How to Automate Author Royalty Management with Familiar
Complete workflow guide: from uploading distributor statements to tracking payment status, all in 15 minutes per month
What This Guide Covers
This guide walks you through the complete royalty management workflow using Familiar. You'll learn how to automate royalty calculations, track contributor payment information, generate professional statements, and monitor payment status—without sending a single payment yourself.
Before setting up automated royalty management, use our free calculator to compare earnings across Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, and traditional publishing.
Important: Familiar Calculates, You Pay
Familiar automates the calculation of royalty amounts and tracks payment information for your records, but does not process or send payments. You maintain complete control over how and when you pay your contributors through your preferred payment method (PayPal, Venmo, checks, bank transfers, etc.).
The Manual Workflow (Before Familiar)
Managing royalties manually for 15 books with multiple contributors typically looks like this:
Manual Process: 4-6 hours per month
- •Download statements from KDP, IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, and other platforms (30 minutes)
- •Copy data into master spreadsheet, matching ISBNs and book titles (45 minutes)
- •Calculate each contributor's share across ebook, paperback, and audiobook formats (60 minutes)
- •Hunt for contributor payment information across emails and documents (30 minutes)
- •Create individual royalty statements in Word or Google Docs (45 minutes)
- •Email statements and process PayPal/Venmo payments (30 minutes)
- •Update tracking spreadsheet with payment dates and confirmation numbers (15 minutes)
With Familiar: 15-25 minutes per month
- ✓Upload all distributor statements with automatic parsing (5 minutes)
- ✓Review auto-calculated contributor splits (5 minutes)
- ✓Generate professional PDF statements with one click (1 minute)
- ✓Export payment batch CSV with all contributor payment info (1 minute)
- ✓Process payments through your preferred method (10 minutes)
- ✓Mark payments complete in Familiar (3 minutes)
Step 1: Upload Distributor Statements
Start by uploading your monthly royalty statements from all distributors. Familiar automatically detects the file format and parses the data.
How to Upload:
- 1. Navigate to Royalties → Sales Data in the sidebar
- 2. Click "Upload Statement"
- 3. Select your CSV or XLSX file
- 4. Familiar automatically detects the distributor and format
- 5. Review the parsed data and confirm
Supported Distributors
Automatic Features
- Duplicate detection
- ISBN/ASIN matching
- Book auto-creation
- Contributor auto-detection
- Currency conversion
Pro tip: Upload all your statements at once. Familiar will process them in parallel and automatically consolidate sales data across platforms. Learn more about multi-distributor tracking.
Step 2: Set Up Royalty Structures
Define how royalties should be calculated for each book. You can set different royalty rates for different formats (ebook vs paperback vs audiobook) and create tiered structures that increase with sales milestones.
How to Set Up:
- 1. Navigate to Royalties → Contracts
- 2. Select a book from the list
- 3. Click "Add Royalty Structure"
- 4. Choose the book format (All Formats, Ebook, Paperback, etc.)
- 5. Define the royalty percentage or tiered structure
- 6. Save and repeat for other formats if needed
Example: Simple Split
Poetry Anthology
All formats: 20% royalty rate
Every sale generates 20% royalty regardless of format or platform.
Example: Tiered Structure
Co-Authored Novel
- • Tier 1: 20% on first $1,000
- • Tier 2: 25% on next $2,000
- • Tier 3: 30% above $3,000
Learn more: See our Collaborative Publishing Guide for advanced royalty structures including format-specific rates and partnership publishing models.
Step 3: Configure Contributor Splits
Assign contributors to each book and define their royalty split percentages. Contributors can have different splits for different book formats if needed.
How to Configure:
- 1. Navigate to Royalties → Contributors
- 2. Select a contributor or create a new one
- 3. Click "Add to Book" to associate them with a book
- 4. Set their split percentage (e.g., 40%, 30%, 15%)
- 5. Optionally set format-specific splits
- 6. Verify that all contributors' splits sum to 100%
Example: 6-Contributor Anthology
"Realm of Shadows" anthology:
- • Lead poet: 40% split
- • Contributing poet #1: 20%
- • Contributing poet #2: 15%
- • Contributing poet #3: 10%
- • Contributing poet #4: 10%
- • Contributing poet #5: 5%
When the book earns $100 in royalties, Familiar automatically calculates: $40, $20, $15, $10, $10, and $5 for each contributor.
Important: Contributors are auto-created from royalty statements but you'll need to set up their splits manually the first time. After that, the splits apply to all future sales automatically.
Step 4: Collect Contributor Payment Information
Store all contributor payment details in one central location. This information is for your records only—Familiar does not process or send payments.
Your Data, Your Control
Payment information you add to Familiar is stored securely for your reference when processing payments. Familiar never sends money on your behalf or accesses your contributors' bank accounts.
