We have answers for you, even if you have a great start on a book, but haven’t finished writing it yet. And that little tweak has publishers very, very worried. However, their Author Central service shows that 31 copies of my book were sold the week of June 8, 2015. Read This! Although many authors are obsessed with it and like to send out mass e-mails to friends and family when the number drops, unfortunately, all your ranking means is that people are looking at your page. The Sales Info tab in Author Central is meant to allow you to see sales trends, but is not meant to replace reports you receive from your publisher. ... can you still count all those previous years’ expenses as deductions in the year that you begin making money? Making money as an author isn't easy, and even bestselling authors advise you not to quit your day job. This information is general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for the advice of an attorney authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. If the publisher sells 10,000 copies of the book, the total sales are $200,000 and the author has earned $20,000 from royalties… except that she was already paid $50,000 so she is actually at negative $30,000. Shortly after doing that, my sales ranking increased significantly, even though no one has bought a copy of my book, at least according to my sales dashboard. Typically it’s whenever someone wants to place a bulk order of 100 or more books. Note, this author sold 150,000 copies of his/her debut book and has sold 13 trade book titles over a career; however, royalties still only made up a fraction of his/her income. Your Amazon ranking has nothing to do with sales. If the publisher sells 10,000 copies of the book, the total sales are $200,000 and the author has earned $20,000 from royalties… except that she was already paid $50,000 so she is actually at negative $30,000. While it does not give total sales figures and represents only one retailer (though a large one), the record for each book on Amazon.com includes information on its ranking in sales compared to other books offered by Amazon. January 8, 2016 Print Friendly . When a bookstore chain orders a thousand copies of an author’s book, it doesn’t really buy those books. BookScan gets its data by tabulating total sales from retail book sellers. That’s the Harlequin business. Is Amazon REALLY Giving Authors Accurate Sales Numbers?? Selling a book in that calendar year. For exactly the same reason. Helen Sedwick. Some are lightweight beach reads such as romances. One of the big self-publishing companies inadvertently gave a very precise answer to that question a few years ago. So Amazon charges and collects sales tax in states where digital books are taxable. I received the following email from one of our authors: I know you do not have a high opinion of Amazon. Now there’s one caveat: Any author can use Amazon Author Central to manage their author bio, etc. Contact the publisher and/or author directly. (In reality it would be more like a ~$25 hardcover at 10–15% followed by a ~$15 paperback at 7–10%, but I’m simplifying.) Q. I heard something about “reserves,” and that publishers don’t always pay an author for all the copies sold. Authors are also expected to use the free copies to help their publishers recoup the marketing investment.