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Scour the search history of most aspiring novelists and non-fiction writers, and you’ll find the question “How much do authors make?” somewhere toward the top. Unfortunately, the answer is difficult to pin down.
Some authors make millions. For instance, Literary Hub says James Patterson, author of bestsellers like Along Came a Spider, made $836 million between 2008 and 2018. Yet such sums fall at the extreme upper end of a spectrum that runs to zero. Many – maybe most – writers slave away for nothing but the love of their craft.
This reality raises further questions. What’s behind the huge variance in author earnings? What do authors make on average? And how do they make money in the first place? Keep reading to find out.
How Much Do Authors Make on Average?
According to a 2022 Authors Guild survey, referenced in Publishers Weekly, established full-time authors earn $23,329 a year – up 21% from 2018. However, the total annual median income for all respondents was just $5,000.
Those figures combine book sales and other writing-related income sources, too. For 56% of respondents, nonbook sources, such as journalism, editing, teaching, and ghostwriting, more than doubled their income.
Other sources paint a more promising picture. Job site Indeed.com says authors in the United States earn on average $52,625 per year, which translates to $22.57 per hour. Change the search to “Writer” and these numbers climb to $70,641 and $30.24, respectively.
Such discrepancies are a good example of how difficult it is to provide a simple answer to the question, “how much do authors make?” Ultimately, every writer can expect something different. Before we look at why that’s the case, though, it’s worth understanding how authors make money in the first place.
How Authors Make Money
Authors fall into one of two camps: self or traditionally published. In both cases, the amount they make depends on how many copies they sell.
The difference is in how they get paid.
Self-published authors publish and promote their own work but retain most of the proceeds from sales (minus the cost of selling at a discount to retailers and/or on their chosen marketplace). The traditional route is more complicated. Publishers typically pay authors an “advance” followed by “royalties”.
An advance is an upfront sum that acts as a loan against future sales. A royalty is a percentage of the book’s sale price that’s used to repay the advance.
Authors only receive royalties once the advance has been “earned out” (i.e., paid back). If they don’t sell enough copies for that to happen, the publisher absorbs the cost.
For simplicity, let’s say an author receives a $10,000 advance and a 10% royalty on their book, which has a retail price of $10. That equates to $1 per sale, meaning they need to sell 10,000 copies to earn back their advance before they receive additional royalties from the publisher.
Two more points on advances:
- Firstly, they vary hugely in size. Authors can get anything from under $1,000 to six-figures and beyond, depending on their work’s commercial potential and how well-established they are.
- Secondly, not every author gets one – especially from smaller and non-traditional publishers. When that’s the case, royalty payments tend to be higher.
Finally, whether self or traditionally published, subsidiary rights provide another revenue source. This money’s earned when third parties license book rights, such as for international translations and movie adaptations. Again, authors who take the traditional route must earn out their advance before receiving such payments.
Now we know their main sources of income, let’s turn to why some authors make more money than others.
Ask the Expert: Financial Advisor for Authors, Larry Sprung, CFP®
Factors Determining How Much Money Authors Make
How can some authors make millions when most struggle to make ends meet? Talent and luck are both involved, of course. Yet several other factors are involved over which writers have more control:
Publishing Method
Self-published authors front the cost of everything from editing and cover design to printing, distribution, and marketing. They also lack the financial cushion of an advance while working on their book.
On the other hand, retaining control of the publication means they enjoy significantly higher royalties.
For example, authors who publish e-books on Amazon can choose a royalty rate of 35% or 70%. In comparison, publishers typically offer royalties in the region of 7.5 to 10%. They can drop even further if retailers require bigger discounts on the book.
Maybe it’s unsurprising, then, that research from the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) found self-published (“indie”) authors out-earn traditionally published ones. Their median incomes in 2023 were $12,759 and $6-8,000, respectively.
It’s also worth considering that self-publishing is far more accessible. Publishers need to make a profit, which makes them highly selective about who they gamble on. Most aspiring authors never make the cut, which makes self-publishing the more lucrative choice in general – particularly in the short term.
These financial fortunes seem to flip among the most successful authors, though. In the top decile of earnings, an Authors Guild survey found self-published and traditional published authors made a median of $154,000 and $305,000, respectively.
Genre
Not all genres are made equal in terms of author earnings, either. Like music, some have bigger markets and wider appeal, which boosts demand and income potential. According to Spines, the five best-selling genres are:
- Contemporary Romance
- Mystery and Thriller
- Science Fiction
- Fantasy
- Self-Help
It goes without saying that choosing one over another doesn’t guarantee a higher income. But it does boost an author’s chances. For example, in the Authors Guild study mentioned above, self-published Romance and Romantic Suspense writers earned a median of $10,050. The next highest-earning genre was Mysteries and Thrillers, for which the median income was just $1,900.
Marketing Success
The best books ever written wouldn’t make a dime without effective marketing. Like any product, they sell in direct proportion to the quality and extent of promotional efforts.
This is one area where the traditional route provides an advantage – especially for less-established authors. With extensive experience promoting books, publishers help with everything from media outreach and publicity to placement in bookstores.
Still, the popularity of platforms like Amazon means it’s never been easier for self-publishers to reach an audience without professional support. The 2023 Author’s Guild Author Income Survey found that, “…experienced self-published authors have nearly doubled their earnings since 2018, with the help of effective marketing efforts”.
For both self and traditionally published authors, Kindle Unlimited, ebook discounts, and email newsletters were the top-performing strategies.
Alternative Income Sources
As discussed earlier, many authors supplement their income with nonbook sources. For some, this is a choice. For most, it’s a necessary way to make ends meet. The options look the same either way, although one or two only become accessible with success.
Here are a few ways authors make money beyond book sales:
- Writing courses and teaching/coaching
- Journalism and freelance writing
- Ghostwriting
- Editing
- Subscription services like Patreon and Substack
- Paid speaking gigs
- Merchandise
- Crowdfunding and official literary grants
Volume of Work
Lastly, the amount authors make is often correlated with how prolific they are. Simply put, the more the write, the more they make – both in terms of book sales and nonbook sources, like freelance writing.
As their body of work gets bigger, authors stand to become better-known, too. Readers have more opportunities to find and enjoy their stories, worlds, characters, insights, and/or views. Of course, as they throw more work at the proverbial wall, they increase the likelihood of something sticking.
The Mystery of How Much Authors Make
The most successful authors make hundreds of millions of dollars from royalties, merchandise, movie deals, and more. Yet they’re the exception, not the rule.
Whether they’re self or traditionally published, the available evidence suggests most authors make five figures a year or less from their craft. As a result, many have no choice but to subsidize book sales with additional income sources.
In truth, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer here. As with most things, it depends. Instead of asking, “How much do authors make,” then, a better question might be, “how can I influence what I make as an author?”
Hopefully, the factors outlined above will help you answer it.
About the Author
Danny Newman is a nationally syndicated freelance writer with a focus on travel. MSN feed and Associated Press bylines. Danny is a digital nomad from the UK who’s been traveling full-time since 2018. Learn More About Danny.
