Show Me the Money!

[Maidryn]

I've been doing creative writing for several years but never thought of it as a career until recently. I've asked many people this following question but it's kind of personal so I never get a straight answer. How much do book authors make? Generally speaking, how much per book does a first time writer make. I realize it depends on the publisher, contract etc., but I just want a general idea. Is it one dollar a book or five cents a book. Or do you get one lump sum. I have absolutely no idea, so any info you give me would be helpful.

[dgan]

My understanding is that writing for money is a bad idea. If you're not willing to do it for your own self-fulfillment, you are probably setting yourself up for disappointment. There are some good threads around here somewhere with lots of good stuff in it...

stephenlawhead.proboards21.com/index.cgi?board=Aspiring&action=display&thread=1107788471#

stephenlawhead.proboards21.com/index.cgi?board=Aspiring&action=display&thread=1111016573#

[Maidryn]

I have been writing for 32 years without getting a penny, so I obviously am not in it for the money but I wonder why absolutely no one wants to discuss this topic. Is it that much of a taboo? I'm just curious is all. Whenever someone tries to hide something from me, I want to know it all the more and I never seem to get a straight answer. I smell a controversy.

[dgan]

I don't think anyone is trying to hide it. It is just tough to judge or anticipate. I mean, Lawhead has the rest of his !Hero series sitting on a shelf waiting for a publisher. If that can happen, why should we expect the rest of us to get any work published?

That said, there are plenty of nobodys that get published. So the answer is you could be the next Tolkien or never get published, or somewhere in between. The only way to know is to write it and work toward getting it published and see what happens. Just understand the promotion of the book is just as important as the book itself, and the more you put into that the more likely you are to make a penny.

That's my opinion based on what I've read from authors, anyway. Allow me to make it clear I don't have any personal experience.

[CynanMachae]

It's the writers who write not for the want of money or fame but simply for the joy of it that are the truly sucessful ones.

[Child of Immanuel]

I think what she's saying, guys, is that she doesn't know how much and in what form she might be paid for a first novel.

[Maidryn]

To add something more to my topic...
I read somewhere that more than 400,000 books get published every year in the world and I am sad to say that most of those are NOT masterpieces. Yet some great author is still out there waiting to be discovered.
You're right, it does have a lot to do with the Promotion surrounding a book. Stick the picture of a naked girl (or man) on the cover and it'll probably do good business (unfortunately).
I discovered SRL when I got a book of his in a bargain bin for practically no money, yet ONE of his books is worth a MILLION romance novels that are whipped out in a couple of weeks.
Still, I am STILL curious to hear some actual amouunts quoted. It's just as a matter of interest. You won't be tested on it or asked to testify in a court of law. I really have NO clue as to how royalties are even payed. Once a year; once a month; by the book. Take a stab at an answer. There must be someone out there in the know.
Keep those answers coming. I LOVE reading them!!!

[dgan]

It is a contract that you sign with the publisher, so you can set it up however you want. You could choose to sell your rights to the book, which would be a one time fee. Or you could set it up to make a percentage of the royalties. Or you could set it up to make a specific amount per book sold.

The options are unlimited. I suspect the most common is royalties, but I don't know for sure. As far as how much royalties would be depends on the genre and size of the book. If you're selling a $6 paperback, obviously you'd make less than if you sold a $30 hardcover. However, you would sell more copies.

This is a conversation I found when I Googled "authors" & "royalties". This probably has more first-hand experience than what we can offer you:

answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=50620

[CynanMachae]

dgan said:

It is a contract that you sign with the publisher, so you can set it up however you want. You could choose to sell your rights to the book, which would be a one time fee. Or you could set it up to make a percentage of the royalties. Or you could set it up to make a specific amount per book sold.

The options are unlimited. I suspect the most common is royalties, but I don't know for sure. As far as how much royalties would be depends on the genre and size of the book. If you're selling a $6 paperback, obviously you'd make less than if you sold a $30 hardcover. However, you would sell more copies.

This is a conversation I found when I Googled "authors" & "royalties". This probably has more first-hand experience than what we can offer you:

answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=50620

But does this conversation apply to NON-fiction books? That seems to be what they were discussing... what's the difference - financially - between fiction and non? Is there any difference?

[Maidryn]

Thanks for the info. (especially to Dgan). I also liked the question about Fiction VS Non Fiction.
Answers anyone?

[Bren]

I have been writing many, many years without getting paid for it also. I have been doing illustrations and drawings without getting paid for it...including such things as for journal articles and a textbook cover. However, I finally have landed a paying job doing illustrations for a fellow who is writing a book about vestigal organs. He said he's getting paid 10% of the profit...and that's more than he got on his first edition of the same book. Now he's expanding it and the first one sold out so the publisher thought a higher percent was in order. And that's really all I know on the subject. I've talked to a couple of best selling authors and they are sensitive to talk about it...even if you make it clear you're not asking what THEY make, but just trying to get an idea of a range of expectation. It sounds as if you'll have to eat dirt on your first book and if you hit it big then you won't have to worry about negotiating so hot and heavy; the publisher will want another big selling book. So...you take your chance and hope, sounds like. The most useful piece of advice I got from one of the authors is to try to find a subject or approach that is very unique; something very different and new, not the same ol' same ol'. Good luck.

[karenee]

Based on the research I've been doing and comments made on the blogs of various editors and agents...

There really is no way to predict what you'll make. Salability is the key and with an unpublished author, that depends on what the editor and marketing people think of your book. Public response is the rest of it. If the public love you and plague the publisher to get more of your work, then they'll pay you more up-front or add a larger percentage of profit, but that has everything to do with how many books fly off the shelves, and how fast they go.

Books with naked people on the cover actually tend to be rather short lived, as far as marketing is concerned. Authors who write them have to keep coming up with new stuff to maintain income unless they are actually well written and contain more than just romance.

In the end it has everything to do with quality. Most editors and agents say "Don't expect too much. If you deserve more, it will become obvious when your book sells." I think this is why people suggest getting a reputable agent. They're good at getting the most money, and you basically use their reputation to launch your first books, until you become the author that establishes the agent's reputation, down the line.

*shrug* My twenty cents...

Maybe I'll be able to talk from experience one day. *looks hopeful*

[karenee]

Interesting and informative post at an agent's blog in regards to the money issue. Miss Snark Link

[Hinata]

the difference that I've been lead to believe by my teachers is while nonfiction is in high demand currently because it is such a new field, you'll most likely be writing story essays or memoirs which typically means, nothing for the money. The same is pretty much true for short stories as well.

Now, if you write a novel or you write a whole book of memoirs you might be able to get some royalties. However, in order to do that it's much more difficult and in all likely hood, won't happen for most people.

At least that's what the professors at my University tell me. . .most of them are published in some shape way or form and my most recent Nonfiction prof worked as an editor before becoming a teacher so take it for what it's worth

[gracebridges]

If you self-publish, for example with Lulu, you get to set how much royalty money you get per book. Then you have to do all your own marketing, and your actual profit depends on how many you can actually sell. Be aware that to go this road, you have to put in a LOT of work on proofreading, graphic design, formatting and of course marketing. No one does this stuff for you, but there are plenty of online groups to exchange favours on. I am going this way because basically I can't be bothered spending years of my life snagging an agent and then a publisher. I can be in print in hardly any time at all, and since I'm okay at spelling/grammar, graphics and formatting, and since I am in lots of online writers groups, it seems quite doable. I'll report back when I get some progress.