Appendix 3: Royalties On Literature Sales

Year	Big Book		12&12		AA Comes of Age		As Bill Sees It		Total		Royalty $		CPI Factor	Royalties In 2003 $
Year	Annual	Cum	Annual	Cum	Annual	Cum	Annual	Cum	Annual	Cum	Annual $	Cum $	CPI Factor	Annual $	Cum $
1935													0.074
1936													0.076
1937													0.078
1938													0.077
1939													0.076
1940													0.076
1941													0.080
1942													0.089
1943													0.094	229,700 Big Books were sold from 1939 – 1951. Royalty amounts prior to 1950 cannot be found.
1944													0.096
1945													0.098
1946													0.106
1947													0.121
1948													0.131
1949													0.129
1950											16,367		0.131	124,937
1951	229,700								229,700		13,139	29,505	0.141	93,183	218,119
1952	28,000	257,700							28,000	257,700	14,300	43,806	0.144	99,309	317,428
1953	23,296	280,996	29,567						52,863	310,563	23,490	67,296	0.145	162,002	479,430
1954	22,004	303,000	10,389	39,956					32,393	342,956	15,447	82,743	0.146	105,800	585,230
1955	28,853	331,853	6,805	46,761					35,658	378,614	19,963	102,706	0.146	136,733	721,963
1956	23,468	355,321	7,079	53,840					30,547	409,161	18,444	121,150	0.148	124,622	846,584
1957	21,318	376,639	7,735	61,575	11,902				40,955	450,116	24,213	145,363	0.153	158,255	1,004,839
1958	20,585	397,224	7,282	68,857	6,862	18,764			34,729	484,845	20,703	166,066	0.157	131,866	1,136,705
1959	22,481	419,705	7,812	76,669	3,985	22,749			34,278	519,123	20,931	186,997	0.158	132,475	1,269,180
1960	24,533	444,238	8,545	85,214	3,713	26,462			36,791	555,914	22,229	209,226	0.161	138,068	1,407,248
1961	27,085	471,323	9,601	94,815	3,456	29,918			40,142	596,056	24,181	233,407	0.163	148,350	1,555,598
1962	30,000	501,323	10,674	105,489	3,461	33,379			44,135	640,191	26,506	259,913	0.164	161,622	1,717,220
1963	32,105	533,428	11,155	116,644	3,684	37,063			46,944	687,135	27,658	287,571	0.166	166,614	1,883,834
1964	32,509	565,937	12,107	128,751	3,763	40,826			48,379	735,514	28,790	316,361	0.169	170,355	2,054,190
1965	29,900	595,837	14,766	143,517	3,299	44,125			47,965	783,479	28,372	344,733	0.171	165,918	2,220,108
1966	34,938	630,775	15,506	159,023	3,825	47,950			54,269	837,748	32,427	377,160	0.176	184,244	2,404,352
1967	38,446	669,221	16,973	175,996	4,205	52,155	21,677		81,301	919,049	46,990	424,150	0.182	258,187	2,662,539
1968	41,915	711,136	20,087	196,083	4,783	56,938	15,160	36,837	81,945	1,000,994	47,606	471,756	0.189	251,884	2,914,422
1969	48,197	759,333	22,049	218,132	6,091	63,029	12,250	49,087	88,587	1,089,581	51,934	523,690	0.200	259,670	3,174,092
1970	54,725	814,058	26,868	245,000	6,678	69,707	11,649	60,736	99,920	1,189,501	58,307	581,997	0.211	276,336	3,450,429
1971	69,104	883,162	36,054	281,054	8,395	78,102	13,737	74,473	127,290	1,316,791	74,098	656,095	0.220	336,809	3,787,238
1972	84,908	968,070	43,349	324,403	9,707	87,809	15,183	89,656	153,147	1,469,938	89,396	745,491	0.227	393,815	4,181,053
1973	110,297	1,078,367	60,702	385,105	12,045	99,854	18,425	108,081	201,469	1,671,407	116,997	862,488	0.241	485,465	4,666,518
1974	137,548	1,215,915	86,168	471,273	14,683	114,537	19,693	127,774	258,092	1,929,499	148,348	1,010,836	0.268	553,537	5,220,055
1975	176,274	1,392,189	115,648	586,921	18,303	132,840	26,668	154,442	336,893	2,266,392	224,651	1,235,487	0.293	766,727	5,986,782
1976	181,744	1,573,933	115,405	702,326	13,500	146,340	23,128	177,570	333,777	2,600,169	263,670	1,499,157	0.309	853,301	6,840,083
1977	211,787	1,785,720	136,658	838,984	16,301	162,641	30,129	207,699	394,875	2,995,044	296,957	1,796,114	0.330	899,870	7,739,953
1978	246,490	2,032,210	156,960	995,944	18,929	181,570	30,648	238,347	453,027	3,448,071	315,852	2,111,966	0.355	889,724	8,629,677
1979	310,160	2,342,370	192,180	1,188,124	21,295	202,865	40,271	278,618	563,906	4,011,977	383,850	2,495,816	0.395	971,772	9,601,449
1980	369,980	2,712,350	230,440	1,418,564	21,560	224,425	45,190	323,808	667,170	4,679,147	451,200	2,947,016	0.448	1,007,143	10,608,592
1981	431,800	3,144,150	264,200	1,682,764	22,400	246,825	51,900	375,708	770,300	5,449,447	521,878	3,468,894	0.494	1,056,433	11,665,025
1982	462,100	3,606,250	287,800	1,970,564	22,300	269,125	56,900	432,608	829,100	6,278,547	561,832	4,030,726	0.525	1,070,156	12,735,181
1983	543,300	4,149,550	319,500	2,290,064	23,800	292,925	60,400	493,008	947,000	7,225,547	645,342	4,676,068	0.542	1,190,668	13,925,849
1984	622,500	4,772,050	378,500	2,668,564	25,100	318,025	69,200	562,208	1,095,300	8,320,847	746,816	5,422,884	0.565	1,321,798	15,247,647
1985	696,300	5,468,350	439,300	3,107,864	24,500	342,525	70,300	632,508	1,230,400	9,551,247	836,733	6,259,617	0.585	1,430,313	16,677,960
1986	816,200	6,284,550	479,600	3,587,464	19,700	362,225	79,900	712,408	1,395,400	10,946,647	912,548	7,172,165	0.596	1,531,121	18,209,081
1987	1,001,900	7,286,450	578,600	4,166,064	22,300	384,525	86,600	799,008	1,689,400	12,636,047	1,018,966	8,191,131	0.618	1,648,812	19,857,893
1988	1,109,901	8,396,351	676,349	4,842,413	29,616	414,141	113,719	912,727	1,929,585	14,565,632	872,854	9,063,985	0.643	1,357,471	21,215,364
1989	1,234,980	9,631,331	760,830	5,603,243	30,300	444,441	121,090	1,033,817	2,147,200	16,712,832	901,084	9,965,069	0.674	1,336,920	22,552,284
1990	1,132,878	10,764,209	666,155	6,269,398	25,058	469,499	112,592	1,146,409	1,936,683	18,649,515	1,014,202	10,979,271	0.711	1,426,444	23,978,729
1991	1,054,890	11,819,099	582,690	6,852,088	21,480	490,979	85,150	1,231,559	1,744,210	20,393,725	1,009,225	11,988,496	0.741	1,361,977	25,340,706
1992	1,013,527	12,832,626	552,847	7,404,935	15,330	506,309	75,576	1,307,135	1,657,280	22,051,005	1,007,032	12,995,528	0.763	1,319,832	26,660,538
1993	1,027,657	13,860,283	476,160	7,881,095	16,265	522,574	64,798	1,371,933	1,584,880	23,635,885	956,499	13,952,027	0.786	1,216,920	27,877,458
1994	1,049,343	14,909,626	473,428	8,354,523	14,633	537,207	67,033	1,438,966	1,604,437	25,240,322	885,108	14,837,135	0.806	1,098,149	28,975,607
1995	1,016,994	15,926,620	457,376	8,811,899	15,916	553,123	66,025	1,504,991	1,556,311	26,796,633	814,226	15,651,361	0.829	982,179	29,957,785
1996	963,546	16,890,166	442,601	9,254,500	14,429	567,552	64,615	1,569,606	1,485,191	28,281,824	762,446	16,413,807	0.853	893,841	30,851,626
1997	933,926	17,824,092	414,217	9,668,717	14,412	581,964	75,842	1,645,448	1,438,397	29,720,221	751,780	17,165,587	0.873	861,145	31,712,771
1998	867,828	18,691,920	370,101	10,038,818	10,336	592,300	61,294	1,706,742	1,309,559	31,029,780	589,035	17,754,622	0.886	664,825	32,377,596
1999	872,781	19,564,701	373,357	10,412,175	12,240	604,540	63,581	1,770,323	1,321,959	32,351,739	164,542	17,919,164	0.906	181,614	32,559,210
2000	899,180	20,463,881	380,602	10,792,777	11,182	615,722	63,737	1,834,060	1,354,701	33,706,440	167,917	18,087,081	0.936	179,399	32,738,608
2001	1,356,016	21,819,897	399,513	11,192,290	13,050	628,772	73,080	1,907,140	1,841,659	35,548,099	197,294	18,284,375	0.963	204,874	32,943,483
2002	1,175,053	22,994,950	423,231	11,615,521	14,039	642,811	76,291	1,983,431	1,688,614	37,236,713	156,770	18,441,145	0.978	160,297	33,103,779
2003													1.000
Total	22,994,950		11,615,521		642,811		1,983,431		37,236,713		18,441,145			33,103,779

