Has anyone found a good way to translate Amazon royalty reports into income-per-book without going completely blind with paperwork? Part of the problem is all the different currencies, obviously... so I have to wait to see how the foreign currency is converted to Cdn currency, but that doesn't work too well because I keep my sales records in US currency, since that's how everyone but Amazon pays me, so I have to take the total sales for, say, Amazon.uk, wait until I receive it and it's converted to Cdn, then imaginarily convert that amount to US, then figure out the ration of UK sales attributed to each book and apply that ratio to the US amount, and record that as my sales for that book (so I can compare what's making money). I could cut out one of the steps by getting a US bank account, I think, assuming Amazon will agree to send the money there. They wouldn't send it to my US$ account based in Canada, for some reason. Anyway - is there an easier way to do all this? The more I play with self-publishing, the more I think I should be keeping better track of how much I'm actually making from different revenue sources so I can plan future efforts, but... it's not easy!
I am thinking about creating a macro driven template in Excel. But no, going blind appears to be part of the business. I am all ears on this question, believe me!
Hey I have never sold a book on amazon (or in the real world either). However I work as a support consultant for a Microsoft Gold partner. So without blowing my own trumpet I am pretty good on computers. As I am sure a lot of people are on WF. Anyway are you able to confirm what information is in the royalty report? What format do you receive it in? DO you view it online or is it downloadable? I ask because in excel you will definitely be able to create something to do the work for you. I would happily look into this for you if you could provide an example of what information you receive for amazon, on the premise that when my book is finished and it needs critiquing I can call on you
Hey I have never sold a book on amazon (or in the real world either). However I work as a support consultant for a Microsoft Gold partner. So without blowing my own trumpet I am pretty good on computers. As I am sure a lot of people are on WF. Anyway are you able to confirm what information is in the royalty report? What format do you receive it in? DO you view it online or is it downloadable? I ask because in excel you will definitely be able to create something to do the work for you. I would happily look into this for you if you could provide an example of what information you receive for amazon, on the premise that when my book is finished and it needs critiquing I can call on you
It comes in Excel format and is downloadable. I don't know if I can attach a file to this post or not - I'll try... No, it won't let me upload a spreadsheet. If you can tell me how to share a spreadsheet with you I can send you a copy of what I get. The main information I want extracted from it is how much each book is making overall, world-wide, rather than separately in each different format and each different jurisdiction. I can add this up manually (although the foreign currency conversions are far from precise) but it takes a long time.
Ok that sounds fine if they give it you in excel, I will be able to create something for you. Ill PM you.
It might be nice to put up it up here on the forums when you done as some form of template or something (perhaps as a resource?) It's sounds pretty useful, though I personally have no need of it at this present moment. I'm sure other people will.
Yeah I will get it working for @BayView first. And I am not sure what the forum roles would be on sharing it via the forum. But I have no issue with sharing it once its done.