Contact Info
- • Email addresses
- • Phone numbers
- • Mailing addresses
- • Preferred contact method
Payment Details
- • PayPal email
- • Venmo handle
- • Bank account info
- • Preferred currency
Tax Documents
- • W-9 forms (US)
- • W-8BEN (International)
- • Tax ID numbers
- • Document uploads
How to Add Payment Information:
- 1. Navigate to Royalties → Contributors
- 2. Click on a contributor's name
- 3. Click "Edit" to open their profile
- 4. Add payment details in the appropriate fields
- 5. Upload tax forms if applicable
- 6. Save changes
Step 5: Generate Royalty Statements and Payment Reports
Review calculated royalties, generate professional PDF statements for each contributor, and export payment batches for processing.
Workflow:
- 1. Review Calculations
- • Navigate to Royalties → Payments
- • Select the payment period (e.g., "January 2024")
- • Review calculated amounts for each contributor
- • See breakdown by month, format, platform, and book
- 2. Generate Individual Statements
- • Click "Generate Statements"
- • Professional PDF created for each contributor
- • Includes detailed sales data and calculation breakdown
- • Download all statements as a ZIP file
- 3. Export Payment Batch
- • Click "Export Payment Batch"
- • CSV includes contributor names, amounts, and payment details
- • Ready for import into PayPal, Wise, or your bank
- • Filter by minimum payment threshold if desired
What Contributors See in Their Statement
- • Total royalties earned for the period
- • Sales breakdown by book, format, and platform
- • Their specific split percentage
- • Calculation showing how their total was determined
- • Year-to-date earnings summary
- • Payment status and history
Example royalty dashboard showing consolidated data across multiple platforms
Step 6: Track Payment Status
After you've processed payments through PayPal, Venmo, bank transfer, or checks, mark them complete in Familiar to maintain an accurate payment history.
Mark Payments Complete
- 1. Navigate to Royalties → Payments
- 2. Select the payment period
- 3. Check the contributors you've paid
- 4. Click "Mark as Paid"
- 5. Add payment date and reference number
- 6. Optionally add notes (e.g., "PayPal txn #123")
Payment Tracking Features
- Outstanding payments dashboard
- Payment history per contributor
- Minimum threshold tracking
- Carry-forward balances
- Year-to-date totals
- Lifetime earnings per contributor
Payment Thresholds
Many publishers set minimum payment amounts (e.g., $20 or $50) to reduce transaction costs for small amounts. If a contributor doesn't reach the threshold, their balance carries forward to the next payment period. Familiar automatically tracks these carry-forward balances.
Real-World Example: Multi-Contributor Anthology
Scenario: "Voices of Our Time" Poetry Anthology
- • 8 contributors with different royalty percentages
- • Sales from Amazon KDP (ebook + paperback), IngramSpark (hardcover), Draft2Digital (ebook to Apple/Kobo/B&N)
- • International sales in USD, GBP, EUR
- • Monthly payment processing
Without Familiar: 4-6 hours
Download 3-4 separate reports → manually match books across platforms → calculate splits for 8 contributors across 3 formats → convert currencies → generate 8 individual statements → find payment info in emails → process PayPal payments → update tracking spreadsheet
With Familiar: 25 minutes
Upload 3 statements → review auto-calculated splits → generate 8 PDFs with one click → export payment batch CSV with stored payment info → process PayPal batch → mark payments complete
Advanced Features
Manual Expenses
Navigate to Royalties → Expenses to add manual corrections for returns, bonuses, promotional discounts, or special payment arrangements. All expenses are tracked separately for transparency.
Multi-Currency Support
Familiar automatically converts international sales using real-time exchange rates for the transaction date. Display totals in each contributor's preferred currency.
Year-End Tax Preparation
Export year-end totals for each contributor along with their stored W-9 forms. This makes 1099 preparation simple and ensures you have all necessary tax documentation in one place.
Contributor Portal (Coming Soon)
Contributors will be able to log in to view their own sales data, royalty calculations, payment history, and year-to-date earnings—reducing "how much did I earn?" emails and providing full transparency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Getting Started Checklist
Upload your first royalty statement
Start with one platform to test the workflow
Review auto-created books and contributors
Check that Familiar correctly detected your catalog
Set up royalty structures for each book
Define how royalties should be calculated
Configure contributor splits
Assign percentages to each contributor
Add contributor payment information
Centralize all payment details in one place
Generate your first payment batch
Export the CSV with amounts and payment info
Process payments through your preferred method
Use PayPal, Venmo, bank transfer, etc.
Mark payments complete in Familiar
Maintain accurate payment history
Related Resources
Multi-Distributor Tracking Guide
Learn how to consolidate sales data from multiple platforms
Collaborative Publishing Guide
Advanced royalty structures for multi-contributor projects
Adding Contributor Emails
How to safely add contact information without sending invites
Automatic Book Detection
Understand how Familiar creates books from royalty statements
Royalty Calculator Product Overview
See all features of Familiar's royalty management system
Book Royalty Calculations Guide
Understand the fundamentals of royalty structures