There. I said the word.
Now allow me to temper it a bit.
I don't expect to get rich writing novels. (It's a nice thought, and maybe I'll use it in a book some day, but I don't have my hopes up.)
I would, however, enjoy making enough money to support human life at some modest level.
OK, I know better than to ask "How much money am I likely to make?" I know that will vary, depending on how big the checks are I (may) get from the publisher.
What I would really like to know are some rough base numbers. Like:
If the publisher is of modest size (not tiny), how many paperbacks sold will be considered enough to call the book a worthwhile project?
At that level, how much will the author receive on royalties for each book sold? Is the figure pretty much a straight-line per book figure, or does it vary a lot depending on whether it is copy #100 or #100,000? How do per book royalties vary as sales figures increase?
I can think of other questions, but these are good to start with.
NTG
Now allow me to temper it a bit.
I don't expect to get rich writing novels. (It's a nice thought, and maybe I'll use it in a book some day, but I don't have my hopes up.)
I would, however, enjoy making enough money to support human life at some modest level.
OK, I know better than to ask "How much money am I likely to make?" I know that will vary, depending on how big the checks are I (may) get from the publisher.
What I would really like to know are some rough base numbers. Like:
If the publisher is of modest size (not tiny), how many paperbacks sold will be considered enough to call the book a worthwhile project?
At that level, how much will the author receive on royalties for each book sold? Is the figure pretty much a straight-line per book figure, or does it vary a lot depending on whether it is copy #100 or #100,000? How do per book royalties vary as sales figures increase?
I can think of other questions, but these are good to start with.
NTG