My last post on leaving my day job behind to become a full-time author with a traditional publishing house garnered a lot of comments to my social media feeds. The question most frequently asked (besides ways in which to kill your agent, editor, reviewers, and not get caught) is - can the average author really make a living writing fiction?
We're talking average author with a traditional house here. Not someone like Linwood Barclay or
Stephen King, or Janet Evanvich (who Library Journal once compare me to. They didn't look at our bank accounts, obviously.) These people make the big advances we all dream of.
I'm still dreaming. By average author, I'm talking about someone like me, with sixteen books published, and ten awards you might recognize. Someone who occasionally hits the Amazon top 100 list of all books with a new release, and then drops out of sight after a couple of weeks. We used to be called 'mid-list' authors. I kind of like that term, so you'll hear it again today.
I'm here to tell you the truth. Some of it hurts, and some of it may be encouraging - you can judge.
Really, I'd be more comfortable giving you my bra size than spilling the financial numbers (38 Long is a hard size to find, by the way) but here goes.
In my last post, I quoted the UK, where recent reports say the average income of a paperback writer (note how I use the Beatles here and in the title) has dropped from 8000 pounds a year (maybe 15000 Canadian dollars) to 4000 pounds a year (more like 7000 Canadian dollars.) Point is, the average fiction novelist is earning way less than 15 years ago.
Our Canadian stats measure pretty closely. I do better than that - or have until now - probably because I have a backlist of fifteen books, several from series. If someone picks up the latest book in The Goddaughter series, they may go back and pick up all five books that came before (bless their little hearts.) That's how I've managed to sort of make a living - on royalties from backlist books.
But back to the stats. Hold on as I try to be honest:
In my best year, I made 33,000 from my books. If you add in teaching writing courses at college, and workshops at libraries and conferences, plus author appearances, I made about 50,000 in total.
But that was my best year. I won The Derringer that year, and the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence. I also won the Hamilton Reads award (the city I border on.) USA Today featured one of my books, and that shot me to the Amazon Top 100 list between Nora Roberts and Tom Clancy for a few weeks.
Thing is, that isn't a typical year.
My advances usually run about 5000 a book. If I'm lucky, I get two contracts a year and write two books a year. That's $10,000.
I have to 'sell through' those advances before I see any royalties. Since my books sell for 10 bucks, and I get a dollar a book, that means I have to sell 5000 books of each before I get any royalties. That's considered a best-seller in Canada.
So advances of 10,000 a year, in a good year. And maybe royalties of a little less than that. In a good year. Add in teaching - another 6000. A few short story sales - (I can hear you laughing from here.)
Last year I made 21,000 from my books. A lot less than my best year.
Covid has definitely played a part. My last book came out the week of first lockdown. Every event and book tour was cancelled. It'll be a while before I earn back that advance! How do you promote a book if you can't get out there? And when every other writer on the planet is anxiously spamming social media?
My point through this exercise today has been to lay bare the financial realities of a mid-list author as I have experienced them. It sobers me sometimes to think that the assistant to the assistant at a publishing house makes more than the writer does.
This month, I signed for a new series with my third publishing house. This one is bigger and more prestigious than the previous two, so I'm on a high. I'm also scared to death. The stakes are higher now, the expectations greater. I'll let you know next fall if the financial rewards match my dreams <wink>
Melodie Campbell is a paperback writer of multiple genres, south of Toronto. You'll find her books at all the usual suspects.
Last Goddaughter book...(crime)
Her last book...(Rom-Com)
A good reality check. I can testify that the writer's life has in general become less lucrative. When I started out writing mysteries, one book a year made for a nice part time salary and published published and did the marketing. Not so now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Janice! Yes, our world has changed so much. Now, I live for the comments of readers who love my books - God bless them.
DeleteYes, that's a reality check, which is often the largest check most artists (of any kind) ever receive. But you have also, more or less, made a sizable chunk of your living off it - which is more than most of us do, so pour a glass of wine and have a piece of chocolate!
