How Much Can You Make From Writing A Book?

If you consider becoming an author, you must be wondering how much money an author makes by pursuing writing as a full-time career. You might also think that is a dependable career choice or not.

Many people will consider authors to be starving artists. And although this was probably true when the traditional publishing industry rejected practically everyone, but it isn’t the case today.

Countless people make a career by writing and publishing books. And not just starting to figure out a livelihood, but earning a healthy and full-time salary while following their passion. As a result, self-publishing is getting more and more prominent, so those who want to write full-time can now earn more than before.

Some self-published writers can support themselves by earning between $4,000 and $7,000 per month from their book sales. A few even make around $10,000 per month. And we are not just here to tell you how much money authors make; if you read this entire article, you will also learn how to maximize your earnings and potentially make a full-time career from your books.

So, How Much Do Authors Make?

If an author has published a collection of books, is skilled at marketing them, and has a sizable, devoted fan base, they can expect to make a full-time income from writing. The royalty rates, number of books sold, and the price of book printing are a few of the many variables affecting an author’s yearly income. Although we all dream, we could be compared to Stephen King’s revenue or J.K. Rowling’s revenue. But you need to keep this in mind that no two authors can earn the same amount.

Your profits may vary depending on the publishing route you choose. For example, let’s use two hypothetical self-published and traditionally published writers as examples to show you how much money you can make utilizing each publication model.

As you can see, with the same number of copies sold, the earnings of self-published and traditionally published books differentiate by $24,975. However, the royalty rates shown above are only estimates and may change based on the type of publishing platform you choose.

While the popularity of writers like Stephen King and George R.R. Martin leads the majority of people to believe that traditionally published authors earn more income than self-published authors, however, this is not the case. So, let’s take a quick look at the factors that determine an author’s total earnings regardless of the publishing model they utilize.

Factors Affecting Book Earnings for Authors

We have listed some important factors that directly affect the total income of an author. So, let’s take a quick look at them:

• Royalties earned per book sale
• Upfront advance (Traditional publishing only)
• Effective marketing strategies
• Target Market Segmentation
• Number of books released annually
• Number of already published books
• Book sales

As you can see from our example above, the averages really lean more in the direction of self-published writers. You can clearly see the significant price difference between the two: a self-published author may charge tens of dollars per book, while traditionally published writers may charge as little as one dollar.

How Much Can A Debutant Writer Make From Publishing A Book?

Here at Writers Clique, we receive this question all the time, and it makes sense. Most people believe that in order to be a successful author, you must be extremely popular. But that’s not true. To enhance your book’s exposure on Amazon, all you need to do is follow the proper procedure, which is what we do at Writers Clique.

All you need to do to increase the numbers is raise the book’s price slightly. Just make sure you price your book competitively with others in the same category; otherwise, readers may pass it by. By doing this, you can sell more books, which will ultimately increase the total. However, selling novels as a series is an excellent strategy for new authors to maximize profits. It enables them to make a good income solely from writing and publishing books.

Many debut writers also utilize their books to increase business leads or acquire access to speaking engagements to expand their audiences. This method of using a book can result in significantly bigger and instant returns. Therefore, your best hope if you are a debut author looking to make money is to write frequently, publish frequently, and either develop a series or at the very least, numerous books.

What Royalties To Expect From Book Publishing?

Since we mainly discussed this previously, let’s offer a brief outline of what author royalties include. Self-published authors can earn anywhere between 40% to 60% of the retail price of a single book in royalties, whereas traditionally published authors typically get between 10% and 12%. However, there’s a catch! Most self-publishing services charge you between 40 and 60 percent royalties when you engage them to publish your book on the platform of your choice. However, Writers Clique doesn’t charge you a royalty on the sales of your books. We only charge a one-time upfront service fee so that you may keep all of the earnings from your book sales.

