The profits from publishing: a publisher's perspective

Sir Stanley Unwin, who founded the great independent house Allen & Unwin, was famous for his catchphrase: “The first duty of any publisher to their authors is to remain solvent.” He wrote one of the better guides to the book trade, The Truth About Publishing, and it is amusing that he wrote in his introduction: “The publisher’s task is no easy one and the whole process of publication is vastly more complicated than it was even a generation ago”. That was in 1926.

At the risk of being a bore, it is worth stressing that to be solvent, publishers must be profitable and —obviously—to be profitable their books must make a profit.