Royalty Rates of Pay

The following rates apply to traditional trade publishing contracts, whereby authors license the copyright in their work to the publisher in the formats and territories specified in their agreement. In return, the publisher pays the author a royalty on each copy of their work that is sold. These rates are not applicable to educational publishing or publishing in markets outside of Australia, where rates may differ.

It is helpful to understand a few key issues relating to royalty rates before reviewing the standard rates.

How are royalties calculated?

There are two standard ways of calculating your royalty: 

  1. On the retail price of the book, excluding GST. 
  2. A net receipt royalty, which is calculated on the amount that the retailer pays the publisher. This cost price varies according to the publisher’s trading terms but is usually close to half the retail price.

For example:

Retail price (RRP)

Retail price excluding GST

Royalty to author per sale of book

10% of RRP

10% of net receipts, based on a 50% discount for the bookseller

$36.99

$33.63

$3.36

$1.62

What is a high discount clause?

This clause specifies that on sales made at, or over, a certain discount level to the retailers, the author’s royalty reduces. The rationale for this is that if a retailer (for example, Big W or Kmart) places a large order at a higher than usual discount, the publisher and author share the reduced margin from this sale. While the principle seems fair, the discount threshold that is set is very important. 

What are escalating or rising royalties?

This means that your royalty rate increases if your book sells over certain levels. The threshold for these increased royalties will vary depending on the category within which you are publishing. These clauses are not usually included in a standard author contract and need to be negotiated separately. (Please see notes on negotiation below).

Why are eBook royalties different from print?

EBook royalties are always based on net receipts, rather than retail prices. This is because retail pricing is very flexible and changes frequently, so the large eBook retailers report to the publishers on the number of units sold and the income received. This income is then shared with the publisher according to their trading agreement, and you as author receive your share of the publisher’s income, in accordance with your author contract.

 

Format

Category

Retail Royalty

Net Receipt Royalty

Print

Standard sales

10% of RRP less GST

18% + net receipts

 

High Discount Minimum threshold – 56% discount +.

 

10% net receipts

Rising royalties

 

12.5% and 15% on two agreed sales levels

20% and 25% on two agreed sales levels

EBook

  

25% net receipts

Audiobook

Digital – Human Narrator*

  

25% net receipts

Audiobook

Physical**

  

10% net receipts

*If your publisher intends to use an AI narrator, you should negotiate for a higher royalty. See the ASA’s Model Contract for Authors for further information.

**Most audiobook sales are now digital, but small physical print runs are also published for specialist channels, such as libraries.

Exceptions

There are some categories where standard royalty rates can differ:

  • Children’s picture books, where the standard royalty rates are typically shared equally between the author and the illustrator (i.e. 5% on RRP each).
  • Illustrated coffee table books, where royalty rates are often lower because of the significantly higher production costs.
  • Educational books, which work on a very different distribution model and royalty structure.

Notes on negotiation

It is important to remember that these rates are a guide to the minimum acceptable royalty rates, and your first task is therefore to ensure that these key rates are met. You can try to negotiate beyond these levels, but your success will depend on two major factors:

  1. Your profile and experience as an author. 

  2. The genre in which you are publishing. 

It is therefore helpful to understand where you and your book sit within the overall market. 

If you are a first-time author, or do not have a strong public profile, and/or a less commercial book, it may be difficult to negotiate beyond these standard rates or to secure rising royalties.

If your book is strongly commercial, or you have a record of success and/or a profile, you are in a stronger position to negotiate for the inclusion of royalty escalators, and you may be able to increase the discount threshold in the high discount clause. 

It is always important for you to read your contract carefully and have it reviewed by a professional. Authors Legal provides cost effective, expert legal advice on your contract. You can also review the ASA’s Model Agreement for Authors and Model Agreement for Illustrators for more information about standard contract terms, or read relevant sections from The ASA Guide to Getting Published.

Contribution/Hybrid publishing or Self-Publishing

These rates should not be used for any publishing arrangements that fall outside of traditional publishing, including whereby the author contributes to some or all of the cost of publishing the book. If you are considering contribution publishing or self-publishing, we strongly recommend that you:

Royalty rates were reviewed and updated in May 2026. The next review will be published May 2028.