Additionally, first-time authors who desire to publish traditionally are eligible for a book advance, which ranges between $8,000 and $10,000. However, with traditional publishing, you must sell $10,000 worth of books at your set royalty rate before you can begin to get royalties. Basically, you need to get back the $10,000 before your publisher starts providing you royalties. Additionally, a lot of publishers sign a contract with the author that their royalty rate will increase if they sell a certain number of books. However, traditionally published authors who are seasoned and popular might bargain for a higher royalty fee of about 15%, which is exceptionally rare.

So, What To Do To Make The Most Out Of Your Books?

So, now that you have an idea of how much authors make, let us share some suggestions with you on how to increase your income as an author. Here are our top suggestions to allow you to pursue writing as a  full-time career.

You Need To Choose Your Publishing Path

Before choosing between self-publishing and traditional publishing, you must first educate yourself on the differences between the two. If you want to be a successful author and earn as much money as you can, you must set yourself up for success with this. Both avenues have effective directions. Just be aware that traditional publication will need more time—typically 2-3 years for the entire process—and that you might not realize significant rewards unless you are fortunate enough to win a bidding war between publishing houses.

Massive advances for writers, like the six or seven-figure agreements you read about, typically result from such bidding wars. If not, an untested author could only receive a $10,000 advance at first. However, depending on the book publishing service you use to publish your book, self-publishing may allow you to get more significant royalties or even keep all of your book sales proceeds. Additionally, you can publish your book within a matter of time on your preferred self-publishing platform—even 3–4 books a year. However, you would not get a handsome advance in return, but you can start earning right away.

Write For The Market

Did you know that all major traditional publishing houses have a professional team that comes up with book ideas that are trending or are selling well? They then hire writers to make those ideas into books. Sometimes, but not always, it’s the same individual. They do this to maximize their opportunity to profit by taking advantage of the trending literary craze.

In light of this, writing for the market is a respectable and wise professional option for authors, provided they have a passion for writing, are good at coming up with ideas for stories, can write quickly, and can publish. As a self-published author, you can write for the market by researching the type of stories that are selling well in the genres that you love writing in.

For example, consider the Age of Vampire Novels, which was first sparked by books like Twilight and led to an explosion of vampire fiction from many authors and publishing houses. And they did quite well in sales. In the Young Adult genre nowadays, vampires aren’t quite as common as Urban Fantasy. Therefore, if you enjoy writing fantasy, you can make the most out of writing and publishing such kinds of books frequently.

Going For A Book Series Can Make A Lot Of Difference

Writing and releasing a book series is a quick route to success as an author, especially if you publish many series. For example, one reader is more likely to make repeated purchases; therefore, publishing a series makes more money for you. For example, if your first book is excellent, readers will purchase your second, third, and so on. This implies that you may profit more from a single customer.

Additionally, fans who buy all of your books in a series generally post reviews and purchase other books you have written that aren’t part of that series. Robust fan bases created by series keep you occupied as a full-time author.

Don’t Lose Hope!

Writing will pay like a hobby if you approach it in that way. You have to go to work regardless of your mood, similar to any other job you do. Making a commitment is the best advice we can give you. If you are only kind of involved in writing or only put effort into writing when your mood strikes, you can’t assume to make a full-time career from it. Instead, we have put together a list of key factors you should think about if you want to develop yourself into not only a professional author but also a dedicated and dedicated one.

Factors To Consider To Become A Professional Author

• Accept it as your ultimate path.
• Invest all your time and effort.
• Plan when you want to start working full-time as an author.
• Create writing goals to meet that deadline.
• Discover the route to becoming a full-time self-published author.
• Make the required sacrifices to pursue your passion as a career by saying no to the things that get in the way of it.

Final Thoughts

At some point, publishing a book or making a living as an author will be rewarded. You can generate a decent amount of money with a combination of perseverance, and a lot of hard work, also with the help of a professional book publishing service company. We hope this post has fueled your interest in writing and earning money.