I'm in the process of organizing my expenses for 2009 before the ritual of making our annual offerings to the IRS. I came across one royalty statement that opens a little window onto the life of an author. I'm not sure if it's funny, sad, or ironic...you'll have to decide for yourself!
The statement is for royalties earned in 2008 from one country for one book. The wire transfer arrived at my bank account in July -- so right from the start, I waited seven months for payment. The gross amount due to me? $153.75. (You think authors are rich, hmm? Ha ha, not so much.)
That was the gross amount. Then the mice began to nibble at the cheese. Here are the deductions: $15.38 to my primary agent, $15.38 to my co-agent in that country, $7.69 in foreign tax to that country, $44.60 in bank charges from the UK for doing the wire transfer, and $20 in bank charges from the US for receiving the wire transfer.
Net payment to me: $50.70. In other words, less than one third of the gross royalty. Oh, and that's before federal and state taxes, too!
Okay, that may be an extreme example, but I had to laugh when I added it all up. Well, I swore first, then I laughed.
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