:	$4,000 - $7,500
Standard royalty percentage:	6%
Average earn-out	$12,000
Range:	$10,000 - $16,000

Silhouette Romance	number of titles included: 56
Average advance (first book):	$3,750
Average advance (subsequent books):	$4,900
Advance range:	$3,500 - $10,000
Standard royalty percentage:	6%
Average earn-out	$10,300
Range:	$6,000 - $18,000

Silhouette Special Edition	number of titles included: 44
Average advance (first book):	$4,000
Average advance (subsequent books):	$8,200
Advance range:	$4,000 - $12,000
Standard royalty percentage:	6%
Average earn-out	$21,500
Range:	$12,000 - $37,000

Steeple Hill (Love Inspired)	number of titles included: 63
Average advance (first book):	$3,400
Average advance (subsequent books):	$4,900
Advance range:	$3,000 - $7,000
Standard royalty percentage:	6%
Average earn-out	$7,900
Range:	$5,000 - $18,000

Tor/Forge	number of titles included: 8
Average advance (first book):	$13,300
Average advance (subsequent books):	$17,250
Advance range:	$8000 - $20,000
Standard royalty percentage:	8%
Average earn-out:	N/A

Treble Heart Books	number of titles included: 6
Average advance :	none
Standard royalty percentage:	15% - 35% print, 40% elec.
Average earn-out:	$65
Range:	$5 - $110

Warner	number of titles included: 23
Average advance (first book):	$7,000
Average advance (subsequent books):	$11,200
Advance range:	$5,000 - $34,000
Standard royalty percentage:	8%

Wings E-Press	number of titles included: 2
Average advance:	None
Standard royalty percentage:	30% digitial/15% print
Average earn-out	$200

NOTE: I'd very much like to keep this information current for future reference. Anyone willing to share their info (anonymously--I never save names!) can e-mail me at brendahb@aol.com and in return I'll email you the most up-to-date version of this list. Thank you again to all of the authors who were willing to share their own, private financial data for the benefit of all RWA members!

Show Me the Money!