I have my first royalty cheque for The Book, covering sales up to the end of June. It was waiting for me when I got home yesterday.
Eligible sales were 1300 copies, which I understand is not too bad for a specialised techie book’s first six months. The good reviews it’s got can’t hurt!
Alas, it’s not just a conventionally-miserly royalty: it’s rendered nearly-worthless by being denominated in US dollars. A payment that might’ve been worth £2400 at the time I was writing the book is reduced to £1800. Not that I was expecting to get rich on it, but that kind of drop feels like a third-world currency in crisis. Worse than getting paid in b***** Lire, as I was for most of the 1990s (when I became a millionaire each month, without ever getting rich).
Still, it’s a satisfying outcome to the effort that’s gone into the project: the fun of writing it, the stress of the editing/publishing process, and the pain of the ITIN epic.
John said
It might just possibly (and only just) be worth opening a USD bank account if you expect to receive USD payments regularly. I am aware that HSBC and Citibank do them for UK-based personal customers, but the terms are usually pretty poor (eg no interest on credit balances and some charges). Probably only worth it if you can match your USD deposits with spending in USD (if, for example, a trip to the States is planned in the foreseeable future, or you expect to make investments or purchases denominated in USD). That way you can at least avoid the currency translation costs and exchange write-down.
There again, the money’s probably of more use to you in GBP despite the derisory rate of exchange.
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