Books live on. So do contracts and royalties. I was reminded of this when I got a royalty statement yesterday. A book I wrote in 2007 that was published in 2008, and was obsolete about eight weeks later (tech book), is still paying royalties. For the first quarter of 2013, I earned $9 on that book. Which is nine bucks more than I had before.
The point is, write. A lot. Books hang around forever, and can keep paying off forever. Even long after they should have died on the remainder table. The more books you have hanging around, still paying, the better your income will be. And that's the economics. Write one gargantuan best seller or a thousand crappy books, the money is still the same. So never be discouraged by not topping the sales charts.
Heck, at this rate I only have 22 more quarters before the advance for this book is paid off. Then I start getting to keep the money.
Jeff
The point is, write. A lot. Books hang around forever, and can keep paying off forever. Even long after they should have died on the remainder table. The more books you have hanging around, still paying, the better your income will be. And that's the economics. Write one gargantuan best seller or a thousand crappy books, the money is still the same. So never be discouraged by not topping the sales charts.
Heck, at this rate I only have 22 more quarters before the advance for this book is paid off. Then I start getting to keep the money.
Jeff