As publishers, we find ourselves being asked the same questions rather frequently – whether about the book industry in general or our company in particular. For easy reference, here goes:

How long is a piece of string, really? In short, with the rise of digital publishing, it is considerably easier than it used to be a decade ago. Literally, anyone can do it if they want to. But to do it properly – that is, to produce a book that other people will want to actually buy – is a more complex process than many people realise.

There are so many variables that it’s dangerous answering a question like this… But let’s give it a bash.
In any book, there are three primary processes (and costs) required to get to a finished product: compiling the information (doing the writing and sourcing the pictures), pre-production (from editing to layout) and printing. Let’s consider a simple 50,000-word black-and-white softcover book.
If you can deliver a near-perfect manuscript (NB: this is virtually impossible) that requires the barest of edits, it is possible to copy edit, proof and lay it out (typeset) and design a simple but workable cover for around R10,000. You could then digitally print one reasonable trade-quality copy for R100 or so, or 500 copies for under R15,000. For larger non-digital (litho) print runs, usually offering slightly better quality, you’d be looking at R40,000 for 2,500 copies.

Those figures are for a very clean - and thus very rare – manuscript. Usually there is a reasonable amount of editing required, at upwards of R300 an hour (on freelance rates), which can push the pre-production costs right up. For a trade title, it’s also likely that a publisher will want to spend a little more on good cover images and design – and this is assuming there are no internal images (whether black and white, or in colour inserts). For a standard book, as above, most publishers would look at printing a bare minimum of 2,000 copies for it to become a viable project.

Traditionally, when a publisher accepts a manuscript for trade publication, the publisher covers all the costs involved in producing and selling the book. The author is then remunerated with a standard royalty of around 10 or 12% on net sales, which works out to about 5 or 6% of RRP. But in the digital age the line between author and publisher is becoming ever more blurred. For example, a non-writer with a good idea for a book may pay for his writing to be heavily edited or even ghost-written to get it to a standard that turns it into a commercially viable project. This cost varies hugely, depending on the workload. At Burnet Media we encourage a close relationship between author and publisher and are happy to look at customised financing options for projects that we take on.

5,000 sales. That is sales to the bookstore, not necessarily to actual readers. (No, it doesn’t sound like a lot!)

Usually not very much… which is a sad and unfortunate truth given the effort required to write a book. Using the imaginary book above as an example, if we printed and sold 2,000 copies at an RRP of R150 the author would likely make less than R20,000. Of course, if you’re John van der Ruit and your first book sells 150,000 copies then happy days.

Pretty much anything that takes our fancy. We specialise in irreverent or edgy South African books for the book trade (ie selling through bookstores via our Two Dogs and Mercury imprints), and we can handle virtually any customised projects.

No. But we’ll look at most if they’re vaguely related to what we do – bearing in mind that there really is no point in sending your proposal for a feminist reworking of Great Expectations to a publisher that specialises in contemporary warfare...
Genres that we really can’t help with include:
- Children’s books (a hugely competitive and oversubscribed market, by the way)
- Self-help books or any other spiritual wellness type guides
- Romantic fiction