The full version of PD Abacus is now live! See what’s new…

After our beta launch of PD Abacus last month, the PublishDrive team has been listening to your valuable feedback about what features you need most for co-author royalty splitting. Thanks to your comments, as well as direct input from Michael Anderle and LMBPN Publishing, we’re thrilled to announce that the full version of PD Abacus royalties management software is now live!

With an expanded range of features, this comprehensive royalty splitting service will free up your time to focus on what’s important: writing and publishing more books.

Learn more about PD Abacus’ expanded features and the story behind this breakthrough co-author royalty splitting and management solution.

Co-Author Royalty Splitting: A Much-Needed Solution

One of the ways PublishDrive decides what services and tools to develop is by personally meeting with authors at writer’s conferences and similar events. After speaking to indie authors and publishers around the world, something became very clear:

Many of today’s self-published authors are just as savvy as any in-house team you’d find at a traditional publishing house. But what they don’t have is their workforce. This makes it difficult to scale their digital businesses and reach their full earning potential, because they’re spending too much time on admin tasks.

PublishDrive is using technology to bridge this gap.

We’ve identified some of the major tools and services offered by large publishing houses, and we’re not only making them accessible to the self-publishing community, but we’re making them better. After all, indie authors and publishers have unique needs that aren’t always solved by a traditional approach.

As Orna Ross stated in a recent article, we are in the midst of a revolutionary shift in self-publishing. Coined “Self-Publishing 3.0,” Ross states that this is an era in which:

“…independent authors can work with greater agency than ever before. It is also an era in which writers must position themselves as brands and equip themselves with the business savvy to succeed beyond the parameters of traditional publishing.”

PublishDrive has kept a finger on the pulse of these shifts. And as indie authors raise the standards of self-publishing, they increasingly require more sophisticated tools to elevate their businesses.

PD Abacus is one of the many ways we’re helping authors adapt to the changing publishing landscape and thrive.

Behind the Scenes: How PD Abacus was Developed Using Author Input

Our ultimate goal is to help authors write more and worry less, which is why we make it a priority to have real authors test our services before we launch them. For PD Abacus, we went straight to one of the best of the best: Michael Anderle.

If you’re a self-published author, then you’ve probably heard of Anderle. If you’re unfamiliar, he is a successful indie author who started the 20Booksto50k Facebook group. With over 30,000 members, 20Booksto50k is now one of the best online resources for self-published authors at every level. The group also holds self-publishing conferences worldwide.

Since beginning his self-publishing journey just under 5 years ago, Anderle has achieved incredible success as an author, and eventually started his own publishing company, LMBPN Publishing. In short, he knows what he’s doing.

After speaking with Anderle and his team, and having them test PD Abacus, we identified some key tools that authors need when managing co-author finances:

  • Co-Author Royalty Calculating: Calculating co-author royalties is a very time-consuming task, and most authors have been doing it manually. It’s even more time consuming with large-scale collaborations.
  • Payment Tracking: When Amazon royalties are paid out every month, co-authors eagerly await their payments. For both the team lead and their co-authors, it’s essential to have a central system where payments can be recorded and referenced.
  • Full Financial Tracking: Managing co-author finances isn’t just about splitting royalties. You also have to split shared costs for editing, cover design, etc.
  • Transparent Data Sharing: For any successful collaboration, team leads need to clearly lay out the royalty rates for their co-authors, as well as give them detailed royalty reports every month. But for most authors, this is done manually. This is inefficient and can lead to accounting errors.

Using this very valuable feedback, we developed a comprehensive solution that allows authors to manage all these tasks in a streamlined platform.

So What Exactly Does PD Abacus Do?

PD Abacus is a comprehensive co-author royalty splitting service for those who publish on Amazon KDP/KU. (Yep – you can even use it if you’re enrolled in KDP Select/Kindle Unlimited!) It’s also the perfect solution for publishing companies that produce collaborative projects, like multi-author anthologies.

Here’s a summary of PD Abacus’ full range of features and capabilities:

  • Calculates Co-Author Royalties: No more messy spreadsheets! Easily calculate co-author royalties for your entire team, big or small.
  • Uses Imported Sales Data: For ultimate convenience, you can easily import KDP/KU sales data, so no changes to authors’ books or KDP accounts are required. You can also import sales data for Amazon print books and ACX audiobooks. (Btw – we are currently working hard to let you import other file types in the very near future. Stay tuned!)
  • Generates Royalty Reports: Generate detailed royalty reports and payment reports for your team. Reports can also be downloaded.
  • Track Co-Author Payments: Can’t remember if you paid out your team a few months back? We’ve got you covered. PD Abacus allows you to keep track of payments with the click of a button.
  • Built-In Communication System: Need to chat with your team? Use the built-in message board for easy communication with your team about costs, payments, etc.
  • Tracks Other Income Sources and Costs: Have another income stream you need to split with your team? Or maybe there was a shared expense you need to deduct? Additional costs and revenue streams can be added manually for full financial tracking.
  • Analytics: You can combine filters (title, period, contributor, contract end, etc.) to view a robust breakdown of all co-author royalties.
  • Customizable Teams: Add end dates to your team contracts for more customization, and edit or add more co-authors/contributors as your team grows.
  • Affordably Priced: Pricing is $2.99 a month per title.

For a step-by-step guide on how to use PD Abacus, read our detailed Help Center article.

Don’t Start Your Next Co-Authored Project Without PD Abacus

If you publish co-authored books, co-author royalty splitting with PD Abacus will bring your team to a new level of efficiency, whether you manage a two-person team or an indie publishing company.

Get started today by signing up for your FREE PublishDrive account!

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