Why should I pay for stories?

Today, I bring your attention to the tribe called ‘Creators’. They make music, write books, shoot films, do stand-up comedy. These works stimulate you and entertain you.

None of these people earn monthly salary. Authors, in particular, get paid only when her book gets sold. This model is called ‘earning a royalty’.

Let me explain this age-old business model in the simplest possible way:

1. The author grants permission to a publisher to print and distribute her work. In return, the publisher pays a royalty of 10% on every copy sold. So if a book sells at an MRP of Rs 300, the author gets 10% (Rs 30), per copy sold. 

2.  A few very famous authors get an advance from the publisher (say Rs 10 lakh). This means the publisher is pretty sure of selling 33,000 copies of the book being released. Therefore, an ‘advance payment’ was given even before publication.