Yesterday I received a semi-annual royalty statement for my first book, which was released in July 2003. Finding Hope sold very well, but it had "earned out" on last May's statement, meaning that it's out of print and that I have been paid all the royalties due me for the books sold.Steeple Hill likes to reissue popular books, so this one may come around again in a couple of years. But for now, the ride's over. So why did I get a statement in yesterday's mail?
I'll tell you why. Because in May I was overpaid. And now it seems that I owe money to Harlequin.
One dollar, to be exact.
Maybe I didn't look hard enough, but I didn't find any envelope for my remittance, so I'm just going to assume they're trusting me to square this account after my March book comes out.
10 comments:
Unreal. It probably cost them more than a buck to send that bill to you. They could've kept it and been ahead of the game.
Heh...Don't worry. They don't make you pay it back.
I have statements back to 1997 where it says, unearned aka overpaid, .58 cents etc...and one even 12.00.
That's just an accounting thing.
Butsince it was 1.00 even, I'd save it and frame it! LOL!
Cheryl Wolverton
...since it was 1.00 even, I'd save it and frame it!
Nah, Cheryl. Blogging about it's more my style. ;-)
I realize that if some WalMart employee finds a stack of books in a back room somewhere, they'll send 'em back to the publisher for credit--and my royalties will be docked again.
[Davetta wrote] It probably cost them more than a buck to send that bill to you.
Yeah, that's what made me laugh. This "bill" for $1.00 was mailed to me from Switzerland.
You should know that accounting depts are anal. I paid a little extra on a credit card once, figuring, no biggie, I'll shop and that'll carryover. Well, I didn't shop the next month, and I got a check in the mail for 76 cents.
Huh?
Mir
Davetta, I visited your blog, and I adore your exuberance. I tried to comment, but for some reason, it wouldn't let me. Boogers! Keep posting pics of you walking. I dig em.
Mir--who has gone on very short jaunts since the hurricane, cause people get mugged round here...
LOL Brenda... that's funny
Oh, boy,
Does that mean you didn't make any money off your book after the initial flurry?
Well I had to ask, seeing as nobody else was going to.
Karen, I made good money on it. But it was a "category" (numbered series) romance, and they have very short shelf lives. When these books sell out, there's no going back for a second printing (although many of the books are eventually reissued).
That "initial flurry" is what category books are all about. For a short time, they're everywhere--in bookstores, at WalMart and Target, at grocery stores and drug stores. And when they're gone, they're gone.
Ahhhh... I see...
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