How much do Authors make per book - article dated May 11 '21

It certainly is! And there's definitely a spectrum being mentioned in there.

There's a good article by L. Ron Hubbard in the WotF workshop course which talks about money and art--and about how some people just never really approach the craft of writing with the view of being both financially professional and creative artists, without any sense of conflict between the two. Some of that is reflected here, as well as the fickle nature of the industry as well, of course. Writing professionally is no longer quite what it was in Hubbard's day, particularly given the way that self-publishing and other avenues have really exploded the simplicity of a writer going to market--but I suspect that the upper echelons of the market remain not too dissimilar, even now. Back sometime in 2001, I read an article in one of the big publishing-house books that you had to buy back in the day (back before short fiction and novel markets had anything resembling a reasonable online presence, for the most part) and it discussed the fact that, at the time: 

1. More money than ever was being made by authors, but
2. Fewer authors than ever were actually dividing the lion's share of that income.

I'd be curious to know how the landscape has changed in the 20 years or so since then, given that the publishing scene has gone through such a drastic shift in that time.

(Addendum: I do relate, strongly, to the person who wrote about being the sole breadwinner, and the lines they needed to reach to consider being able to switch fully to writing as their profession. I've wondered before about that, as many quite successful writers were unable to really turn full-time pro until they had half a dozen novels out in the marketplace. I figure there's always a line, but I've always wondered where it is, and how much discretion there should be in deciding when you've crossed it.)

Last note while I'm thinking about it: I saw before, too, an author (alas, I forget which one) writing about how the advance for their novels changed from $1,500, to $15,000, after they had won a Hugo award. That was big to them, of course, but it struck me at the time that it was a good indicator of how tough it might be to be successful if a Hugo winner was still commanding advances just in that range. I recall George R.R. Martin having similar difficulties, working through being a screenwriter and any number of small writing jobs for many years after he'd won with Sandkings.

There's definitely a lesson in there, somewhere, about what it takes to be a good writer, versus being a financially successful one. Obviously for the most part, you need the first one before you can have the second--ignoring the handful of glaring half-exceptions to that rule--but I think if you're able to make the second one stick, that's when you'll really be able to get the best out of the first one, too.

It's not an easy game on any level.    

Posted by: @time

This link was posted on Scrib. Interesting reading.

How Much Do Authors Make Per Book? | Book Riot

Great article, TimE! This portion has some excellent stats:

“In 2018, the Authors Guild partnered with 14 other writers organizations as well as some publishing platforms to conduct a survey of 5,067 professional writers in the United States. The median 2017 income of participating authors was $6,080 with just $3,100 of that being from book income alone (as opposed to speaking fees, teaching, book reviewing, and other supplemental activities). The median income of people who described themselves as full-time authors was just $20,300 when including all book-related activities.”

Having just filed our taxes, I can honestly say my income streams in writing related earnings were well above the median of that first set of authors last year. It’s been growing exponentially ever since I won WotF. There is a secret to this, which actually is revealed in the breakdown of those statistics. I share it in my WotF podcast if you’re interested. 

https://soundcloud.com/writersofthefuture/105-wulf-moon-discusses-the-value-of-the-writers-of-the-future-forum-to-improving-ones-craft

Posted by: @wulfmoon

 

Having just filed our taxes, I can honestly say my income streams in writing related earnings were well above the median of that first set of authors last year. It’s been growing exponentially ever since I won WotF. There is a secret to this, which actually is revealed in the breakdown of those statistics. I share it in my WotF podcast if you’re interested. 

 

And I bet you more satisfied than in an previous field of work. (Yep, i listen to all the podcasts.)

Posted by: @time

Posted by: @wulfmoon

 

Having just filed our taxes, I can honestly say my income streams in writing related earnings were well above the median of that first set of authors last year. It’s been growing exponentially ever since I won WotF. There is a secret to this, which actually is revealed in the breakdown of those statistics. I share it in my WotF podcast if you’re interested. 

 

And I bet you more satisfied than in an previous field of work. (Yep, i listen to all the podcasts.)

Indeed. Working in story in all its various forms is where I self-actualize. This is work that fills the soul instead of work that only fills the bank account to pay the necessities of life. And I haven’t even fully tapped into my true love yet, which is writing novels. I made it my goal to master the short form first, and then move on to the long. Winning WotF would be my marker. Took me far longer than expected, but I’m a better writer for the experience. I got delayed helping others here through the Super Secrets, but that had unanticipated benefits as I followed the flow. Not only did I help many get published and even win this contest, but I inadvertently discovered I had written enough material to create a couple of books on writing. Teaching invitations followed, and then David Farland interviewed me as a freelance editor in his Apex Writers group. Dave doesn’t edit short stories, but I do, and I was flooded with business after he endorsed my editing skills. Again, none of that would have happened had I not won Writers of the Future. It is a major career accomplishment to win it, as it serves to certify to the publishing community you are now writing at pro level. The second benefit is the level of networking you can accomplish because of Author Services’ commitment to bring in the best in the industry to meet and train you. Winning this contest really is a launch pad if you take full advantage of the opportunity. 

It’s why I give my heart and soul to promoting this contest. No other organization does what Writers of the Future does to help struggling writers get noticed and helped to launch their professional writing careers. I will always be grateful.

It’s why I’ve donated so much of my time here to the cause.

Posted by: @wulfmoon

 

And I haven’t even fully tapped into my true love yet, which is writing novels. I made it my goal to master the short form first, and then move on to the long. Winning WotF would be my marker. Took me far longer than expected, but I’m a better writer for the experience.

This, and thrice this. I have tried writing a few novels, and though I had a lot of ideas and found I could make the form work, I felt my craft wasn't up to snuff--or at least, while my wordcraft appeared to be good enough to match some of the novels on the market, they certainly weren't the novels I felt I would have been happy with being measured against. Short fiction, on the other hand, is frequently a master-class in pure craft, as you have fewer places to hide.

(Note: this comment specifically excludes a sub-set of writers, who can be superb novelists without really being superb literary craftspeople. That's also a type of writing I don't lean towards wanting to produce, but feels almost like an adjacent craft, similar only because both end up with words in a book-binding, and dissimilar in a great many of the ways in which those words arrive there.)