Umm, that should be “were” not “where”. It’s a good thing I do my writing as work for hire.
Actually, I think that’s the norm. Publishers pay an advance against royalties, and the actual royalties usually don’t end up exceeding that unless the book turns out to have a long shelf-life. I’ve published several books, all of which followed that pattern.
University and small presses generally dont pay advances, which enables them to take more chances and publish books that will sell less than 2000 copies.
The great untold secret of publishing is that it’s virtually impossible to make a living just from writing books. There are probably a few dozen people in the English-speaking world doing that right now. The rest of them (us) have paying gigs to support that habit, whether it’s writing fulltime or freelance for newspapers/magazines, teaching, or something else… books just don’t sell enough to pay the bills. There may have been a time when publishers would give you enough of an advance to support yourself while you spent 18-months pounding out a manuscript, but unless your name is Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, that time is not now.
I would suspect that a first-time author can expect to gross less than $10,000 on his/her book. Unless the writing comes exceptionally easy to you, I’d wager that the hourly rate works out to something close to minimum wage.
There are exceptions, of course. Laura Hillenbrand was a magazine writer but her first book – Seabiscuit – was a best seller.
As to the OPs original question, sure you can do that. You’ve got to compete, though, and that means having a proposal that gives some indication that you can deliver a book that will sell. A book proposal has got to have two things to get an editor’s attention: 1) a subject that is compelling and 2) a strong indication – either through your previous experience or through a sample chapter – that you’re the right person to tell that story.
I worked as an editor at a mid-sized publisher for a couple of years and saw a lot of proposals from people who hadn’t been published before. I presume that’s what you meant by “regular people.”
Shit. Every time I think I’m going to some day be able to live off writing, a thread like this comes along and squashes my hopes all over again. Thanks a lot guys. It’ll be months before I’ve forgotten about reality.
I, too, was a regular person. I “pitched” my idea via a well-thought-out and as glitzy as I could make it Book Proposal. All those years of writing proposals for research and for products finally paid off. No agent would touch it, but Oxford University Press suffered a fatal lapse of judgment and agreed to publish my book. Even worse, they gave me an advance, which I promptly blew on getting photos for the book and permissions for the photos and random quotes.
I have yet to make back the advance. (I don’t know if Eve was being realistic or sarcastic) Someday I’ll find out if this writing gig can actually pay.
I’ve been writing for 12 years, and I’ve been working on a specific manuscript for nine. In all this time, I can’t remember one occasion where I’ve heard or read anything really positive about the possible financial benefits of writing. I abandoned the thought of writing as a career only a few months after beginning to write, when a professional author told me that most writers make practically nothing. (Granted, this was a Canadian children’s author, but still.) Over time I’ve learned all kinds of variously depressing things: you need a complete manuscript before you can try to get published, no one will give you grants if you aren’t already published, people will go to great lengths not to publish your work, and so on. Of course, ‘most writers make practically nothing’ has been the general theme, and, while there must logically be a few people who make enough from writing to sustain themselves, no one has suggested that I or any other mortal might hope to become one of them. There have been a few times it has been beneficial – college applications, for example – but, for the most part, people no longer tend to be impressed by things like having written a book, unless, perhaps, they have written one.
The real problem with the hopelessness attached to writing is that it does not stop me, or anyone else, from writing. Whether it takes two or three or five more years, I must finish, and only then will I discover that no one wants to publish it. I assume this is the general experience of most mortal writers.
Edward Tufte self publishes. Seems to have worked well for him. But I think he is an unusual case, and I agree that in general, you shouldn’t self publish.
Nope, the book led to the column. Ed Margulies of Movieline called me and said, “I really loved your Jean Harlow book,” and I said, “great—hire me!” And so he did.
Lots of good info here, I wasn’t so much concerned about making a living off writing a book so much as getting money to help defray expenses incurred while writing a book. I’m thinking mostly about travel and research expenses. I think I got the answers I was looking for, although the conversation about earnings and such is quite revealing. Congratulations to all the published authors here, no matter how much money you make.
Geez! This is so depressing, I feel like throwing a rope over the rafters and hanging all of you!
I’m glad you’ve all stuck with it. It’s got to be a real feeling of accomplishment to actually complete a book that people are interested in reading.
Are any of youze currently in print?
Well, to bring some sunshine into this conversation, let me say that I am quitting my job in a week and a half to work on a book series!
The circumstances are unusual … it’s in cooperation with my sister, who is a well-published Young Adult author and Newbery medalist, so we had some clout on our side. But it does mean I can afford to feed myself and my wife and dog and ferrets (just barely) for the 2 years it will take to finish the first four books in the series (and, one hopes, more will follow…). It’s also unusual in that I’m primarily illustrating them (some writing input), and getting paid enough to survive; illustrators generally get the shaft in the publishing world.
I’ve got a couple of books still in print and one coming out in July.
To say that there’s no money in writing books doesn’t mean it’s not rewarding. I’ve edited three editions of the authoritative encyclopedia in my field, and that opens more doors than anything I could possibly have on my resume. A book can be the best business card.
There’s also something immensely validating about seeing your work printed, bound, and on shelves. It’s an incredible boost for your self esteem to walk into a library or book store and see your book there… and yes, I check every time 