Bill W, and later the General Service Conferences, have been quite open about the royalty payments to Bill W and Dr Bob. Much information can be found in Conference-approved literature and in the final Conference reports.
Due to the amount of time both co-founders dedicated to the Fellowship, it was near impossible for them to earn a living through their normal professions. Father Ed Dowling is credited with advancing the concept of paying workers for special services. Lois Wilson was the primary beneficiary of the royalty payments after Bill W’s death. She was prevented from returning the funds to AA as result of Tradition Seven. Bill’s royalties applied to the English language versions of the books he authored.
The Timeline document contains information on the evolution of the royalty arrangements and payments. To find these items, perform a string search using the string “royalt”

[1] Date provided by Ron C. of NSW, Australia. Derived from an Archives copy of the Towns Hospital admission record.

[2] Some references indicate that it may have been Rowland H who gave Bill the book. (AGAA 142)

[3] Barefoot Bill L obtained confirmation from the AMA Archives in Chicago, IL that the 1935 Atlantic City, NJ AMA Convention was held from Monday to Friday, Jun 10 to 14, 1935.

[4] Information provided by David S from an audiotape of Bill W at an open meeting of the 1968 GSC. See also the pamphlet The Co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous. (P-53, pg 30)

[5] Although no radical changes have been made to the “basic text” of the Big Book, many wording changes have.

[6] The 1945 CPI index is used for the calculation of 2003 dollars.

[7] 1965 CPI conversion factor used to estimate 2003 dollars.

Appendix 3: Royalties On Literature Sales

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