Writing Fiction: 5 Tips To Develop A Profitable Writing Income - Author Penelope Redmont (2024)

FAQs

How do fiction authors make money? ›

Royalties are money given to an author after a book is published and sold. As an authors, you receive a percentage of the sale, depending on how you published your book. If you work with a publishing company, a part of your royalties must go the publisher, an agent, and then you.

Keep Writing and Publishing

After building an email list, many successful authors will tell you to write a series of books. The best form of marketing for a book is your next book. The more books you have out, the greater your chances of success are. And you can increase those chances by writing in a series.

While there is no set rule for determining author salary, some writers earn millions of dollars while others struggle to make even $100. Stephen King and J.K. Rowling are both examples of authors that have sold millions of books. Many authors have a more moderate level of success, thanks to the rise of self-publishing.

Your quickest route to make money writing a book is by self-publishing. And not just basic self-publishing, but wide self-publishing. This means publishing your book in every store, country, and format possible.

To make $100.000 / year, you have to sell 50.000 books, which equals to 50.000/12 = 4.667 books per month. After the first year, you'll have 12 books published. To make $100k with those 12 books, you'd need to sell 348 copies of each book each month.

Fall in Love with Romance

If you're looking for a genre that makes the most money, look no further than romance. Through the years, romance continues to be the most popular and profitable book genre. How well does it do? The romance world rakes in $1 billion a year, covering a third of the entire fiction market.

William Shakespeare is listed as the best-selling fiction author of all time having sold between 2 – 4 billion copies. More impressive still, he did so whilst only releasing 42 different books. Of the best-selling fiction authors by estimated sales, 13.33% had released more than 500 publications.

Authors typically make their money through a traditional book publishing company or through a self-publishing marketplace. In both cases, the author gets paid based on how many copies of the book they sell.

If you want to make money quickly as a writer, you'll stand the best chance with projects like emails, blog posts, and e-newsletters. All these writing opportunities can be learned in a short time. They're also great for beginners because they're clear, well-defined projects that are in high demand.

Self-published authors can earn 40% to 60% royalties for the selling price of a book, while traditionally published authors typically earn 10% to 12% royalties. First-time authors willing to publish traditionally will receive a prepayment. This is usually $10,000 (not so much for first-time authors).

How much did JK Rowling make from Harry Potter? ›

How much did J.K. Rowling earn for Harry Potter? CNBC estimates that Rowling has earned well over $1 billion from Harry Potter book sales alone, assuming a standard 15% royalty, as well as another $50 million for her books for adults and several Potter spinoffs.

Both traditionally published and self-published authors receive payment in the form of royalties. A royalty is a percentage of every sale after the cost of production.