I have limited experience with scientific books (monographs, textbooks, encyclopedias). Many years ago I wrote a monograph at the invitation of a publisher. From the begining he told me that one does not get rich from writing scientific books. The publishing house is well known (although small and very focused) and their offer was for royalties of 10% of the profit (after deducting the cost of printing the book). After 2 years of work (the book had 2200 references) I did not receive enough to even cover my expenses (before the time word processors were perfected). The magic number for books seems to be 1000! I was told be several publishers that 1000 copies sold is a success! This seems to be true and although one would believe that the world has more than 1000 medical libraries, for specialist books 1000 copies is significant (this reminds me of the 300,000 copies of a CD which must be sold before the profit is very apparent). Conclusion: it is impossible to know the number of copies sold worldwide; one has to believe the publisher's statements. By writing scientific books (I mean monographs, specialty books) one has the pleasure of considering him(her)self a writer and should not expect a significant financial reward for hard work (this is the publishers'view). Adrian Vladutiu
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