[Betsy Posts: 2,123 Status: Offline PICKY EATERS WWW]

Harold Underdown has updated his webpage on the economics of publishing a picture book–that is, from the publisher’s point of view. I found it quite enlightening.

If you’ve ever wondered how much a typical picture book costs to produce, how much the publisher makes on a typical picture book, and how many copies your publisher needs to sell to make a profit--all the answers are here:

http://www.underdown.org/bookcost.htm

Harold–just one question. What does overhead include? Are things like salaries included in that figure?
Thanks!

[JFriday Posts: 576 Status: Offline]

Really interesting, Betsy (and Harold). Thank you.

[carrots Posts: 551 Status: Offline]

Thanks for sharing this Betsy....and for creating it, Harold!

[HaroldU Posts: 805 Status: Offline Exec. Editor, Kane Press WWW]

Yes, thanks for sharing it!

"Overhead" is kind of a catch-all for the publisher's day-to-day costs of being in business as a publisher--costs that unlike plate costs, or buying paper, or royalties, are not attributable to a specific book.

So it would include salaries, building maintenance, purchase of equipment, and so on. It's usually added into the "profit and loss" calculations as a standard percentage, such as 35%.