A book royalty is the amount a publisher pays an author based on book sales. When the sales of the book increase so will the book royalty. It is important for authors to know the royalty rate so they will have an idea of the amount to expect from their publisher for each book they publish. If an author publishes several books with one publisher each book will be treated separately. The percentage of the royalty will depend on several factors including whether the book is a hardcover or paperback book. A writer may think her royalty rates are low but the publisher is responsible for all of the financial risks associated with publishing the book and getting the books to the store. Another reason first time authors find royalty rates to be low is that publishers sometimes sell books at a discount to wholesalers. It is then the wholesaler who takes the book the bookstore. The normal discount for this process is 55 percent. If the books do not sell the wholesaler will most likely return them to the publisher. Unfortunately, this may result in money being taken from royalty payments.