What it costs to publish a book with ShelfPublisher

You pay one publishing slot per book: €35 for a single book, and down to €20 per book in the largest package (100 books for €20). Prices include German VAT for consumers; business customers with a valid VAT number and customers outside the EU see the adjusted total at checkout.

You pay one price per book: no printing costs, no stock, no ISBN to buy. The current packages are on the pricing page.

A slot covers the publication of one title:

• an automated pre-check and a review of your interior and cover by a person,
• an ISBN from the publisher's block,
• registration of the title in the bibliographic directories of the chosen market,
• publication under Orbita Media as publisher and setup with the distribution channels,
• print on demand production, ordered and monitored by us,
• collection of the revenue, quarterly statements and payouts,
• access to the portal with status, sales figures and support.

A slot is valid for 36 months.

Editorial services are not part of a slot: no proofreading, copy-editing, cover design, translation or marketing. You upload a finished interior PDF and a finished cover.

We also do not promise a number of copies, a ranking or a place on the shelf of a particular bookstore. What we do promise is in clause 4 of our terms.

You receive 30% of the net revenue of every copy sold, shown per title in quarterly sales reports. Net revenue is the amount we actually receive from the trade for that copy, after the retailer's discount or commission, the printing cost of the copy and returns, and without VAT.

Illustrative example, a paperback sold in Germany, with the print price list of the portal:

• List price €14.99 including 7% VAT, so €14.01 without VAT.
• Bookstore and wholesaler keep their discount; in this example 50%, so the channel pays €7.00. Discounts differ by channel and country.
• Printing the copy (A5, 200 pages, white paper) costs €3.40.
• Net revenue €3.60, your 30%: €1.08 per copy.

For comparison on the same copy: the joint remuneration rules for fiction agreed by German authors and publishers set 5% of the net retail price for a paperback up to 20,000 copies and 7% from 40,000 copies, here €0.70 to €0.98 (Gemeinsame Vergütungsregeln für Autoren belletristischer Werke, § 4, 2005). A publishing contract usually also includes an advance, editing, a cover and marketing; a slot does not.

There is nothing else to pay after the slot, so the royalty is not reduced by fees for the account, the ISBN or the distribution.

Yes, the prices shown include German VAT for consumers. Businesses in another EU country with a valid VAT number pay without VAT under the reverse charge procedure, and customers outside the EU see the adjusted total at checkout.

Sales are reported per quarter. The statement for a quarter appears in your account about six weeks after the quarter ends; the credit follows once the money from the trade has reached us, usually around 45 days after the quarter ends. Individual international sales can take longer.

You can request a payout from a balance of €200. We pay to the bank account in your profile within 10 working days after the request has been checked.