top of page

What Does “Running Numbers” Mean?

If your goal is to be traditionally published and you’ve gotten to the submission stage, or have author friends who have, you may have heard that an editor is “running numbers.” That's a good thing, but what exactly does it mean? In a nutshell, it means the editor is interested in acquiring your book, and needs to show that it makes sense financially to do so.


Most book publishing companies are for-profit businesses, so one of the biggest factors they consider is if there is good reason to think that publishing the book is likely to make money for the company. To determine and demonstrate this, the editor creates a profit and loss statement (P&L). The P&L is also how the editor determines what advance she can offer you. (Yes, even if you become a book editor, you still have to use math.) So what goes into a P&L? A lot. Here’s what an editor usually does when she creates a P&L.


First, if you're previously published, she’ll get the details of your sales history—titles, formats, prices, publishers, publication dates, and number of copies sold. You might provide this information in your proposal, but she'll also likely look up your author history on BookScan, which tracks sales to consumers reported by book sellers.


Next, she’ll find 3-5 comparable titles—books published in the last one or two years that are similar to your proposed book in category, subject, and author platform. (If you know some good ones, you should include them in your book proposal.) She’ll use this information and her knowledge of the market to decide what format(s) your book will be published in: hardcover, paperback, mass market, eBook, eAudio, CD audio, etc.. She'll also look up the sales of those books to make an educated estimate of how many copies the publisher would print of each format of your book, and how many of those copies they might sell.


She’ll figure out the unit cost (what it will cost to make one copy) for each physical format by selecting a trim-size (dimensions of the book) and estimating the page count (based on word count and trim size). Typically, the more copies of a book that are printed, the lower the unit cost will be. It's also usually less expensive to use one of a few common trim sizes as the printer keeps that paper in stock. This is why most books by the same publisher are the same size. If your book would have any special features—a photo insert, photos throughout, unique paper, or effects on the cover like foil or embossing—she’ll get a quote from the production department and factor that into the costs as well.


She’ll determine the price for each format based on the page count, author history, and prices of comparable titles. Costs for production, marketing, publicity, shipping copies to retailers, and the publisher’s overhead are also factored in, as is the booksellers’ share of the proceeds.


The editor may ask the subsidiary rights department to give her an estimate of proceeds if they think foreign language translation, book club, audio, large print, or other rights are likely to sell. She may get input from the audio department as well if the audio edition would be done in-house.


Of course, the author’s royalties (a percentage of either the price of the book or the proceeds from book sales) are also included, as are the author’s share of any proceeds from subsidiary rights sales. These two numbers are the key components of the advance the editor can offer. So the advance is basically the author’s share of the income based on the editor’s educated prediction of how many copies the book will sell at a certain price. If the editor overestimates how many copies the book will sell (and most do), the author keeps the advance. If the editor underestimates how many copies the book will sell, the advance will “earn out,” and the author will receive royalties in addition to the advance—everyone is happy when this happens!


Once complete, the P&L is usually reviewed by the editorial director and the publisher. Others, like sales, marketing, and publicity, may also offer feedback (this varies by publisher). The editor may need to change some of the numbers based on the feedback, but hopefully the final P&L will support the editor in making a good offer.

Commentaires


hcg8py_you_re-gonna-die-alone-amp-other-excellent-news-hardcover-_md5_v05_acf4fbecae795303
71SxKs+8XKL._SL1500_
hcedy7_73305-edy7-rectangle-_md5_v05_ba46bc590605ce86788085485ba3c4f8_md5_
62122493
hcgmb9_happy-harbor-hardcover-_md5_v05_521c79bb567291c6d0518846c23e4d25_md5__1
hcey4s_family-reins-hardcover-_md5_v05_ab17d2558c9381f5063ba8f79a199059_md5_
Ms. Bitch Final Cover
195243800
Unsaid 9781609419059
hcfxwo_reach-hardcover-_md5_v05_3e81dcbc454df809ce6fe335224b77b6_md5_
daughter of the regiment 9781455529049
97815460831391
Snelling_Someday Home
718ACXxAHqL._SL1500_
60000546
Gulley_A Gathering in Hope
9781599951843
life is not a stage 9781455504916
9781455549979
download
9781455554690
Priceless Memories 9781599952352
9781455575602
Smith_Breakthrough_MTI_TP
9781599953816
9781455529070
61KFqI8UQBL._SL1360_
613-M2ddUzL
9781599951089
9781599951171
71ZOFyLphOL._SY466_
61I7td2Rt4L
61wqmu9SeVL
51B8bn7zOML
51c+rDotBFL
51qahGM3xAL
51T59QCC9PL
fs5f_bits-and-pieces-_md5_v05_f0aeca73c4ee1cd4ea5b18ab5d4777d9_md5__1
9781599953410
Get Energy 9781599953847
9781455586165
9781599952758
9781599952703
61bU0z1zeFL._SY466_
smart mama 9781599952147
9781455510856
AD 30 9781455558841
9781455591039
15 laws 9781455575749
Your Hearts Desire 9781455528134
9781455589111
Yellow House 9781599952673
How to Be a Hepburn 9781455598670
place called hope 9781455519811
home and away 9781599954318
where mercy flows 9781599953014
this side of heaven 9781599951454
Grand Ole Opry 9781599952482
dog that whispered 9781455562558
from hope to higher ground 9781599951102
unwritten 9781455503940
9781599952642
sapphire season 9781455575626
moving forward 9781599951393
papeer bag xmas 9781599951829
Eat Smart Walk Strong 9780759514973
tale out of luck 9781599951768
WeveGotItMadeAmerica
welcome committee 13033976
Turner_My Fathers Business
HSPT 9781599951683
wild woman 9781455597543
one perfect day 9780446544580
hatmaker's heart 9781455549962
guitar and a pen 9781599951386
faal mistake 9781455596447
97814789898681
5Levels9781599953656
slim and howdy 9781599951379
Proctor_The College Hook
kiss of night 9781455504978
gratitude in motion 97814555711471
flood 97814789707671
make elephants fly 97814789929361
kissing father christmas 9781455565580
supersizedkids
Aiken_For Such A Time As This
Winning Nice
Try Dying tr
book of mistakes 9781478970934
herb of grace 9781455548613
start love repeat 97814789207553
Litz_Scent of Fear

© 2017-2025 by Christina E. Boys. Proudly created with wix.com

bottom of page