ReplyDeleteSmile - love that clever humour, Eve! "Reality check" - and I'll lift a glass to you tonight.
DeleteThank you Melodie for having the guts to share this financial information. It makes me think in realistic terms about my budget for promotion as well as what profits I might earn from my new book. Much respect, Lynn
ReplyDeleteThanks Lynn! I think the whole truth is: the only reason to write is because you love it, and because you must. I must, because there are these crazy people in my head demanding that their stories come out.
DeleteI doubt if many writers earn a living exclusively from writing novels and short stories, even those who claim to make a living from "writing." There are a great many related income streams—editing and leading workshops, writing and editing non-fiction, writing advertising and promotional material, and so on. Then there are those who hold down full-time and part-time jobs in related fields—as teachers, professors, journalists—and those who have retired and have income from retirement funds and Social Security.
ReplyDeleteSome even have significant others with steady income and—especially important for those of us in the US!—health insurance. Before Temple and I married, my monthly health insurance premiums were on par with my house payment.
The key—for those of us who freelance—is finding the balance of work that allows us to write fiction while maintaining some minimum standard of living.
Yes, that is so true, Michael. I think I heard once that there were about 20 author in Canada who actually earn a modest living at it. Just glad I have government health insurance here!
DeletePah! If anyone can conquer new publishing houses and markets, you can. They're just a bit bigger, that's all.
ReplyDeleteSoon after my first story sold, I met Janet Evanovich at my local Borders Bookstore. She was kind and encouraging and tiny (compared to me, at least). So now I've sort-of met you? Yay!
Being a guy, I'm flummoxed by women's sizes– petite, juniors, size zero. Until I read this, I thought I at least understood bra sizes even in Europe. Now I have to figure out what a 38-Long is. At least the investigation should prove entertaining.
Melodie, I believe I'm too slow producing stories– I can write rapidly enough, but I'm the slowest, pickiest self-editor ever. By the time I'm satisfied (as if), political administrations have changed, wars have been fought and lost, new health threats loom.
Oh, the story I could write about that bra size, Leigh (and in fact did, in my comedy career...grin. Thanks for the kind words about conquering! Right now, I hope I can just find a comfortable home in their stable, and get a brush down every now and then (which does take the imagination to places I should simply leave alone...)
DeleteCongratulations on signing with a third publisher, Melodie. And thank you for your candor. You did better in your worst year than I did in my best. If you were a soccer player in the Netherlands, you would not be a Premier League player, but a First Division player. that doesn't sound too bad, eh? First Division Writer Melody Campbell!
ReplyDeleteAnne, have you seen a television series called Ted Lasso?
DeleteAnne, you made me laugh! And thank you. That is indeed a kind comparison.
DeleteVery candid. I remember when I received my first royalty check in 2015 and being stunned. As I recall it was about $250. Obviously I kept my day jobs (magazine editor, two different publications). But in 2018, I packed all of that in and decided to go at it fulltime. Six books, 3 anthologies, my own imprint. I'm constantly looking for new revenue streams and ways to promote without coming across as BUY MY BOOKS. I'm not getting rich but I'm (mostly) paying my bills. Definitely no chateau in France in my immediate future. I think many people think being an author is the road to riches. It can be, for a very select few. It's like any of the arts. There's George Clooney and then there's Georgette Clooney, who no one has heard of (probably because I made her up). Anyway...good post.
ReplyDeleteYou state it well, Judy! I think the thing that I've learned is you can't count on a steady income from writing - even if you have a large backlist. And then there's the pirating...we might be a lot richer without that. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteThank you for sharing, Melodie. When I was a college student, I dreamed of making my living as an author. Maybe I could have then, when I was content to live in poverty. Now I'm a multi-published novel and short story author, and I won't retire from the day job until I can drawn Social Security. The fiction income is a fraction of my paycheck.
ReplyDeleteThere is no question I could make a living writing in the 90s, Catherine. I wrote mainly comedy then. But pay rates have stagnated, while inflation has kept going, such that what looked then is insufficient now, to say the least! Thanks for commenting!
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