Is your writing goal to make money?
Here's where I give you some very bad news. Most published authors don't make full-time wages on their book sales. I don't have figures for this year, but the last time I heard numbers from an industry professional roughly 10 years ago:
The average book makes 10K over the lifetime of its sales.
My bet is this has gone up slightly. This figure is based off of traditional publishers who "retired" books after sales dropped off. With authors now able to publish their backlists online, the number has probably gone up.
If this is still true, then you're going to have to write a lot of books or find other writing gigs to make money as a full-time writer. Most published authors I know have "day jobs" to pay the bills, and their writing is either a little spending money or a supplementary income.
Does that mean you should give up?
Of course not! You might be the next James Patterson or J. K. Rowling. (And I hope you are!) I mention this so you understand how the publishing industry works.
Again, I'm going to harp on having goals! If you want to make a lot of money, you'll need to do your research and figure out which path is for you. Depending on which publishing type you choose will depend on how you receive your money and how much you'll make. So, let me go into some things to consider:
Advances
This is money a traditional publisher pays you before the book is available for anyone to buy. It's a guaranteed amount of money you receive when you enter a contract with the publisher. The upside is it's guaranteed. The downside is you won't make any more money until the publisher has earned back their advance money.
Royalties
This is the money you make per each book sale. Traditional publishers will keep the royalties from your book sales until they've earned back the advance. Once that happens, then you'll begin to earn a percentage of the royalties, and that percentage will be outlined in the contract you have with the publisher.
If you're with a vanity publisher, you'll need to read your contract to figure out how they work the royalties, since each one will be slightly different.
If you're self-publishing, you will earn your royalties immediately (earn them, not necessarily get paid them). Read the online publisher's guidelines to understand how much money you can make. I've seen ranges of 35% to 70% royalties, but they also charge a small digital delivery fee. So, know how much you can expect on each sale.
Examples of what you might earn self-publishing
35% of a $2.99 book = $1.05
If you wanted to make $20,000 a year, you'd have to sale 19,048 books.
70% of a $2.99 book = $2.09
For $20,000, you'd have to sale 9,570 books.
What does this all mean?
Know how much money you want and understand the effort it's going to take to get it. Most authors don't become successes overnight, and they work really hard to promote sales. If money is your goal, you'll need to do more than just write a good book. You'll also need to research your publishing options and choose the one that's more likely to get you what you want.
Good luck, and I can't wait to see you in print! Let me know when you have it published so I can check it out!
Here's where I give you some very bad news. Most published authors don't make full-time wages on their book sales. I don't have figures for this year, but the last time I heard numbers from an industry professional roughly 10 years ago:
The average book makes 10K over the lifetime of its sales.
My bet is this has gone up slightly. This figure is based off of traditional publishers who "retired" books after sales dropped off. With authors now able to publish their backlists online, the number has probably gone up.
If this is still true, then you're going to have to write a lot of books or find other writing gigs to make money as a full-time writer. Most published authors I know have "day jobs" to pay the bills, and their writing is either a little spending money or a supplementary income.
Does that mean you should give up?
Of course not! You might be the next James Patterson or J. K. Rowling. (And I hope you are!) I mention this so you understand how the publishing industry works.
Again, I'm going to harp on having goals! If you want to make a lot of money, you'll need to do your research and figure out which path is for you. Depending on which publishing type you choose will depend on how you receive your money and how much you'll make. So, let me go into some things to consider:
Advances
This is money a traditional publisher pays you before the book is available for anyone to buy. It's a guaranteed amount of money you receive when you enter a contract with the publisher. The upside is it's guaranteed. The downside is you won't make any more money until the publisher has earned back their advance money.
Royalties
This is the money you make per each book sale. Traditional publishers will keep the royalties from your book sales until they've earned back the advance. Once that happens, then you'll begin to earn a percentage of the royalties, and that percentage will be outlined in the contract you have with the publisher.
If you're with a vanity publisher, you'll need to read your contract to figure out how they work the royalties, since each one will be slightly different.
If you're self-publishing, you will earn your royalties immediately (earn them, not necessarily get paid them). Read the online publisher's guidelines to understand how much money you can make. I've seen ranges of 35% to 70% royalties, but they also charge a small digital delivery fee. So, know how much you can expect on each sale.
Examples of what you might earn self-publishing
35% of a $2.99 book = $1.05
If you wanted to make $20,000 a year, you'd have to sale 19,048 books.
70% of a $2.99 book = $2.09
For $20,000, you'd have to sale 9,570 books.
What does this all mean?
Know how much money you want and understand the effort it's going to take to get it. Most authors don't become successes overnight, and they work really hard to promote sales. If money is your goal, you'll need to do more than just write a good book. You'll also need to research your publishing options and choose the one that's more likely to get you what you want.
Good luck, and I can't wait to see you in print! Let me know when you have it published so I can check it out!
RSS Feed
