Author royalties: Frequently asked questions
When are Bristol University Press and Policy Press royalty statements provided?
Royalty statements are released within 3 months from the end of our financial year (31 July).
You will be notified by e-mail when your statement is ready to view on our portal Authors Online.
To access Authors Online, please use the link https://uk.klopotek.stream/wao/tenants/bup.
If you need to activate your account or reset your password, please contact bup-royalties@bristol.ac.uk.
When will I be paid?
Royalties are paid once a year in October, and your payment will be made via bank transfer only, soon after your royalty statement is released.
How will I be paid?
Your payment will be made by bank transfer directly to your bank account.
In order to process your payment we require your bank details.
If you have not submitted your bank details yet, please contact us at bup-royalties@bristol.ac.uk to request a bank account transfer form.
How do I let Bristol University Press or Policy Press know of any change in details or circumstances?
Please email any change of address or bank account details to bup-royalties@bristol.ac.uk.
What does my royalty statement show?
Each statement comprises of three parts:
1) Payee summary;
2) Title details – Royalty earnings section;
3) Remittance advice.
These show the sales for your title(s), any brought-forward or advance amounts, any costs incurred and any money due to you for the period that the statement covers.
What is shown in the Payee summary?
This part of the statement shows each title and each version of that title you have published with Bristol University Press or Policy Press. This will include the print and eBook editions of the title, which are listed by ISBN. This summary will also include any advance payments that have been paid to you under your book contract.
Why is there more than one entry for EBK (eBooks) on the payee summary?
We provide different eBook files for the different digital sales markets and they are identified by a separate ISBN, but have the same EBK format code on this part of the statement.
What do the 'Life to date' figures refer to in the payee summary?
At present the life-to-date figures on your payee summary only relate to any sales revenue paid to you for the period of August 2011 onwards, or since the publication date of your book. These also include the current statement period.
What do the 'Period activity' revenue figures show in the payee summary?
This section shows any brought-forward figures from the previous statement period and the sales revenue earned for the current statement period.
What does the 'Current position' section show in the payee summary?
This shows the royalty revenue earned for each title. A total 'payment due' figure is shown at the end of the payee summary. This amount is transferred to the remittance advice where any costs are deducted before a final net payment balance is shown.
What is the 'Title detail – Royalty earnings' section of the royalty statement?
This displays each different version of your title. Where relevant you will see the paperback, hardback and eBook details shown separately with sales and revenue recorded for each.
What are the 'Life to date' figures in the 'Title detail – Royalty earnings' section of the royalty statement?
The gross and net units shown here are the total number of units sold of your book since publication. There are gross and net units, to reflect any complimentary copies sent from our distributors.
The 'amount received' figure is the revenue received for the sale of each version of your book since August 2011. Due to limitations of our new system we are unable to show a full revenue figure since publication.
The 'total revenue' column shows the total royalty amount due for each version since August 2011. The 'Payee share' column shows your individual royalty earnings. If you are the sole author or editor you will receive 100% of the total revenue amount. This same value will then also show in the payee share.
What are the 'Period activity' details in the 'Title detail – Royalty earnings' section of the royalty statement?
All the details in this section relate to the period of the statement only and are completed with the payee share revenue amount showing in the far column.
Why does the 'Title detail – Royalty earnings' section show sales and revenue but no payee share?
This will be dependent upon the terms of your contract. For the majority of authors a minimum sales figure will need to be reached before money is due to be paid.
What is shown on the 'Remittance advice' section of my royalty statement?
This will show you the figures from the other sections in the statement in one place. The net payment shown on the remittance advice is the amount due to you for this year.
Any charges against your royalty contract will be shown on this page, with relation to index or other costs as agreed in your contract. Advance payments made are only shown in the Payee summary, but reflected in the current statement figure.
Why haven’t I received a Remittance advice?
This is because there are no monies payable or costs to be deducted for this period. You will receive only the the Payee summary and Title detail sections.
What is the period covered by the statement?
The 'Period ending' date in the heading of the statement relates to the end of the 12 months covered in that statement, e.g. 'Period ending' 31 July 2015 relates to sales and revenue earned over the period from 1 August 2014 – 31 July 2015.
If you have any further questions about royalties, please contact bup-royalties@bristol.ac.uk.
Is there any income tax applied to my royalties?
Royalties are indeed taxable income and if you are resident in the UK for tax purposes you should include the amount you had from us as ‘other income’ in your tax return.
If you are an overseas resident, we shall apply withholding tax to your remittance. The standard tax rate is 20% but this may vary (in some cases even down to 0%) depending on the tax treaty agreement between your country of residence and the UK.
We will assume you are registered for tax at the address we are holding on our system and will apply withholding tax accordingly, if applicable.
I have registered for VAT. What do I need to do?
Please inform us if you are registered for VAT and we shall pay your royalties + VAT upon receipt of an invoice from you.