Money and Non-fiction (Crime)

True crime is kind of its own thing. I would suggest trying to get incontact with someone writing or publishing in that exact area as it differs a great deal from other nonfiction. If we have a TC writer here I hope this will be able to fill in some of the details for you.

I do monitor the nonfiction forum to see if there's anything I should respond to, but I'm a craft writer, not TC, so can't help you out.

idontknow said:

Is the income ceiling for NF/Crime writers the same as for those in the field of fiction? I personally can't see it being that high, but could be wrong! Obviously it will vary, like fiction but in terms of if you become a success (hard to quantify, I know) would the chance to become a millionaire be there? I'm very interested in the whole business of writing, and always enjoy reading about how much both good and bad writers make.

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I saw the thread but didn't respond because I didn't have a concrete answer for you, but I do like to support other nonfiction writers, so here I am.

I thought veinglory summed it up best when she said:

True crime is kind of its own thing. I would suggest trying to get in contact with someone writing or publishing in that exact area as it differs a great deal from other nonfiction.

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I've been around AW for a few years and we have a few nonfiction writers but no true crime writers.

I have personally read some true crime, including Deviant, about Ed Gein, which I thought was an excellent book. There are some authors who do specialize in true crime, most notbably Ann Rule. As you are aware, she is kind of the reigning queen of true crime. You could contact her and ask your questions, however, just reading over the wikipedia article about her shows that success did not come overnight, and she had solid training in law enforcement, and was already writing magazine articles.

You would think that her first book about Ted Bundy would have sent her to the top. It didn't. According to wikipedia:

She wrote The Stranger Beside Me under her own name. However, her next three books (The Lust Killer, Jerry Brudos; The Want-Ad Killer, Harvey Carignan; and The I-5 Killer, Randall Woodfield) were written as Andy Stack at her agent's advice since she had been offered very little advance for them. Once she had established popularity under her own name, later editions of the books listed her as the author and sold much better.

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So to partially answer your question regarding an income ceiling, I would hazard a guess that true crime is probably on par with other nonfiction, but it would be a case-by-case basis. IOW, your first advance could be typical with other publishing houses for first time authors, in the low four digits, between (I'm guessing) $4K and $9K.

Would the chance to become a millionaire be there? Doubtful. Would you make a good living at it? Possibly, but it will take a lot of time and hard work, just like writing a book in any other genre.

It can also depend on the subject matter, writing a book about a murderer that caught the whole country's attention.


If you're interested in the whole business of writing, I'd strongly urge you to visit AW's other forums and read threads and start asking questions. AW's a great place to learn the business, because these forums are comprised of multi-published authors in a variety of genres, as well as those who are relative beginners, and those who are still unpublished but still working on their craft.

I write True Crime books... I also write novels in the M/T/S genre.

I write 4 novels per year -- all series, each under a different pseudonym.

By contrast, all my non-fiction, my true crime included, are written under my real name and it takes me about 2 years to research and write each book.

True Crime is my hobby; I use some of my profits from my novels to fund my often very expensive research (travel, etc.); I've spent as many as seven years investigating one case in six states and two countries.

I make significantly less from my TC than my novels, both in terms of advances and sales over time, and the cost of investigation significantly diminishes any profits, which is why I consider it a hobby.

HOWEVER, in the last few years several of my TC books have been adapted into TV movies for which I've received substantial compensation.

I am considered a "good seller" in the genre but, far more importantly, I'm considered "trustworthy" by LEOs.

99.99% of those writing TC won't get rich off of it.

Another true crime writer here. I've got two published books, both of which spent months on the Heartland Bestseller List, and still that is not enough for me to quit taking side jobs (editing, ghostwriting, etc.). True crime is labor intensive. The research is so important, and it takes time, both on the computer and driving to interview people, attend trials, etc. However, it's also rewarding and newsworthy, so publicity is an easier sell than with other topics I think. I'm one of the 99.99 percent not getting rich, and yet doing what I love and feeding my fascination for real life mystery. BTW, it is an area that attracts awards. Tomorrow night I'm picking up my first - a Michigan Notable Book Award. Kinda excited!

Mardi said:

BTW, it is an area that attracts awards. Tomorrow night I'm picking up my first - a Michigan Notable Book Award. Kinda excited1

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Congratulations! That is truly fantastic!

I stand corrected. There are at least two AW members who write true crime. If they're more recent members (judged by the lower post counts) I may not have met you guys.

Hi there.

Hi, I joined a month ago now but have been working like a rented mule on a proposal so haven't been that active. This forum is great, tho.