Yeah, very good Matt. And will you be sending Matthew Sadler a fee for taking the time and trouble to write this book??

 Thank you dawgface420 -I hope you enjoy it!

I don't mean to sound harsh against Matt for his post, but as dawgface420 points out, there is a lot of hard work goes into writing a chess book (or any book for that matter) for very little reward. Matthew Sadler pretty much gave up chess, as have a lot of other GM's, because the financial rewards just aren't there.

We are not talking about mega-popstars (or JK Rowling-author of Harry Potter) getting annoyed about losing their royalties and only raking in $10 million instead of $20 million here because of illegal downloads; we are talking about a poorly-paid species of writer who pretty much need every penny they can get in sales to keep at the thing they love!

Anyway, rant over  apologies again for the grumpiness factor (bah humbug!)

It's Ok Matt, I understand some of the problems you have written about.

There are no easy solutions - in the UK (maybe also other countries) it used to be (20 years ago)that educational books (including chess) were cheaper to buy because they were in some way subsidised by the 'pulp fiction' books. People couldn't sell these books cheaper than an agreed price.

Now, with free market philosophy, people can buy 'stupid' romantic fiction for example at £3.99 because they will sell so many. Chess/history/physics books etc are more expensive because not so many people will want them.

OK, this is capitalism at work-many people agree with it. But it means people can learn to be 'dumb' cheaply, while those who want knowledge must pay!

Personally, I am looking at the best way to make my book available in other cheaper formats (e-book, etc). It is probably the best way to maximise sales and availablity at good price for everyone, but the problem is I am old-fashioned at heart and love books made from paper and ink!

Also, I understand your language barrier problem. I will hopefully be moving to Slovakia soon and will have to pay extra for books I can understand!

Thank you for your explanation Matt,

All the best,

Andy Burnett

Just saw the extra bit of your post Matt. Hmmm, it's different for me just now because we self-published Streetfighting Chess.

However, most authors who have a publisher will be given either a set fee (usually very low!) or a percentage of the book price.

For example, if the book sells for $25 then the writer will get 5-10% of that for every book sold.

The people who get the biggest chunk of the $25 is the bookseller (usually 35-50%). It is almost impossible to argue this % because the seller will either refuse to stock the book or will simpy not advertise the book so well if you don't agree!

I actually work for Amazon just now in Scotland! I am talking to some of the bosses here about selling my book (not in pdf) through Amazon, but of course they will take a % almost everywhere!

They will charge for the space in the warehouse where my book will be sitting;

a fee for every sale;

also a monthly charge or fee for selling the book.

It is very complicated because there are many ways to sell through Amazon. 

The postage is mainly charged to the buyer, but I almost certainly wouldn't see any of this money.

The way I am selling it just now through my own website and via other chess shops (real and online) makes me more money per sale, but less sales because everyone wants to buy from Amazon  etc. because they are cheaper!

It is so much more work and trouble than I ever thought Matt, but self-publishing the book means I had complete control over content and editing and I have learned so much from doing it.

It took me almost 4 years from starting to write until today (5 months after the book came out), because I had to work a horrible job also, to put food on the table while I was writing!

 But I am still smiling because I achieved a dream!

Anyway, hope this is of some use to other would-be writers out there

Regards,

Streetfighter