A key aspect of any royalty system is the author file. It contains the key information you need to manage your relationship with the author (royalty recipient).
Core information
- Author Name and Address
- Author Online Contact Information. This includes email address and website (if any).
- Author’s Agent
- Beneficiary
- Tax Information. You need this information if you want to show the amount of taxes withheld on the royalty statement. Some companies will show taxes withheld on the recipient’s check, not the royalty statement.
Nice to Have
- Author pen name (psuedonym). Some publishers write under a pen name.
- Author bio
- Author picture. Having a picture of the author can help if a staff member is going to meet an author.
- Contact History. A record list of all contacts (email, in-person, phone) with this author.
- Author Titles. A record list of all titles linked to this author
- Author Statement. A record list of all statements issued to the author
- Author Payments. A record list of all payments issued to the author
- Payment Method. A the preferred payment method for this author.
- Document File. A file with Adobe PDFs of all documents exchanged with the author