Money

NTG said:

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

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I'm not sure I understand what you're asking when you say, "how many paperbacks sold will be considered enough to call the book a worthwhile project?" The publisher has already considered the book worthwhile when it contracted with the author in the first place. The publisher will offer an advance against royalties(anywhere from $1 to millions, depending on the publisher and writer), and then offer a royalty rate based on sales. Often the offer will include a stepped royalty rate (for an example: 8% on list price for up to 100 copies; 10% on list price for up to 500 copies; 12% on list price for 501 and beyond. This isn't a realistic example but that's how it works). Keep in mind that the average book sells 3,000 copies in its lifetime. Lots of books sell more and lots of books sell less.

NTG said:

I would, however, enjoy making enough money to support human life at some modest level.

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Keep your day job then.

I've been at this game for about 20 years, selling steadily in the mid-list, but it is not enough to support me. I have a day job, (self-employed there too) and between it and the writing I don't starve, but no trips to Europe. No health insurance, either.

how big the checks are I (may) get from the publisher.

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Paperback contracts vary wildly. A first sale for one title can get you 2500-4000 dollars, which is squat if it took you a year to write the book. (I get much more than that per book now, but still not enough per year to be totally self-supportive with the writing. That would change if I wrote faster! )

My first paperback contract paid 2,800.00 from a major house that puts out 100's of new titles each year. This was 20 years ago and things haven't changed all that much. Smaller houses will be more thrifty.

(You put half that advance in the bank for taxes, too, since publishers don't do the FICA thing for you.)

how much will the author receive on royalties for each book sold?

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Most paperbacks pay 6% of the cover price. A 6.99 PB will give you .41 for each sold. You have to sell about 6,830 copies before a 2800$ advance is paid out and you start getting royalties as paltry checks twice a year--IF they keep the book in print for that long. Shelf life is short for many titles.

Hardcover royalties are about 8% of the cover price.

One would hope the publisher will print at least 10K copies, but some may print 7K or even only 5K--which means if they all sell (not likely) you're still 1,830 copies short of earning out a 2800.00 advance. (They've made their money though!)

One of my friends sold her 5K print run, tried for another contract and was told "You only sold 5 thousand copies, dear." They ignored her when she pointed out that was ALL they'd printed!

Writers who make the self-supporting bucks are RARE and always at work; the ones who make the million dollar deals are the lottery winners of literature.

Forget the Money Thing and just write.

NTG said:

what is the point where they say, "OK, this book did alright."?

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Ah. That depends on what they spent on it.

For a slight oversimplification: When it earns out its advance, the publisher is happy. Most publishers calculate their advances based on what they expect the book to sell in its lifetime. So, if I get a $5000 advance, I know that that's about what the publisher expects it'll earn in royalties in total. If it earns more than that, then it did better than its sales predictions, so we're all happy. If it earns less than that, it underperformed and we're sad.

Sound right, Lauri?

Depending on the royalty percentage and cost of the book, I typically earn somewhere between $1-2 per book as my own royalty. So, to earn out that $5000 advance, the book would need to sell between 2500-5000 copies.

It's really tough to try to make a living on books that sell in those kinds of numbers, though. You need to figure out how many books per year you can write, and what you'd need to earn on those books, to make a living at it. So, if you want to make $50,000 a year with your writing, and you're making royalties of about $1/book, you'll need to sell 50,000 books in a year.

P.S. I was writing this post when Gillhoughly posted. The difference in our figures is because I've never written a novel. My books are nonfiction trade paperbacks and hardcovers, so they're more expensive than mass market books, mostly between $13 and $22.

I figure I'm not even going to get paid enough to support my reading habit, so forget about paying for school or getting an extra Chai Latte every now and then.

Although, right now I'm floating in that void of zeros.

For the Firefly lovers out there.
"Well 10% of nothing. Hm, let me think. Carry the zero . . ."

While different genres have different sales numbers, if you want to see some figures in the romance genre, go to brendahiatt.com and click on "Show Me The Money."

JD

That is such a terrific resource. Thanks, Jan! Direct link is http://www.brendahiatt.com/id2.html

It's good to dream NTG. It is a good question you posed. That's how we all learn here...by asking and watching others ask good questions.

Have you thought about other writing opportunities while you are writing your novel? You can always give freelancing a go?

Anna Genoese has a very good article on her blog. http://annasredpen.net/mass_p_and_l.html