A little while after I decided I was going to start writing, my mind wandered to a subject that I suspect most wannabe authors have considered at some point… how many millions was I going to make…?

So I was shocked to learn from several sites that authors working with official publishers are generally making less than 15% per book sale – and that is apparently good? 🤔 Many are making as little as 5%, for something they created and wrote themselves! Forgive me but this seems absolutely barmy. Of course you can self-publish but presumably it then becomes much more difficult to promote your book.

Now don’t get me wrong I’m sure that publishers more than earn their money and I reserve my right to eat my words if I ever get published (I’m sorry future publisher), but how is that authors are receiving so little?? You’d have to sell an absolute mountain of books in order to get rich as an author.

Of course there are many examples of popular authors out there that do, and the rate that the TV and film industry is churning through existing book stories at the moment means there is absolutely opportunity to be had there, but it definitely feels like a one in a million shot.

I followed up by listening to a few podcasts from established writers who’ve written multiple books that were kind enough to share their earnings, and whilst selling books seems absolutely viable as a side hustle I’ve come across very, very few who’ve actually been able to make selling their stories their sole income stream.

Money was never the reason I wanted to start writing in the first place. I’m writing for me; to find out if I can do it, to explore my story, and hopefully to learn a few things in the process.

That being said, I was curious, and more than a little surprised to find out just how little comes back to authors.

Either way, it makes no difference at the moment. Publishing and book sales will never be an issue if I don’t actually write a book first, so will worry about that later.

For now I’m writing for me, and very much enjoying the process so far.