Author FAQs

At Sramana, we don’t believe in token advances to lock in rights or using “exposure” as a substitute for fair compensation.\n\nWe operate on a transparent profit-sharing model instead of traditional advances. Authors earn 20–30% of actual profit per copy sold—clean, trackable, and royalty-first. You’ll always know what you’re owed, and we never ask you to “perform for exposure.”\n\nAdvances often come with traps like recoup clauses, hidden deductions, and delayed payments. We avoid these pitfalls to start our relationships on a debt-free, transparent foundation.\n\nOur platform supports sustainable careers with clarity and respect. If you’re seeking a professional, equitable publishing relationship, Sramana is the right place for you.

No mystery math. No gross/net confusion. No royalties hidden in quarterly Excel hell. You’ll get a dashboard that shows every sale, in real time, in plain numbers. We believe authors deserve to be treated like creative partners, not junior employees or liabilities. Our share covers editing, design, platform fees, and tech infrastructure—yours rewards your work. If you’re writing the book, you should be earning from it. Simple.

At Sramana, we prioritize transparency and fairness. We never deduct marketing costs from your royalties without your full knowledge and consent. Here's how we handle it: \n\n- Marketing is an investment, not a hidden tax. If we agree to market your book, the costs will be clearly outlined in your contract upfront.\n- Any marketing expenses deducted from your earnings will be pre-approved by you, with detailed reports on how the funds were used.\n- We offer optional marketing packages where you can invest extra in promotion. These are separate from your royalties, giving you full control over your budget.\n- No surprise deductions. We don’t retroactively reduce your earnings for unapproved marketing costs.\n- If we market your book at our expense, it’s covered within our share of the revenue—not yours.\n\nThis approach ensures clean financials, builds trust, and lets you focus on your craft without worrying about hidden fees.

We pay royalties on net revenue, but not the shady, padded kind you’re worried about. At Sramana, here’s what net actually means:     •    MRP minus platform/distributor fees (like Amazon, etc.)     •    Minus printing and shipping costs     •    Minus only the optional services you chose — like paid marketing, custom design, author websites, or SEO — with all pricing agreed upfront and billed separately. We do NOT deduct:     •    Admin charges     •    Overheads     •    Editorial salaries     •    “Mystery” processing fees     •    Or anything you didn’t explicitly agree to. We provide a full, transparent statement for every deduction. If there’s no extra service taken, you’re paid cleanly after print and retail costs. ⸻ On direct sales (via your website): You get 60–70% of the MRP, because there’s no retailer margin, just printing + logistics + small technical/processing fee on our side if we manage that. We don’t claim to pay royalties on gross (no one sustainably can) — but we get you the fairest, most transparent net in this industry, with no surprises, ever.